A fresh coat of whitewash

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Penn State University to honour the late, disgraced Joe Paterno — he who overlooked what his defensive coordinator, Jerry Sandusky, was doing to children for years — with a museum exhibit. {ESPN 2 September}

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/49804479/penn-state-open-paterno-family-football-experience

Should we be surprised in a country that allows a likely paedophile to be president? No matter, in any event. Whitewashing the tarnished legacy of their beloved ‘Joe Pa’, and that of the football programme itself, hath always appeared to matter far more to these people than confronting the full moral weight of the scandal. Those whose lives were forever ruined by Sandusky’s actions — and by the inaction of Paterno and numerous other culpable parties in State College — can just suck it up, I suppose. 

FTA: Penn State has announced it is opening the Paterno Family Football Experience Room in the All-Sports Museum inside Beaver Stadium on Thursday, a "permanent museum experience" the school says will celebrate Penn State's football history.

The museum will now include a Joe Paterno exhibit, featuring the former Penn State coach's original office desk and workspace, personal artifacts and a curated timeline documenting significant moments from his more than six decades with the Nittany Lions. The museum will also hold Penn State trophies, commemorating past achievements by individual teams and players.

"Penn State Football's history belongs to generations of student-athletes, coaches, staff and supporters who helped build this program," athletic director Pat Kraft said in a statement. "This room gives us an opportunity to preserve that history, present it thoughtfully and create an experience that connects the proud tradition of Penn State Football with its future."

The museum exhibit will open a little over 14 years since the school removed Paterno's statue outside the stadium, in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky's crimes. Sandusky, a former Penn State assistant under Paterno, was convicted in 2012 of sexually abusing 10 boys over a 15-year period and sentenced to at least 30 years in prison. Paterno was fired in November 2011.

An internal report headed by former FBI director Louis Freeh later concluded that Paterno and other university leaders "failed to protect against a child sexual predator harming children for over a decade." The university and the Paterno family came to a settlement over the Freeh report in 2020. In that settlement release, the Penn State Trustees said the Freeh report contained "opinions about individuals and matters that are not shared by the university."

Paterno, who won 409 games from 1966 to 2011 at Penn State, died in 2012, just months after his firing. The Nittany Lions, under new coach Matt Campbell, open the season Saturday at home against Marshall.

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If only the British had maintained control of the colonies. 4th of July #Murica 2022: Mass shooting at parade in Illinois, the Supreme Court continues its assault on sanity, Russia claims control of key Ukrainian province, and COVID rises again

Another night of idiots who can't hear us over the sound of them exercising their 'freedom.' Bombs going off everywhere, the dog was about to have a heart attack. Upon many years of experience, reflection, and logical examination, this is a really stupid country on so many levels. This is a country for Darwinian bullies and psychopaths. Sorry, just not feeling this whole #Murica thing anymore.

Lynn Sweet/Chicago Sun-Times/AP

Mass shooting at 4th of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois - Turn out the lights and end this s**t show already. (AP 7/04)

Lowlife scum identified as the person of interest in the Highland Park shooting ‘left a long trail of tributes to mass shootings and public killings on social media platforms’ - A real winner here. Performed as a white-boy rapper under the alias ‘Awake,’ and is the son of a failed mayoral candidate. (NBC News 7/04)

AP/Salon

GOP gubernatorial candidate in Illinois, not even hours after the mass shooting that has devastated his state and the nation: Let’s move on and celebrate - How do we ever reconcile with people of this mindset, which represents a good percentage of the country? We’re f**ked. Sorry, folks, we’re f**ked. {And I am sorry, I know the Raw Story site loads like crap and slows down any device one is using, I'm just too pissed to even try to find a better source at the moment. F**king bulls**t to all Hades.} (Raw Story 7/04)

Going back to Nixon’s ‘Southern Strategy,’ and accelerating greatly during Barack Obama’s presidency and the rise of Donald Trump, Republicans have appealed to confirmation biases to hoodwink millions of (mostly white, ‘working-class’) Americans into supporting their nation-killing, undemocratic policies. The Republican Party must now die; not in the way innocent victims of mass gun violence have, because we know that isn’t happening and the rest of us are not barbarians. No, because their individual consciences finally catch up with them. But, who are we kidding? They are going to sweep the mid-terms and win the presidency in 2024. We all know it, we all know most of our fellow citizens are awful people who would laugh while watching their neighbors being dragged off to death camps. We know the Democratic Party must really suck to have allowed things to progress to this dire stage, where attending a 4th of July parade - or, literally, any event or any place at all, even being in one’s own home - means risks being shot to death, and nobody is allowed to complain about it because ‘freedom.’

