#Draft dated Nov 14 2021

[aiura-stan]

Skate or Die? Nah, how about Don’t Skate AND die. Makoto dies, that is. I will be fine.

[pharawee]

Here's a quick machine-translation of the timeline shown in the image, for those curious about the key dates of legalising same-sex marriage in Thailand (full text under the read more):

The Journey of Equality

2555 (2012)

► Natee Theerarojanaphong filed a complaint after being rejected marriage at Mueang District Office, Chiang Mai Province

►The public sector begins to study and work in protecting families of diverse genders

Proposal for solving problems for establishment same sex family (a term used at that time) was already being talked about in civil society before 2012.

2556 (2013)

► A draft initiative was born. Civil Partnership Act in the government of Ms. Yingluck Shinawatra

► The Law Reform Commission (CRC) together with the civil society sector began Marriage Act (Public Sector)

2557 (2014)

► Coup

2560 (2017)

Civil society organizes IDAHOT Day, presenting Rainbow Family Supported by the World Bank at that time, the Department of Rights and Liberties proposed the Civil Partnership Act. And some civil society members issued a statement of support. Amendments to the Civil and Commercial Code By using the thesis work of Chawinroj Teerapatcharaporn.

2561 (2018)

Public sector holds 10th anniversary event Gender Diversity Rights Day. Submit a proposal for equal marriage to 10 parties. Chawinrot Teerapatcharaporn's equal marriage was used as the main content of Politics using research (draft) drafting equal marriage of Political parties and the public sector.

2563 (2020)

► Permsap and Puangphet filed a petition with the Central Juvenile and Family Court to have the Constitutional Court consider discrimination on the basis of gender from the inability of same-sex marriage to be registered.

► 18 June 2020: Move Forward [*political party] submitted a draft of the Equal Marriage Act to the House of Representatives.

8 July 2020: The Cabinet resolved to approve the draft principles. Marriage Act.

►November 2020: Draft of the Equal Marriage Act puts agenda items into council meetings.

2564 (2021)

►17 Nov. 2021: The Constitutional Court has ruled that marriage can only be between a man and a woman.

► 28 Nov. 2021: The "Rainbow Alliance for Equal Marriage" group opens for submissions. Draft of the Equal Marriage Act, public sector, via www.support1448.org (there are 360,000+ names listed).

2565 (2022)

9 Feb. Draft of the Equal Marriage Act. Entering the council for the 1st term. But the council resolved to send it to the Cabinet for study before 60 days.

► March 29, Cabinet voted not to accept the draft Marriage Equality Act.

5 June, Bangkok Narumit Pride parade, calling for equal marriage. June 7, Cabinet proposes the Civil Partnership Act to Parliament.

► 16 June: The House of Representatives passes the draft Marriage Equality Act. Draft of the Civil Partnership Act, Agenda 1, will be considered for Agenda 2 and 3 in the House of Representatives.

2566 (2023)

► 17 Mar: Parliament dissolved.

► 14 May: Elections

4 July: Opening of the House of Representatives.

1 Sep. Draft of the Equal Marriage Act and the Draft Civil Partnership Act. Rejected from the House because it was not taken into consideration by The new Cabinet that can be formed within 60 days after the opening of the new parliament.

► 21 Dec: The House of Representatives accepted the principles of the proposed equal marriage law, 4 bills, for consideration in the first session and appointed an extraordinary committee to consider in Agenda 2 before bringing it back to the meeting to approve the entire version in Agenda 3.

► One more time to propose equal marriage to the House of Representatives.

2567 (2024)

▶ 4 Jan: Start considering the draft Marriage Equality Act.

► 14 Mar: Commissioners, including public sector commissioners and public sector advisors. Consideration of the draft Equal Marriage Act has been completed.

► 27 Mar: Bring the draft bill to the House of Representatives for consideration in Agenda 2 and 3 to go to the Senate within April.

