‡ Yet Another Dubious Stewards Decision There is a... long-standing complaint relating to stewards decisions that is shared by virtually all horseplayers: they should be more consistent in their decision making. Such complaints are legitimate, and consistency should always be a goal, not only in the officiating of horse racing. But it seems to me that the problem illustrated by the DQ in Del Mar's 11th race on Saturday is, in some ways, even more frustrating. I am referring to what seems to be a far too common inability of stewards to watch replays carefully, and thoughtfully process what has been seen. While I credit Del Mar for having edited together all three views of the incident in the embedded clip, it would have been better if they had (also) slowed down the drone view, which, as is so often the case, appears to be the definitive view. I have extracted the salient drone view portion and zoomed in on the action, so that readers might more easily see the crucial incident that the stewards apparently failed to take into account. The dubious decision to DQ the winner (#3 red and white silks) was made on the basis that nearing the wire, it drifted out, and caused the eventual fourth-place finisher (#5 pink silks) to steady, possibly costing that one a better placing. But I would argue that a careful, and reasonably thoughtful viewing of the drone shot, clearly shows something different. Just before the incident referred to by the stewards, the #5 horse (pink silks) and #9 (yellow silks) made contact, and it was that contact which initially caused the former to steady. The winner did subsequently drift out, but that was incidental, and did not, at least on its own, cost the #5 a placing. In fact, that the two even came so close was arguably a direct result of the #5 briefly losing its hind-end as a result of the bumping with the #9 horse. Had it not been for that initial contact, causing the #5 to angle in towards the eventual winner, there almost certainly would not have been any meaningful loss of momentum. Parsing it even more finely, it appears, again from the drone shot, that the #9 was not at fault, and it was, ironically, the "victim" in the questionable eyes of the stewards (#5), which angled in and lost its hind-end as a result of that earlier contact. Given that the rider of #5 had understandably steadied more sharply after the initial, far more dangerous incident, the most important momentum loss had already occurred before the rider again steadied slightly, due to the winner drifting out. In summary, there were clearly two incidents which contributed to a loss of momentum on the part of the #5 horse. Equally clearly, it was the initial incident, not even mentioned by the stewards, that caused the greater loss of momentum. In my view, the incident that the stewards used to rationalize the DQ was trivial, relatively speaking, and given the broader context, there should not have been any change in the order of finish.show more

Damage was recorded in 8 different districts of Kyiv... City. In the Shevchenkivskyi District, a section of the top 3 floors of a 5-story apartment building was destroyed. The level of damage to the building in relation to what it is built out of suggests that an air defence missile (possibly IRIS-T) may have fell on it. It's also possible that a Geran-2 drone was affected by electronic warfare, causing it to hit the building. The second video shows a fire at the Martial Arts School and adjacent KPI Swimming Pool which appears to have suffered a direct impact.show more

Q: Was there a particularly memorable moment working with... the members on this album? Tyler Spry: There’s a video that’s gone around on the Internet when I was writing with V, James Essien and Sean Foreman. That video is not the making of any of the songs that made the album, but it was one of the most fun days I had in the studio with the guys. We were just jumping up and down, singing the songs. I think that it was one of the freest days we had in the studio, creatively. So I do hope that song gets to see the light of day.show more