Very funny that #Cult45 proclaims to be so anti-socialist, yet they worship Trump with the same fervor as if he were Joseph Stalin, demanding the same of the rest of us. And they worship the United States itself as if it were the very (perverted) ideal the Soviet Union spent 70 years trying to impose upon its citizens. So, screw ‘em, because they’ve ruined the idea of patriotism in America. The flag has become nothing more than a fashion statement, courtesy of those jackasses who never stop bellowing about their ostensible love of country while s**ting on everything it is supposed to stand for. The Founding Fathers would never have fought had they known it would come to this (and, yes, I asked them.) #Murica

‘What accounts for the blithe dismissal of potentially cataclysmic threats?’ Sen. Mitt Romney calls out the American people for being in denial about the pathetic state of the republic - Says a return to Trump ‘would feed the sickness, probably rendering it incurable.’ Agreed, but he and the few remaining sane Republicans need to disavow themselves of any illusion that the GOP can be saved - or is worth saving - and declare themselves independents. (Mediate 7/04)

Fascist outlet Patriot Front demonstrates in Boston on Saturday, and there is violence - One {African-American} man is injured in an altercation with these white supremacist goons. (WCVB 7/03)

Supreme Court issues ruling limiting the EPA’s authority to regulate climate standards at power plants - For the longest time, I didn’t buy into climate change. Until, as with a lot of crap I used to believe, the reality couldn’t be denied any longer. Even now it’s not my area of expertise. Considering that this court is apparently trying to destroy the nation as it currently stands, what would be a few more carbon emissions into the environment? Once the right of women to drive is rescinded and two-thirds of the population have either been eliminated or have fled the country, there will be fewer cars on the road. Christofascists and their allies tend to hate cities, so destroying those should also help clean the air. Hmmm, perhaps the extreme right are onto something after all, and are not the anti-environmentalists they’re often mistaken for. Just as they defend freedom of speech by constantly belittling and threatening anyone with differing points of view. Just as how they support science by rejecting vaccines and facemasks in the middle of the largest global pandemic in over a century. Really, not too surprising that Fascists would love Mother Earth, in their own unique way. Hitler was quite the environmentalist by the standards of his time. (John Sutter, CNN 6/30)

Russia claims control over Luhansk province, Ukrainian forces withdraw from the pivotal city of Lysychansk - God willing, Ukraine will restore authority over its territory, and liberate the residents of these regions from Russian aggression. A setback, not a defeat. (AP 7/03)

Several people dead in mass shooting at Copenhagen shopping mall - America’s sickness is spreading. (AP 7/03)

‘Two Omicron subvariants are now causing more than half of new coronavirus infections in the United States—and both are very good at dodging antibodies in people who have been vaccinated and boosted, as well as in people who had a previous COVID-19 infection.’ (National Geographic 7/01)

Ohio: 14-year-old tiger dies at Columbus Zoo from pneumonia caused by COVID-19 - Rest in Peace, Jupiter. (WLWT 6/30)

USC and UCLA to the Big Ten? - What the f**k!? Geographically this is stupid, obviously, but at the highest levels of college sports geography is simply no longer a concern. No conspiracy theories needed: The SEC, Big Ten, and their broadcast partners (chiefly, ESPN) are boldly and deliberately consolidating their power and ensuring no other schools or conferences will ever again be competitive with them, on the field and off. The few remaining major powers outside those two conferences will be absorbed within the next few years, and we’ll never see even an ACC, Big 12, or Pac 12 school win another national championship.  Or if they do, it’ll be at a new level between FBS and FCS, as those three conferences and the five current mid-majors will be entirely frozen out of FBS (now only consisting of the SEC and Big Ten) and compelled to form their own, secondary division. We may even see FBS split into three, with ACC/Big 12/Pac 12 being the second division, and the current mid-majors being third division. FCS would now be Division IV, the current Division II becomes Division V, and the current Division III will become Division VI. All of this is so bloody ridiculous, and it’s part of what is slowly killing my interest in this sport. Even the pretense of these players being student-athletes is disappearing, (FanNation 6/30)

A little history on how musicians were routinely pressed into service by municipalities as first responders in medieval Europe. (Ted Gioia 7/02)

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University of Tennessee football program concludes internal investigation into rule violations

Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports

No self-imposed bowl ban, but there’s no guarantee they will qualify for a bowl to begin with. In any given year. Tennessee is not an elite program anymore, and probably will not be for a long time. And college football is a shady business, as much as we love it -

The University of Tennessee has concluded its year-long internal investigation into rules violations within the football program that led to the firing of head football coach Jeremy Pruitt and will not self-impose a bowl ban, the university announced Thursday.