The tweet is great; the graphic is better. The tweet:

The graphic:

[debbiechanclub]

𝗡𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗲 𝗞𝗲𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗻 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲

So, as part of trying to plot out/make sense of what (and who) happened when in TMHWMP, I basically wrote an entire career and personal timeline for Nellie 😅 And because I spent so much time on it (and with some encouragement from @hdbngsprnva), I decided to go ahead and post it. It’s organized by promotion (kind of like how they do it on Wikipedia), and there are NO SPOILERS for things that have yet to happen in TMHWMP. For my lovely readers, I hope it enhances the story for you as much as it has for me! 😊 Or you might just see how unnecessarily in-depth I get with this stuff, that’s fair too.

𝗡𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗲 𝗞𝗲𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗻

𝗕𝗶𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗱𝗮𝘆: Sept. 19, 1992 𝗕𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺: Allentown, Pennsylvania 𝗛𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: 5′8″ 𝗛𝗮𝗶𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗿: Dark Brown 𝗘𝘆𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗿: Hazel 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗕𝘆: Chikara Wrestle Factory 𝗗𝗲𝗯𝘂𝘁: July 2015 𝗪𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝘁𝘆𝗹𝗲: Technical/Striker

𝗘𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿

✦ Following her debut, Nellie begins wrestling for independent promotions in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, most notably SHINE.

𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗘 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝗩𝗢𝗟𝗩𝗘 (𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟲-𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟴)

✦ 𝗘𝗩𝗢𝗟𝗩𝗘 𝟴𝟱 (May 21, 2017): Nellie makes her EVOLVE debut in a winning match against Priscilla Kelly.           ↳ Meets Zack Sabre Jr., who’s in the middle of his 404-day reign as EVOLVE Champion. They begin dating shortly thereafter. 

✦ The match against Priscilla Kelly kicks off a long-term feud that spans across both Evolve and SHINE.

✦ 𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗘 𝟰𝟰 (Jul. 16, 2017): Nellie loses to Priscilla Kelly in the tournament final to crown the inaugural SHINE Nova Champion.

✦ 🏆 𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗘 𝟰𝟵 (Mar. 10, 2018): Nellie wins her first career title when she defeats Priscilla Kelly for the SHINE Nova Championship.

✦ 𝗘𝗩𝗢𝗟𝗩𝗘 𝟵𝟴 (Jan. 13, 2018): Nellie returns to EVOLVE for the first time since her debut when she comes to ZSJ’s aid when he’s attacked by Austin Theory and Priscilla Kelly after his EVOLVE Championship defense against Darby Allin.           ↳ This marks the start of Nellie’s working relationship with ZSJ. Nellie manages him throughout the rest of his EVOLVE Championship reign, which leads to her both managing and tagging with him in RevPro and PROGRESS in the UK, and later NJPW.

✦ ❌ 𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗘 𝟱𝟰 (Nov. 2, 2018): Nellie loses the SHINE Nova Championship to Aja Perera after 237 days.

𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗦 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗣𝗿𝗼 (𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟴-𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟭)

✦ 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗣𝗿𝗼 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟴 (Jan. 20): Nellie makes her RevPro and UK debut when she accompanies Suzuki-gun (ZSJ and Minoru Suzuki) for their successful RevPro British Tag Team Championship title shot against Moustache Mountain (Trent Seven and Tyler Bate).

✦ 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗦 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝟲𝟮 (Jan. 28, 2018): Nellie makes her PROGRESS debut when she shows up to seemingly challenge PROGRESS Women’s Champion Toni Storm after her title defense against Chakara.           ↳ During her first tour of the UK, Nellie stays with ZSJ... and living together makes them realize that they’re more compatible as friends 🙃 However, after their mutual break-up, they become closer than they were when they were dating, and they continue to work together.

✦ 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗣𝗿𝗼 𝗟𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗽𝗶𝘁 𝟮𝟳 (Mar. 4, 2018): Nellie accompanies ZSJ for his RevPro British Heavyweight Championship defense against El Phantasmo.           ↳ Nellie and ELP hit it off. They become friends, and begin a casual, no-strings-attached “relationship” in Summer 2018 that lasts until March 2020.

