Topic: Taking a knee.

[8ullfrog]

Maybe I'm just missing the current events section, or the site is more civil than the reality show nuclear meltdown of reality that merely hides in fear of the orange cheeto.

And we're only in season 1 of the show no one will cancel!

But as ipecac as it may seem, I found an issue I agree with gold toilet on.

The NFL recieves a shitton of money from the military to engage in pagentry patriotic. And these gits trade their health for millions in short term gains. They destroy themselves physically for hooting jackininies, but hey, that's "winning"trademark.

So kaepernick putting himself out of a job does not bother me. But the spate of fookin kneelers just seems bandwagony, like the bless'ed macerena. Like it's less a protest, and more wanting to be seen doing something, without actually doing something.

But hey, I run my mouth enough for sir twenty goodmen, what do you think?

[6pairsofshoes]

There is a macarena-like faddishness to it, certainly.  But it's a way of expressing frustration that racism still is very much embedded in American society.  So taking the knee is sort of like some kind of affirmation of a belief in equality.  It's kind of like lauding motherhood.  Who wants to go against an expression of the desire to promote an end to racial discrimination?

I am on FB and find the daily gnashing of teeth sort of tiresome.  So I get where you're coming from.

[Alfonz]

Seems like #takeaknee is little about quelling racism and a lot about hating Trump, last weekend was just the latest opportunity to express that hatred.

[brickbatz]

I watched football to get away from daily politics. I'm done with the NFL. I'll watch college ball until they start protesting.

[Alfonz]

I watched football to get away from daily politics. I'm done with the NFL. I'll watch college ball until they start protesting.

Exactly, bunch of goons that are doing nothing to combat the issue aside from pissing people off. The owners are terrified of public perception and the slight possibility that they may appear to be politically incorrect. 

[6pairsofshoes]

I find the whole patriotism before sporting events weird.  We don't all say the pledge of allegiance before other group events, like an Insane Clown Posse concert or the Nathan's Hot Dog eating contest, so what's the deal with the sports games?  I think it began with baseball in the U.S.  This article explains it.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/25/us/nfl-national-anthem-trump-kaepernick-history-trnd/index.html 
And here's a quick synopsis:

Here's a fascinating fact: The national anthem was played at baseball games decades before it was actually the national anthem. There are records of "The Star Spangled Banner" gracing the diamond going back as far as 1897, but the song wasn't adopted as the national anthem until 1931.
... After World War II, the commissioner of the NFL at the time, Elmer Layden, made a specific plea to keep the anthem as a game-day tradition.
"The playing of the national anthem should be as much a part of every game as the kickoff," he said. "We must not drop it simply because the war is over. We should never forget what it stands for."

I don't usually attend sporting events.  I'd rather be a participant instead of a spectator.  But as for being patriotic when a right wing ideologue is in the White House?  I do it by taking to the streets and demonstrating my opposition to his un-American activities.  I write my Congresswomen, and I vote with my wallet.  I won't patronize businesses that advocate taking rights away from women or minorities. 

And I hope to God that Kim Jong Un has more common sense than that bully in the White House because my house is pretty close to Korea, relatively speaking.

[8ullfrog]

Alright, poo, now I have to explain what I meant, which means I bent up on the first attempt.

The NFL gets paid a fuckton of money for the pagentry. Supposedly it's good for recruitment. I find it gross, and wish that funding would dry up.

But if you pull poo at work that disrupts the job, you should realize there are a lot of hungry people who would gladly take your job.

I once got laid off for bleeding. Customer complained, and California is an at will state.

I hate gold toilet, I voted against him, and live in fear of how he will hurt our country next. Ledgers joker would at least try to make it entertaining, as we all die screaming.

[8ullfrog]

Ouch, and yet...

But I specifically meant they get a payout from the department of defense. From what I've read, stats only go back to 2015.

Records are spotty, but apparently it isn't as bad as I thought it was.

I was thinking it was in the 200 million range, but apparently it topped out at "only" 15 million, but this was once again, blind federal spending. Who knows how much money fell off trucks?

That being said, in 2016, the NFL sent back DOD money in the high 700 thousand range. 768k by my reading.

Since this isn't school and I'm not getting paid, these numbers are from google.

[Alfonz]

I don't usually attend sporting events.  I'd rather be a participant instead of a spectator.  But as for being patriotic when a right wing ideologue is in the White House?  I do it by taking to the streets and demonstrating my opposition to his un-American activities.  I write my Congresswomen, and I vote with my wallet.  I won't patronize businesses that advocate taking rights away from women or minorities. 

Like the guy or not, if there was 100% unity among the players taking a knee, absolutely nothing would change on the streets. If you are taking action rather than throwing out symbols of rebellion then you are on the right track, NFL players however, are not.