Regarding the Eric Trump / Daniel Cormier “text scandal”,... I am open to being convinced otherwise, but I do not believe for one second that Eric Trump would text something so stupid to Daniel Cormier. It’s laughably stupid on its face to think that Eric Trump would ask a UFC commentator if any of the fights are “rigged”. That he would ask it in writing. And that he would not, for example, just pick up the phone and call Dana White or Joe Rogan himself. That said, I just want to understand what happened. Daniel Cormier said he was hacked. Is that to say he was hacked at the text level, or the X post level? Did he in fact make the post, and delete it? If he made the post, did he do it as a joke to illustrate how absurd the text hack was, but realized how the post could be misinterpreted as real? Or did someone make the post from his X account he subsequently deleted it. I know there are some who are going to say he made the post in earnest, thinking the text messages were real, intending to call out the “corruption”, and he has since been threatened, deleted the post, and claimed “hack”, etc. I can tell you exactly why I do not believe, even if he made the post, he did it believing the text message was real, intending to call out the “corruption”. If Cormier seriously thought the text messages were real, he would understand that by posting it publicly, it would literally destroy the UFC, his livelihood and his legacy - in addition to the legacy of everyone who has ever competed in the UFC. There is no realm of the universe in which even if it were in fact a real text that he actually received from Eric Trump, he would post it publicly. Because it would mean the end of the UFC. I just want to know if he actually made the post from his X account, or if the entire post was the result of a hack (hence the subsequent deleting of the post). Serious and sincere questions for clarity that would benefit everyone Eric Trumpshow more

536 AD, often considered the worst year to be... alive, marked the beginning of the Late Antique Little Ice Age. The eruptions of three volcanoes, years without summer, plagues, and famine wiped out a large portion of the population. If civilization had been as dependent on technology as it is today, the consequences would have been even worse. This year did not come out of nowhere. It was the result of a Grand Solar Minimum, which also contributed to climate change and crop failures. What's happening today, in my opinion, will be far worse than the events that marked the beginning of the Dark Ages.show more

A football club is more than commercial competition and... sporting rivalry. It is, above all, a platform for things that truly matter - a place where values and principles should be the foundation of everything we do. Today, we chose to stand on the side of values, meritocracy, and the future. We made a decision to prioritise our fans - even at the cost of a sporting result. It was a bold move, and we believe it carries a significance that goes far beyond Poland. In a world where winning is increasingly treated as the only currency that matters, choosing people over points sends a message that the rest of football needs to hear. This decision has the potential not only to change football in Poland, but to prove that there are still places in this world where values come first - before everything else. It has not been an easy week. I am deeply grateful for every word of support you have shared with us. This was one of the hardest decisions of my life. We want to be a club of the future that honours its past. That is who we are - and who we will remain.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ Wisła Kraków 🔵⚪️🔴show more

There is a room in Málaga that was built... to be the closest thing on earth to standing inside heaven. It is called the camarín of the Virgin of Victory, and it is hidden at the top of a tower inside the Santuario de la Victoria. To reach it, you climb and the ascent is the entire point... The building you are climbing through was completed in 1700, and it was designed as a single argument made in stone. At the bottom lies a crypt: a black chamber crowded with white plaster skeletons, a meditation on death and the brevity of life. From there a staircase rises, and as you climb it the light grows stronger and the imagery changes from bones to saints. The architects of the time understood this ascent as the soul's own journey, the dark crypt as the stage of penitence, the staircase as the stage of spiritual progress, and the room at the very top as the final stage: the union of the soul with the divine. That room at the top is the camarín, and its dome is one of the most extraordinary interiors in Spain... Every surface is covered in white and gold plasterwork. There is no empty space anywhere. The Baroque called this horror vacui, the horror of the void: the conviction that a space meant to represent heaven should not contain a single bare patch of stone. Out of that plasterwork emerge angels, flowers, birds, and mirrors. The mirrors are not decoration alone. They catch the light pouring in through the windows of the drum and throw it around the chamber, so that the gold seems to move and the whole room appears to shimmer and breathe. This wonder was built by people who believed that if you wanted to show a human being what heaven might feel like, you did not describe it to them. You built a room, and you let them climb into it... -- -- -- If you enjoyed this, I write a weekly newsletter read by over 50,000 people who love rediscovering the beauty of the past. You can join us here: If you'd like to support my work, a paid subscription is what makes it possible.show more