✦ 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗦 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝟲𝟳 (Apr. 7, 2018): Nellie unsuccessfully challenges Toni Storm for the PROGRESS Women’s Championship in New Orleans over WrestleMania 34 weekend.

✦ 🏆 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗣𝗿𝗼 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟬 (Feb. 14): One week after winning the Stardom Artist of Stardom Championship, Nellie defeats Zoe Lucas to become a double champion and the first American to hold the RevPro Undisputed British Women’s Championship.

✦ 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗣𝗿𝗼 𝗦𝗵𝗲'𝘀 𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟬 (Mar. 7): Nellie defends the RevPro British Undisputed Women’s Championship against Little Miss Roxy.           ↳ Due to the pandemic, this is the last show Nellie works in the UK until September 2020. Additionally, it’s the last time she sees ELP until December 2020.

𝗪𝗪𝗘 (𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟴)

✦ 𝗠𝗮𝗲 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗰 (taped Aug. 8-9, 2018): Nellie participates in the second Mae Young Classic. She’s defeated in the quarterfinals by Meiko Satomura.           ↳ Nellie hopes to get a contract offer from WWE/NXT. However, she doesn’t. The rejection—and her friendship and working relationship with ZSJ—encourages her to pursue wrestling in Japan.

𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗡𝗝𝗣𝗪 (𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟵-𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁)

✦ 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟵 (Jan. 3): Nellie makes her Stardom and Japan debut in a battle royal match.           ↳ Meets Torrance Taylor and they instantly hit it off. Through their friendship, Nellie meets Jay White and the rest of Bullet Club.

✦ Spring 2019: Nellie is drafted to join Queen’s Quest; Bea Priestley is also in Queen’s Quest at this time.           ↳ ELP joins Bullet Club in March 2019. He and Nellie begin to spend more time together, and she realizes that she wants something more serious with him. Meanwhile, Jay seems to have an interest in Nellie.

✦ 𝗚𝟭 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘅 𝟮𝟵 𝗡𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝟭 (Jul. 6, 2019): Nellie makes her NJPW debut when she accompanies ZSJ for his match against Sanada at the G1 Climax in Dallas.           ↳ Through her management of ZSJ in NJPW and him and Minoru Suzuki in RevPro, Nellie becomes a member of Suzuki-gun.

✦ 𝗚𝗼𝗱𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝗧𝗮𝗴 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗴𝘂𝗲 𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟵 (Oct. 14-Nov. 15): Nellie teams with Torrance in the Goddesses of Stardom Tag League, despite being in difference factions (Torrance is in Tokyo Cyber Squad).

✦ January 2020: Nellie defects from Queen’s Quest to Donna del Mondo.           ↳ Nellie moves to Tokyo. She lives with ZSJ until she gets her own apartment.

✦ 🏆 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗠𝗮𝗷𝗼𝗿 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗴𝘂𝗲 (Feb. 8, 2020): Donna del Mondo (Nellie, Giulia, and Syuri) defeat Queen’s Quest (AZM, Momo Watanabe, and Utami Hayashishita) to win the Stardom Artist of Stardom Championship.

✦ ❌ 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝗞𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗸𝘂𝗲𝗻 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗲 (Nov. 14, 2020): Donna del Mondo loses the Artist of Stardom Championship to Oedo Tai (Bea Priestley, Natsuko Tora, and Saki Kashima) after 280 days.

✦ 𝗪𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝟭𝟱 𝗡𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝟮 (Jan. 5, 2021): Alongside Donna del Mondo stablemates HImeka and Natsupoi, Nellie makes her Wrestle Kingdom debut in a six-woman tag team exhibition match in a losing effort against Queen’s Quest (AZM, Saya Kamitani, and Utami Hayashishita). However, despite the loss, Nellie becomes one of just a handful of women to wrestle at Wrestle Kingdom—and the first gaijin woman.

[sevenfactorial]

Info about applying to PhD programs in pure math

This is... basically what it sounds like. I’m sure a lot of this is applicable to other PhD applications but I’m only very familiar with pure math. This is aimed at current seniors about to apply, but there is a section about prepping for applications in advance.

