Remembering Marty

On his first death anniversary, Martin Crowe's editor and close friend recalls his inspiring final years

Long piece from Cricinfo on the anniversary of Martin Crowe being incorrectly given out with no reviews left..

@Frank said in US Election Thread 2016:

@booboo

Our comments in relation to the articles/videos are good examples of confirmation bias and cognitive dissonance. None of us are rational - but we are claiming we are.

That's the genuinely scary thing about the likes of Facebook & Google, they are 100% created to learn what we like & tailor our news to that. Once you have a FB news feed for a year all that is coming down that feed is news that the algorithm knows you like. Same with Amazon with our shopping. So its possible - even probable, that people feel incredibly well informed on topics, despite being staggeringly poorly informed.

Its created a silo'd society where people in each group have utter certainbty that they are right because they've read extensively on the topics. And zero trust in those outside their silo.

Pick any of the big issues in society today, Climate Change, Islamic Terror, Guns, Taxes, Elections, Vaxines, Food Allegies..

We in the West pat ourselves on the back for not reading propaganda like those in in dictatorships, while reading a very narrow stream of news tailor made not to differ with our click learned world view.

Did you mean to do that?

@Bones
One vote as a back, one as a forward

@booboo

I feel like Savea is taking one for Todd, we were going to be bitching about something & I can almost picture Todd reading at home going

"no way? so no one on the Fern has compared me to Mark Carter?"
"nope, they are all shitting on Savea! high five! The younger ones are chanelling Rokocoko & the older ones have just thought about that 93 tour where fat Inga couldn't find the try line if there was a bucket of KFC on wheels leading him there"

While Cruden is just going "no ones goives a shit about me anymore, not even the Cheifs guys"

Late to the party. But the thing that stood out to me most watching the game was -

"How good / much"

I lost count of the number of times Smith & Justin asked each other "How good is Ben Smith?", "How much is ALB liking test rugby" "How good was that try", "How much did the ABs need that" "How good was that catch?" "How big was that tackle?" "How fat am I since I stopped playing cricket?", "How little did I prepare for this test" "How much much of this comentary is Nisbo saying stuff & me repeating the last thing he said, but louder?"

It got to the stage I was actually waiting to see what Smithy or Justin would ponder the how of next. Turned out it was "How good is the NZ bench"

@infidel said in US Election Thread 2016:

Valid news sources....allblacks.com reporting on try scorers and final score in the big match.

I fucking hate Allblacks.com

I mean look at this -

http://www.allblacks.com/Fixtures/EventDetails/4213

thats the page for ABs v Aus August this year. It shows a stack of pre game articles, but is there a quick link there to the teams with who played, who subbed on, any basic stats, the match report?

Nothing. Nothing at all. Its the official fucking AB site but if I wanted to see the team & who subbed on when, who made most tackles there is fucking nothing on the main game page.

You want anything on the actual game you have to go to stats home - series - click on the game. WhyTF is that link not on the match page?

That site is a fucking abortion. And not even a good abortion, a backstreet 20 weeks-in mexican doctor with a kettle he uses to both make tea & sterilise the coathanger abortion.

Its probably all there in an easy link I just havent seen but I'm on a roll

Feb 23, 2017

Jazz fan fell at Ronnie Scott's because she was drunk, obese and wearing high-heels, judge rules

An 18-stone jazz fan who sued for compensation after an accident at Ronnie Scott's was fat, drunk and careless in her high heels, a judge found.

An 18-stone jazz fan who sued for compensation after an accident at Ronnie Scott's was fat, drunk and careless in her high heels, a judge found.

Eren Hussein, 53, blamed dim lighting at the world famous Soho club after breaking her wrist and elbow falling down stairs after a party in 2012. She wanted thousands in damages, but after a civil trial this week, a judge threw out her claim, saying the fall wasn't the club's fault. "I tumbled over and over and over and I injured myself very badly. I recall landing on my neck and the back of my head as well"Eren Hussein Judge Heather Baucher QC said Mrs Hussein was intoxicated, obese, wearing shoes with high platform heels, and not taking care by holding the bannister as she descended.

"In her inebriated, obese state on three-inch platforms, that would be an obvious, simple step for anyone presented with what they saw as a hazard," she said. During the trial, the company director, from Lower Clapton, said she had been at a birthday party with her pregnant daughter-in-law when the accident happened in March 2012. After missing a step outside an upstairs lounge, she fell, tumbling down one flight, round a corner and down another, she said.

"It was dark, it was dim and I didn't see my step as I was going down," she told the judge. "I tumbled over and over and over and I injured myself very badly. I recall landing on my neck and the back of my head as well." The mother, who has since shed five stones of weight, told the court she was walking down the left side of the stairs, whereas the banister was on the right.

But Judge Baucher said, given her size at the time, that should not have prevented Mrs Hussein using the rail as she walked down the metre-wide stairway. "Mrs Hussein, at 115kg, must have taken up much of the width of the stairway," said the judge, "but for some inexplicable reason, she did not use the handrail." Earlier, Mrs Hussein said she had drunk no more than a glass and a half of champagne and a glass of red wine, and was not tipsy.

But the club's barrister Catherine Foster pointed out medical records from her arrival at hospital, in which she was described as "obviously drunk" and "intoxicated". In her ruling, Judge Baucher found Mrs Hussein was under the influence, although she said she may have been affected by painkillers and the fact she had not had alcohol for six months before the accident.