OK, I have a definitive word on the CJ... Abrams play from today's Pittsburgh Pirates at Washington Nationals game after talking with Elias Sports Bureau on this. This play will stay as a sacrifice fly. The originial ruling of NOT a sacrifice fly was for the exact same reason that I thought, which is that the infielder is not running into the outfield, which is year's past would have been correct As it was explained to me, in past years, an infielder had to be running almost in a straight line towards the outfield wall to be considered "running in the outfield". Here, since he is running, and he ends up further away from home (157 feet) than when he started (145 feet), this is going to count as a sacrifice fly. That definition is changing, in part from this play to help bring greater consistency, and to take some of the guesswork out of it (the argument that he is running into the outfield as opposed to more parallel). Now, folks all the time ask "why doesn't MLB publish the OS Manual" and I always say because it is a living document that can have the wording change, and the wording for this play will be modified to something like "more towards the outfield wall than towards home plate" to eliminate any confusion. The big key to this play is that he was running on a full sprint. Also, and this is helpful for me, but for all fly ball outs that score a run, Elias Saba reviews to ensure consistency. So, yes, it's a sacrifice fly, and now that I have that info from Elias themselves, that sort of settles this one. Sounds like the guidelines for this definition will be changing, either this season, or certainly for next season.show more

After yesterday’s catastrophe at Fairway Hotel, I decided to... visit the premises today and witness the situation for myself. To my surprise, I found the hotel operating normally, just as it always has been. There is no visible sign of flooding or water damage, which speaks volumes about the efficiency and seriousness of the hotel’s management. It is unbelievable that a place which was flooded yesterday could return to full operation within just a matter of hours. Management also confirmed that the issue which caused the flooding was identified and rectified immediately, with measures put in place to ensure such an incident does not happen again.show more

Pete Alonso was sitting at his locker in the... Orioles' clubhouse during media availability postgame, ready to address getting picked off to end the 8th inning and noting that he felt "awful." "I over-anticipated contact in the zone. For me, I kind of had a pretty big primary lead with 2 outs. There's multiple things I wanted to do. "I wanted to be able to get to 2nd if there was a ball hit to the infield, beat the throw, and then also, too, if there's a ball hit in the outfield -- either in the gap or down the line -- I would give myself the best chance to score. "So it was kind of my momentum, I was anticipating contact, but they did a -- I mean, it was a hell of a throw. It was a hell of a throw, great tag. Great play by them to take advantage of the situation. "But yeah, I definitely overcommitted too much on getting my momentum going to try and get to 2nd if there was a ball in the infield or score if there was a ball in the gap. "So yeah, it's really tough to kind of take ourselves out of the inning like that from just playing too far over my skis, so to speak. I feel awful."show more

Air India B-787 fuel switches: seen a lot of... comments on "racism", "appeasement" to Boeing"; "Western superiority" in some comments, and, on my behalf, I assure you it is not. As seen on this simple video, there´s NO WAY the switches could move themselves. This is not based on this video alone - which clearly shows a mechanical lock, and the need to push up before moving it, as a fail safe - but also on the opinions of captains who fly the plane, technicians, safety experts, and also the simple fact that, despite dozens of B-787 operators worldwide, no one reported switches moving themselves. I said it here more than once: I´m not for conspiracies. You can hide the truth from one person, but to believe that dozens of pilots, investigators, technicians, lawyers, manufacturers, mechanics, etc... would all be duped this easily... seems a far cry. Mathematically alone, tricking all these folks, each with their reputations on the line, seems remote. Also, the source for yesterday´s "leak" is the " Safety Matters Foundation" - NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH THE prestigious Flight Safety Academy Foundation - appears to have an agenda to deflect blame on the pilots, despite all evidence (so far) pointing to deliberate action. (Also as a note, didn´t you find it dodgy that in 2026, with everyone and their dog having a 20 MP cellphone, the picture of the document, released by the said foundation, has such poor quality? You can hardly read what´s in there) I also find it strange that, on yesterday´s incident, given that, less than one year after a crash involving a B-787 with "supposed" malfunctioning fuel switches, the crew of the latest incident, instead of delaying the flight, and grounding the aircraft, simply opted to continue the flight. Short memory? I underline nothing against Indian Nationals - there are two readers here in particular - which I won´t nominate for privacy reasons - who are Indian Nationals and who always come to help with insightful opinions and respect, which I have in a very high regard. ("not seeing the forest for the trees"") Also, don´t think it was because the accident happened in India that I think less of the nation. Mental health in aviation has been a problem everywhere, the Germanwings is a sad example of that and I also think the attempts of cover-up lately, hinting it was not pilot suicide - by note, pushed by the pilot´s parent - were farcical.show more