The highlights:

Recommendation letters are the most important thing. Most schools ask for 3ish. Try to get people who know you well, not just a student in the class. Someone you've conducted research with and one from a different institution are ideal if possible

Ask for rec letters at least a month before the due date is a good rule of thumb.

Research experience is probably the second most important.

Get the opinion of multiple professors who know you in order to build a list of potential schools. Then widdle it down to your will-actually-apply list (probably 8-14 ish). 

My opinion but please apply to at least 3-4 safety/match schools. Even when you're fully qualified, acceptance rates are simply low enough that a bit of bad luck means getting rejected or waitlisted from a few of them.

Most pure math due dates are in early-mid Dec but a few schools are in Nov and some are as late as mid-Jan. 

Schools will generally have their own graduate application portals. Some are better organized than others. Some require you to submit all your material before you can send a request for submitting rec letters so plan accordingly.

Acceptance letters will very slowly start going out in mid-Feb but the vast majority of programs won't send out anything until like, March and not be done until later than that. Accordingly, wait until at least mid-March to begin freaking out if you haven't been accepted anywhere.

You should 100% be expecting a tuition waiver and stipend from a program if you're applying for a PhD.

The rest of the posts is.... ridiculously long so I’m putting it under a cut. I mention things to do in advance to help you decide if grad school is right for you and things that make your application look good, give a full time line of the process, a list of things applications commonly ask for, and some miscellaneous notes. (The points above are repeated in more detail).

In addition, some links to other resources math students may appreciate:

an old post of mine about grad school apps (overlaps a lot and features some ranting from during the application process)

about REUs including my addition specifically about math ones

summer programs for undergrads that aren’t REUs by @counter-example and @jungleuniversity

Tips for prospective grad student visits 

Also about prospective grad student visits by @thisurlhasbeenleftasanexercise

Also for context, I went to a large state school in the US for undergrad. I started as a CS major and added on math as a secondary major after my first year and dropped CS during third year. I’m primarily interested in discrete and algebra, though I have a significant topology background from undergrad too. I got most of my advice from people around the department, as I became pretty involved during my third year. Now, I’m a first year grad student at another large state school in the US, generally considered pretty decent though not a “top math program” at all. Not that much else has happened so far.

Things in advance (aka things to help you decide if grad school is for you and things that look good on an application)

Take the standard classes. For pure math, this is at least one semester of linear alg, abstract alg, and analysis each. Linear and analysis are also good for applied math but I'm not sure what else if anything is considered standard.

Take some grad classes if you have the option. Most people are not ready for this until senior year, but some do manage as juniors. Talk to people who know you well and the prof teaching the class before you do this though.

Try to get involved with research whether this is through independent studies at your home institution, REUs, internships, or other stuff.

Be involved in your department. This helps with getting you more personalized advice for applying.

The rough suggested timeline (assuming junior yr is your second to last year and senior is your last of undergrad)

Junior April: Take the math subject GRE so you can take it again in Sep or Oct if desired (perhaps not applicable atm). The general can be taken kinda whenever; I suggest fall of senior year.

Junior April/May: Start talking to professors/post docs/mentors/etc. about programs you may be interested in. Write/type it down. Don't worry if it gets long, you will shorten again later.

Summer: Do some research if possible; an REU or research at your institution (if an REU, also get your mentor's opinion on potential schools towards the end as well)

Senior Sep: Start whittling down your list. 8-14 seems to be the "normal" range of schools to apply to but some people panic and do more. Remember that asking for waivers is completely acceptable but applying is still just generally expensive (I spent around $800 for 10 schools)

Senior Sep: Apply for the NSF GRFP. You can apply as an undergrad senior and once during your first or second year of grad school if you didn't already get it. The due date is in mid-late OC but ideally you'll have a draft of your essays and ask for rec letters by the end of Sep, if not earlier.

Senior early Nov: Ask for rec letters if you haven't already. The rule of thumb is a month before the due date. Provide them a list of schools you want to apply to including due date and where/how to submit as soon as possible (as well as anything else they request of course; many ask for a resume and a draft of your personal statement).