"I find that the notes in the hospital records referred to her being intoxicated because she was so," said the judge. There was nothing wrong with the lighting in the stairwell, continued Judge Baucher, who visited the scene of the accident during the trial. Hundreds of people use the stairs every week and yet there had only been one other report of a person falling down, she said. Mrs Hussein had fallen because she had missed her step, something for which Ronnie Scott's management could not be blamed.

"In ordinary circumstances, she, like countless others, would have descended the staircase and gone home," continued the judge. "However, on that evening, whether due to one or more of the factors - painkillers, weight, shoes, drink - she simply missed her footing. "I find she did so through no fault on the part of Ronnie Scott's." Her damages claim was rejected.

@Rancid-Schnitzel said in US Politics:

Yep, it's the blatant hypocrisy that shits me.

Me too. Its the worst.

@NTA

Mattis looks impressed. In other good news -

Condé Nast  /  May 26, 2017  /  tags

As Trump’s Problems Mount, Breitbart’s Numbers Are Cratering

A media business based on attack has been much less successful when forced to defend.

With its former chairman Steve Bannon as White House chief strategist and plans for an ambitious international expansion, Breitbart was supposed to be on its way to becoming a media behemoth in the Trump era, one with unparalleled access and a passionate audience. “While several publishers have enjoyed an uptick in traffic due to election coverage, we are proud to have built a massive and deeply-rooted community that will remain long after the election cycle fades,” Larry Solov, Breitbart’s C.E.O., predicted back in November.

Early on, Solov’s prediction seemed to be coming true. “Breitbart News is the #45th most trafficked website in the United States, according to rankings from Amazon’s analytics company, Alexa.com,” they wrote on January 9, 2017. “With over two billion pageviews generated in 2016 and 45 million unique monthly visitors, Breitbart News has now surpassed Fox News (#47), Huffington Post (#50), Washington Post (#53), and Buzzfeed (#64) in traffic.” A month later, the site had even greater cause to celebrate. “Breitbart News is now the 29th most trafficked site in the United States, surpassing PornHub and ESPN,” they crowed. In the article, its staffers bragged that their bonkers traffic reflected the site’s cementing a permanent place in American politics. “The numbers speak for themselves,” said Solov. (Many outlets, including The Hive, experienced traffic peaks around Trump’s inauguration.)

Just a few months later, the numbers have a different story to tell. As of May 26, 2017, according to Alexa.com—the same web-ranking analytics company that Breitbart drew its numbers from in January—Fox News is the 64th most-trafficked site in the country. Huffington Post is at 60. Buzzfeed is at 50. The Washington Post, on the strength of a series of eye-popping scoops, is at 41.

Breitbart is in 281st place.

ICC KnockOut

The man behind New Zealand's world title

In 2000, New Zealand won the ICC Knockout in Nairobi, but the coach behind that achievement, David Trist, is largely forgotten

Good Cricinfo article about the last time we won anything

Best bit is the way they go out of their way to say 3 cricketers in particular were "forefull" as opposed to "assholes"!

May 25, 2017  /  Politics

Carrier Sends Jobs to Mexico, Workers Say Trump ‘Misled’ Them

The president promised to save 1,100 Indiana jobs, but the company never agreed and now six months later, they’re beginning layoffs.

Carrier, the company Trump intervened personally with to save their jobs & handed out a huge subsidy have now announced what everyone sane knew. They are axing 600 jobs. 300 now & 300 just in time for xmas.

They are keeping the subsidy

What its like to be struck by lightning

This is what it’s like to be struck by lightning

If you’re hit by lightning, there’s a nine in ten chance you’ll survive. But what are the lasting effects of being exposed to hundreds of millions of volts? Charlotte Huff finds out.

@Baron-Silas-Greenback said in US Politics:

Punched him on the ground? First I heard of that, got a source?

Alicia Acuna  /  May 23, 2017

Greg Gianforte: Fox News team witnesses GOP House candidate 'body slam' reporter

The race to fill Montana's sole seat in the U.S. House of Representatives took a violent turn Wednesday, and a crew from the Fox News Channel witnessed it firsthand.

At that point, Gianforte grabbed Jacobs by the neck with both hands and slammed him into the ground behind him. Faith, Keith and I watched in disbelief as Gianforte then began punching the reporter. As Gianforte moved on top of Jacobs, he began yelling something to the effect of, "I'm sick and tired of this!"

You should start watching Fox News. From what I hear its fair & unbiased

@Donsteppa

I'm looking forward to this being appointed...

@Baron-Silas-Greenback said in US Politics:

So violence in politics not ok?
Cool. Sounds good to me... now lets hope the media keeps to that standard.

The media are.

The Fox news report clearly said the Guardian reporter was not abusive & at no time even touched Gianforte, Gianforte then grabbed him by the throat & threw him to the ground repeatedly punching him. Then lied about it. Then got called out by Fox News.

This was an all round "well done" to all the media concerned & a huge ciminal lying fail to the GOP candidate.

@Crucial

I'm cool with Ardie going forward.

Where he was found out last year & lost out to Todd was he is very unimposing in defence. Cane puts in huge hits, he wins the tackle almost everytime, Ardie just rides the tackle down & looks to pilfer, which in test rugby lets the player over the gain line & sees you creamed by the player cleaning out.

@canefan

Interesting bit there for all the people going "The muslim community must step up!"

They did. They stepped up time & time again. Almost every muslim he interacted with was horrified over his views & many flagged him directly to the police. Its hard to think what more they could have done. (tho' I'm sure someone will try...)