A lot of people are not aware of the... fact that the Sahara was not a desert 6,000 years ago and only became a desert during the 5.9-kiloyear event and the Solovki geomagnetic excursion. That alone should be enough to make you question the mainstream narrative about the age of the pyramids. There is not a single text explaining how the Great Pyramid of Giza was built, and the Sphinx was first mentioned around 1400 BC, when a king had a prophetic dream telling him to remove the sand that had buried it. There have been five major civilizational resets in the last 6,000 years.show more

Dear Genshin Impact fans, In my nodkrai video I... said that Natlan’s music was nice but felt shallow, my mistake in this was not elaborating on why. I said it in passing and didn’t consider the word choice. I’m gathering that people assumed I was referring to the PLACES being represented by the music Which is preposterous because I would never criticize a culture or place, as I’ve always felt that is genshin’s strongest element. I assumed you would know it was obvious I was talking about the musical composition and structure not what that music represented (the people and the places) I’m sorry if you felt that I was spitting in the face of your culture. As a multicultural person myself and soon to be married to a multicultural person as well, I would never ever do that. I am saddened that you may have felt that. That said, subjectively, I felt natlan’s music was nice. But, a bit too easy listening to my taste. Part of the reason I have filmed so many Genshin videos is due to the musical complexity it showcases. Not just in the western soundscape but also in other regions that are represented. You’ll recall I defended this very thing a year ago when the music was representing African culture. At that time I was lambasted on this platform for saying that people of color were not being represented properly in game. I’m perplexed why you would think I’m suggesting the opposite now, even going so far as have people claim I am “racist” which is a bridge too far. In any event, I’m sorry for any hurt feelings. It’s clear to me that if I’m going to say something, I should be clear about what I mean.show more

🇷🇺 Why wasn't the Omsk oil refinery better protected?... 😁🔽 “Ukrainian drones reached the Omsk refinery — the largest in the country, accounting for almost 10% of all oil refining. The refinery supplies all of Western Siberia and the Urals. It is reported that FP-1 drones struck a unit with a capacity of 8.4 million tons of oil per year out of the plant’s total capacity of 22 million tons. The Omsk refinery is such an obvious and attractive target that it was bound to be reached sooner or later. And it was. From the Ukrainian border to Omsk is more than 2,500 km. The FP-1 flies at a speed of 140–180 km/h — that is 14–17 hours of flight in a straight line, but the drone most likely had to bypass air defense zones, so it would have taken longer. That means it took off yesterday evening and arrived today during the day. And this is a slow propeller-driven device that could have been detected in advance, its target could have been predicted, and it could have been tracked all the way to Omsk. In that time, mobile groups could have been redeployed, local forces alerted, aviation scrambled. Twenty hours, after all. Why didn’t this happen? Once again, the answer, I think, should be sought not in technology but in the structure of the Russian vertical of power itself. Imagine officials at all levels, from the Kremlin to Omsk. To organize any kind of defense system, someone has to take the initiative: find resources, involve unusual, non-system people who might be able to solve such tasks, although it’s not certain. Coordinate it with a dozen agencies, agree on coordination without calls to Moscow, cover everything with paperwork so as not to later be prosecuted for misuse of funds. And even after all that, there is still a high chance the drone will break through — and then they will have to figure out how exactly it got through and rebuild the defense again. But the main question is — who will be responsible for the first failure? That very initiative-taking official who made the decision himself? He is supposed to be held accountable for the failure. So he will be removed. By the way, until he showed up, everything was calm, Ukrainian drones weren’t arriving, and as soon as he started being active — they started arriving immediately. Maybe he’s an SBU agent, huh? Let’s be honest — would you, in his place, take on defending an oil refinery?” — Russian political blogger Igor Dimitriev Video: Exilenova+show more