Senior Dec-Jan: Submit stuff! Pure math programs typically have deadlines in Dec or early Jan. I think the big days are Dec 10th, Dec 15th, and Jan 15th but some are earlier or later. (applied math masters tend to be earlier I think; in Nov). I suggest putting them all into a list or calendar. In addition, some schools won't let letter writers submit until all of your stuff is submitted so start applications early, even if you don't finish them immediately.

Senior Feb: Programs will slowly start sending out offers in early Feb and pick up in mid Feb, but don't fret until AT LEAST the beginning of March! Grad programs are just way too slow at getting out offers for it to be worth worrying until then (and even then, it's definitely not time to panic but mathematicians are frequently anxious people so I get it). Waitlists are slower to come out; usually starting in early March. Also note, there are many programs that don't actually send out replies to everyone unfortunately.

Senior late Feb-early April: prospective student days! They might be online in 2021 unfortunately but try to attend whatever form they're in if you can (only one of my visits during spring 2020 was online since the others happen to be very early and safely beat covid in the US). Be warned, it's very possible to get offers of admissions and to visit very last minute. I do not have advice for how to make that less stressful.

Senior April 15th: Common reply deadline. If you got your offer in the first round or two, this is probably your deadline to accept. In addition, this means more offers will likely come out shortly after once more people have declined. 

Senior summer: graduate. Send a completed, official transcript to your new institution. Check your new email account for stuff you're suppose to do. Some programs have some sort of program during the summer for in-coming students. Most places have graduate student training of some sort for a week or two before semester starts. 

Some common things to be asked for in applications

Not actually a thing asked for but many graduate schools have their own portal for which you will have to make an account to submit an application. A few use a common system that kinda sort shares a database of accounts? Some are fine and some massively suck.

Personal Statement/Statement of Purpose: Occasionally called something else and once in a while actually separate things; will usually have a prompt of wildly differing specificity. Sometimes, the prompts come from the department itself and sometimes from the university's graduate school. I suggest having one or two "base" essays then tweaking them for each school. Sometimes a word/page limit is specified but if it's not, around 2 pages/1000 words is pretty reasonable.

Transcript. Some accept unofficial but some require official but generally not an unsealed one. I ordered myself one official transcript and sent it to multiple schools instead of paying for them to be sent to each school during the application process.

Resume or CV: Most ask for either a CV or is fine with either, in which case I give them my CV. I sent more or less the same one everywhere.

Some other notes

Yes, ask for application waivers. Just be polite about it.

Your goals for your essays are primarily to show that you're interested in math and math research and are capable of like…. writing things that make sense

Do not start out an essay with either "I loved math since I was little" or "I actually didn't like math when I was young" or any variations of those. (I had one essay that started with a mildly humourous anecdote from undergrad combinatorics and another that talked about how my undergrad department has greatly affected me).

You should 100% expect to get a tuition waiver and living stipend as part of a TA fellowship (or more rarely, an research fellowship) as part of your offer of acceptance for a math PhD program (pure or applied). Health insurance is also frequently part of the package. This is not true of masters programs unfortunately.

How schools do waitlists depend wildly though most don't have super long ones like prestigious undergrads do. If you're still interested in a place you're waitlisted at, follow their instructions to confirm your placement on the waitlist then wait until April before following up again, expressing your continued interest and asking for an update. You might even want to wait until around the common deadline, April 15th. The number of people who declined before April is just really really low so nothing really happens until then.

[junker-town]

Klay Thompson’s return is imminent. Here’s the Warriors’ star’s timetable

Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/NBAE via Getty Images

When is Klay coming back? We have the latest info on the return of the Warriors star.

Klay Thompson was a vital part of three championship teams for the Golden State Warriors, but it’s been years since the star shooting guard has competed on an NBA court. Thompson tore his ACL during Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals, and hasn’t played since. That’s only one of the devastating injuries he suffered in his attempt to return to action.