In a statement, the university said it was "moving forward with our focus on rebuilding our football program and supporting student-athletes" and that it would "hold ourselves accountable considering the nature of the violations, our prompt investigation and corrective personnel, the new recruiting environment and other factors."

Sources told ESPN that the university does plan to self-impose penalties other than a postseason ban such as a reduction in scholarships and other recruiting restrictions. The university has yet to receive a notice of allegations from the NCAA, according to sources.

While the NCAA has been heavily involved in Tennessee's internal probe, which was aided by former NCAA investigator Michael Glazier and the Bond, Schoeneck & King law firm, the NCAA has yet to make a final ruling on Tennessee's case and could still levy its own penalties.

"NCAA bylaws prevent us from sharing details of the investigation at this time, but we do commit to providing that information when we are able," the university said in a statement. (Read more)

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Legendary college football coach Bobby Bowden dies at 91

Photo: AP

Possibly the greatest college football coach of all-time. The wins record certainly would back that up, but statistics do not speak for the heart, character, intelligence, vision, and determination the man possessed. Rest in Peace, Coach Bowden ...

ESPN -  Longtime Florida State football coach Bobby Bowden dies at 91

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End of the Trump presidency

Reflecting on the last four years, feeling grief for all that was broken, corrupted, lost. If only possible, if we could now go into a season of hibernation like grizzly bears. We all need the rest; alas, even with better leadership nothing is getting easier anytime soon. I will forever be proud to have been an original #NeverTrumper from 2015 onward, and to have joined with so many good folks in the #NeverTrump movement. And we continue on: We made our point about Trump, but the business of punishing the GOP remains. As for Mr. Biden, I pledge support but never sycophancy. His presidency will be judged fairly and honestly here.

‘It became sort of lawless.’ Multitudes of problems with the COVID vaccine rollout in Florida, Texas, and elsewhere. Demand far exceeds supply

First case of the more infectious COVID variant originating in the UK confirmed to have briefly passed through Massachusetts, via Logan Airport stop-over

Lame-duck president lifts COVID travel restrictions for air travelers from Europe and Brazil, beginning January 26. But Biden spokeswoman says the new president will immediately overturn that order

Only country in the world where this can be claimed: China reports its economy grew by 2.3% in 2020, though retail sales are down sharply and COVID cases back up

U.S. Capitol Police chief steps aside days earlier than scheduled

Insane. The United States teetering on the edge of officially being a banana republic: ‘U.S. defense officials say they are worried about an insider attack or other threat from service members involved in securing President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, prompting the FBI to vet all of the 25,000 National Guard troops coming into Washington for the event’

FBI: Far-right groups planning ‘armed protests’ at all fifty state capitals and at the U.S. Capitol prior to Inauguration Day

FBI arrests Capitol rioter and  ‘Cowboys for Trump’ leader - New Mexico county commissioner Couy Griffin - after he publicly threatened to return fully armed to the Capitol to place a flag on Pelosi’s desk

Giuliani under investigation by the New York State Bar Association following ‘let’s have a trial by combat’ line at January 6 ‘Save America’ rally

Heavy metal guitarist photographed pepper-spraying police officers during the Capitol riot turns himself into the FBI

How about that? Research lab finds election fraud misinformation online dropped 73% in the week following Twitter’s ban of the lame-duck president

An epic failure, all the way around: ‘Others will continue to fan the flames of extremism.’ Political scientists reveal how Trump has forever changed American politics

‘He was just everywhere.’ A tired country after four years of Trump

Biden nominates Dr. Rachel Levine - Pennsylvania’s top health official - to assistant secretary of health, the first transgender individual to be nominated to any post requiring Senate confirmation

Let’s hope he reconsiders this. Green energy is going to take decades to become common-place; meanwhile, we can’t remain dependent on foreign adversaries: Biden indicates he will sign Executive Order canceling Keystone XL pipeline permit

Prayers for this man: Putin poisoning victim Alexei Navalny returns to Russia to serve thirty-day sentence

In spite of pandemic, single-family home sales hit sixteen-year high in Massachusetts

COVID killed Phil Spector

Rest in Peace, Don Sutton. Hall of Fame pitcher dies at 75

Roll Tide: Congratulations to Alabama on winning the national championship game over Ohio State, 52-24. An excellent performance, especially by DeVonta Smith. Nick Saban’s record seventh championship. Have to hand it to the Crimson Tide!

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