‡ Judging Firm Ground Turf Action Friday's 8th race... is the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. I've chosen this race not because it will necessarily present a good betting opportunity, but rather a good illustration of how I go about predicting whether horses which haven't yet raced on firm turf are likely to handle it well. In the U.S., handicappers typically look through the lens from the other side, meaning that as the vast majority of turf races are contested over firm (or hard) courses, predicting which horses may handle the odd soft ground race is the challenge. But when horses travel from Europe to the U.S., relatively few have shown form over anything like the firm ground typically found in the States, and not all of them adapt equally well. There are four European runners in the race. Balantina was beaten just a nose in a Group III race in France over a course rated firm, and her action appears consistent with a horse that should handle even firmer going. Precise, the 6/5 program favorite, has also won over relatively firm surfaces, and shows a good action. She'll need to overcome a very bad draw, but is clearly the best horse in the race on form. This brings us to the two fillies that I'll use to illustrate contrasting action. Broadly speaking, horses that are well-suited to firm surfaces show a fluid, lower-to-the-ground action, while those which often prove best on softer surfaces display a rounder, or what is sometimes referred to as "knee" action. Pacific Mission has run only three times. Her two races on turf were contested over ground that was much softer than what she will face at Del Mar. But her third race was at Kempton, over an all-weather surface, and the attached clip (below, on the left), was taken from that race. She is the one in front, with the rider wearing the iconic pink, white and green Juddmonte silks. As you should be able to see, Pacific Mission shows a good, fluid action, which implies that she is likely to adapt well to the Del Mar turf. Whether she, and her rider, Colin Keane, will be able to overcome the 12 post, and prove good enough to win or place, are different matters. Queen of Hawaii, trained by Aidan O'Brien's son Joseph, will break from post 2. She also has three starts to date, but unlike Pacific Mission, has yet to race over anything like firm ground. While all three of her races were over ground rated "good", that rating in Ireland is typically, I would say, equivalent to what would be labeled a "yielding" course in the U.S. That each of her last two races, both over a mile, were run no faster than 1:41 4/5, helps to illustrate the point. The clip of her most recent run (below, on the right), was taken from her Group III win at The Curragh in August. She is the horse tracking three wide (#5), in dark blue silks. Note how she picks up her knees, as that it the type of action that is more often associated with horses that prefer give in the ground. To be clear, some horse that display such action do "act" on firmer surfaces, as well, and presumably her trainer is optimistic that Queen of Hawaii will adapt. But the contrast between her action, and that of Pacific Mission, provides a good illustration of the basic differences. And setting aside all other handicapping variables, horses with fluid action are more likely to excel over firm surfaces than those with a pronounced knee action.show more