And I hope to God that Kim Jong Un has more common sense than that bully in the White House because my house is pretty close to Korea, relatively speaking.

 

Hmmm, You don't see this issue as Un over-stepping his boundaries? Common sense? That was lost when he began firing missiles over allied territory. Trump's retaliatory threats are most certainly grade school, but it isn't Trump that has initiated this stand-off, Un has been preparing his arsenal for years and regardless of who is POTUS, he clearly hates the US.

[dweez]

If it meant human sacrifice, they would try to include that too.

If?

https://www.si.com/nfl/2016/03/01/nfl-careers-shortened-two-years-data-analysis

[Alfonz]

But regarding the "Take a Knee" protest it is achieving its goal in getting people talking which is a difficult thing to do in an atmosphere where any criticism of the President is seen as unpatriotic...

Problem is that no one is talking about the issue at hand, the topic is now comprised of either hating Trump and defying his words, or supporting Trump and blasting the NFL.

[6pairsofshoes]

I think that Trump fusses about anything and everything.  Frankly, I generally ignore him.  He's a grumpy old man.

There's no question that Kim Jong Un is utterly ruthless and unreliable in terms of any agreements he pretends to reach with the West.  If China finds him annoying, they can shut him down at once. 

Trump has no clue how to conduct international diplomacy.   When you have a foaming at the mouth madman threatening people, one good rule of thumb isn't to threaten that you can kick his ass, it's to try to isolate and contain him, not goad him. 

I see Kim Jong Un as a sort of wild animal, who by virtue of his birth, came into power at the head of a totalitarian state where he simply resolves any conflict by having his enemies killed.  This is not a guy you threaten or reason with.  It's someone you defeat by stealth and distraction.  Trump is an overgrown bully who just insults anyone he dislikes.  That's not a great way to deal with conflict, on the playground or the international stage.  As a diplomat or a national leader he's essentially incompetent.  That's why I hope he remains in office for the rest of his term.  The Vice President is infinitely more scary to me.

Incidentally, Sports Illustrated devoted this Trump vs NFL business to its front page in the latest issue.  Those guys get paid to play football the same way that actresses get paid to be in movies.  So lots of people get pissed off when some actress or another uses the platform of the Oscars to make some political speech instead of just thanking the people who made it possible.  I see the protests at the NFL in a similar vein.  These are men with a broad public following.  They, too, use their public platform to make a political statement.  I'm not commenting on the relative merits of statement per se, but many people are agitated about this, some very strongly support it while others find it an inappropriate disgrace.

And I suspect football has a short future ahead given the damage it inflicts on players.  The more we know about it, and its neurological consequences, the more problematic it will become to support.

[brickbatz]

Incidentally, Sports Illustrated devoted this Trump vs NFL business to its front page in the latest issue.  Those guys get paid to play football the same way that actresses get paid to be in movies.  So lots of people get pissed off when some actress or another uses the platform of the Oscars to make some political speech instead of just thanking the people who made it possible.  I see the protests at the NFL in a similar vein.  These are men with a broad public following.  They, too, use their public platform to make a political statement.  I'm not commenting on the relative merits of statement per se, but many people are agitated about this, some very strongly support it while others find it an inappropriate disgrace.

I'm on the agitated side of the aisle. Just play football. It's supposed to be a sport. Politics are unnecessary. I'm through with the NFL. I may start watching headball.

[Alfonz]

Armed with a never-ending gift for laughing at inappropriate things, and without endorsing any of the sentiments involved in its creation, I present:

Police forces across America are replacing their sirens with speakers that play the National Anthem. Suspects now stop running to take the knee.

That's hilarious! 

[smokester]

I remember when South Africa was banned from world sporting activities which was a political decision on the part of the varying world sports councils at a time when South Africa had apartheid at the centre of its political heart...

I am sure that a combination of pressures brought to bear in both sporting and commercial embargoes against South Africa played their parts in the abolition of apartheid which today we view as a good thing...

Sometimes the only way to get a political message across is to take action in high visibility arena`s like sports...

Sports and Apartheid in S.A was a muddled issue. Right back when Peter Hain spearheaded the anti South African rugby and cricket tours, people seemed more offended by the movement than apartheid. It didn't stop our cricket team touring there either and let's not even mention Nike's behaviour throughout that period.

Sometimes a campaign that uses sport as its vessel can lose or even reverse its impetus. Fans tend to get the arse when their fun is interrupted.

I remember when Donald Woods returned to South Africa a while after Mandela's release and the breaking down of apartheid. When he interviewed a member of the Government (I can't remember who) and asked why apartheid was ending and was it to do with sanctions etc, the official replied that it wasn't to do with that and was rather that they now saw apartheid as a "sin". Complete cowpoo of course as they already had Satan in their ranks who was known as Eugene Terreblanche. He quite liked a sin or 3.