Sorry if I did not answer many of you.... I’ve never been a fan of the online eulogy. The immediate fallout is always about loved ones. And we should leave those closest be. And then I realised of course I was just incredibly upset, and a large digital outpouring is inevitable and testament to his character. My devastation came from having to watch it all unfold. From spending years trying to help and actually getting him close to a point where he almost had a normal life again - then being powerless to stop him doing things he should not have. Powerless in every sense as it also meant it sometimes not being my place to say anything. In the end watching some of the evil shits around enable the worst of it was too much for me, I had to step back it was too painful to watch. I told my mate who was filling in for me looking after him “ah I just need some space from it all, I’ll be back with him after Christmas” and then suddenly there was no Christmas. And it turned out no one was to blame, and I immediately looked to blame myself most of all, fearing the worst. But it was a simple accident in the end. A bolt out of the blue. So if you are ever estranged or overwhelmed by friends and family and think it will all be OK one day - DON’T put it off. Reach out now. Grab that person and hold them tight. There may not be a tomorrow. You might not be around to see them off. There may not be the grand luxury of time available you thought there was. He died in the arms of his beloved son, and that is a measure of comfort, if a passing can ever have any. He was my mentor, my friend and my glad burden. And there was nothing I would not do for him.show more

ALAS, THE WORST FEARS APPEAR TO BE COMING TRUE.... THERE APPEARS TO BE A SCAM IN THE NAME OF RAM LALLA. AND HERE'S WHY IT IS MORE THAN AN ACT OF CRIMINAL IMPROPRIETY. The latest is that the SIT is preparing legal action against Champat Rai aide Tinnu Yadav in the Ram Mandir donation theft probe, sources say. Cases may also be registered against donation-counting staff and bank officials. Arrests are possible. Complainant Anil Mishra alleges no receipt was issued for donated gold and claims he was later told the gold had already been melted down. It is deeply painful to be reporting these details. The Ram Mandir isn't just a bricks-and-mortar tribute to a deity. It is much more than that. It is a symbol that consecrates the reclamation of Hindu civilizational heritage. A heritage that was first endangered by settler colonisation and later by a political ideology that wrongly portrayed any attempt to reclaim or appreciate the grandeur of Hindu civilization as an assault on secularism. That is precisely why these allegations are so troubling. One would have thought that the symbols of this great project to reclaim Hindu heritage would have been safest in the hands of those who led the movement. It is now incumbent upon these self-styled "guardians of the faith" to prove themselves by ensuring they do not become complicit in the very acts of vandalism and desecration they have long fought against.show more

So, my opinion on what the Antarctic (Antarctica) Anomaly... is that it's a type of frequency technology. It must be way more powerful than HAARP, as many have claimed it to be, because we would see these anomalies at other HAARP sites, and we don't, not like this. With that said, and I'm very much trying to avoid letting what I want it to be not play a part here, I think it is a technology that is being used either off the coast of Antarctica itself or Bouvet Island. A third possibility is an area just to the northwest of the island that looks odd. It's possible it is a sonar scan from a ship, but why in that remote location? It looks like an antenna set up or rows of something that is out of place. I also believe that the weather events and fires that have taken place in Africa could possibly have been because of this. Each time we saw the anomaly, it was followed by a destructive weather event in Africa. A weird connection to that is we have been told and warned of a very busy 2024 Atlantic hurricane season. This is in part because of the above-average Atlantic ocean temperatures, which is the fuel to Hurricanes. With all this info, it's possible to see how the Anomaly could be a frequency tech that can manipulate or create weather, And or WARM up the Ocean temps to purposely enhance the Hurricane season and Storm growth. Keep in mind that many of our hurricanes and many of the biggest hurricanes have come from the west coast of Africa and form over the Cape Verde islands before heading towards the Caribbean and the United States. This is all of course speculation, and I'm learning many new things every day, so this idea may morph over time as we learn more. In the end, it is very hard to ignore all these findings. #antarctica #anonaly #AntarcticaAnomaly #BouvetIslandshow more

Trump made a new statement today on the 2022... Battle of Kyiv: “They got stuck in the swamp, almost like in quicksand. It was mud, like quicksand. They could not move. If that general had just gone straight on the concrete highway, that speaks volumes. That is why war is always associated with risk. If he had just moved straight on the highway to the city, they would have been in Kyiv in four hours and Ukraine would have been able to do nothing. This war would have ended in 1 day. This was 4.5 years ago. It was a huge mistake. The general decided to go through the field instead of the road and highway”show more