The Warriors knew they would be getting Thompson back at some point during the 2021-2022 season. They just didn’t know when. Thompson’s impending return looms over the rest of the championship picture as the Warriors have gotten off to the best start in the NBA.

Golden State won 18 of its first 20 games to start the year. Stephen Curry is the front-runner for MVP. Draymond Green is a serious contender for Defensive Player of the Year. The depth has been improved, led by the veteran additions of Nemanja Bjelica and Otto Porter Jr., and the development of Jordan Poole and Gary Payton II. The Phoenix Suns are the only team in the league playing at the Warriors’ level right now. It’s scary to think about what they could look like once Thompson returns.

Why has Thompson been out for so long? When is he coming back? What will the Warriors look like when he finally does return? Let’s go through the other Splash Brother’s long awaited return to the floor.

Klay Thompson’s torn ACL hung over the 2019 NBA Finals

The Warriors entered the 2019 NBA Finals as a heavy favorite against the Toronto Raptors, but injuries derailed their chance to three-peat. Kevin Durant had suffered a right calf injury in the Western Conference Finals against the Houston Rockets, and didn’t make his debut in the Finals until Game 5. KD started Game 5 on a scoring binge, but eventually suffered a torn Achilles that took him out for the series and all of the following season after he signed with the Brooklyn Nets.

Thompson’s injury happened in the third quart of Game 6 with the series on the line. Klay was diagnosed with a torn ACL in his left knee. He hasn’t returned to the court since it happened on June 13, 2019.

Klay Thompson tore his Achilles while rehabbing his torn ACL

Thompson missed the entirety of the 2019-2020 season while rehabbing his torn ACL. Curry suffered a season-ending hand injury only five games into the season and missed the rest of the year. The Warriors finished 15-50 and “earned” the No. 2 overall pick in the NBA draft, where they selected center James Wiseman.

There was optimism that the Warriors could be a contender again in 2020-2021 with the Splash Brothers set to return. It never happened: On Nov. 18, 2020, Thompson tore his right Achilles during a workout. He suffered the injury while taking a pull-up jumper.

Klay Thompson, speaking to the media for the first time this season, on how his Achilles tear happened: "It happened on a two-dribble pull up jumpshot. A move I do 100 times a day."

— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) March 14, 2021

The Warriors finished 39-33 in 2020-2021, but lost to the Lakers and Grizzlies in the inaugural play-in tournament and failed to qualify for the playoffs.

Thompson has been rehabbing his Achilles ever since.

When will Klay Thompson return for the Warriors?

The Warriors still don’t have a target date for Thompson’s return, but at this point it’s seemingly only a matter of weeks.

Thompson was cleared to fully practice with the Warriors on Nov. 23. He’s been playing 5-on-5. During an Instagram live chat on Dec. 3, Thompson said his return could be in a few weeks or a month.

On his Instagram live, Klay Thomson says he hopes to be back in the court in the next few weeks, maybe a month. “It’s hard to gauge.”

— Kendra Andrews (@kendra__andrews) December 3, 2021

Thompson also posted this message to Warriors on Instagram regarding his return.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Klay Thompson (@klaythompson)

The Warriors face the Phoenix Suns on Christmas day in the battle of the two best teams in the NBA so far. Will Thompson — who turns 32 years old in Feb. — be back for that game? We can only hope.

Whether Thompson is back for Christmas, or his return comes slightly after, we know the Warriors star will be returning soon. A league-best Golden State team is about to get even better.

[tkmedia]

NBA Announces Schedule for 75th Anniversary Season

NEW YORK, United States of America, August 21, 2021/ — The NBA (www.NBA.com) yesterday released the complete game schedule and broadcast schedules for TNT (https://on.nba.com/3mpYnxp), ESPN (https://on.nba.com/3mmJmww), ABC (https://on.nba.com/3j2TwAg), NBA TV (https://on.nba.com/3z8CshJ) and ESPN Radio (https://on.nba.com/2Wf3Egp) for its landmark 75th Anniversary Season.The complete regular-season schedule and team-by-team schedules are attached and available at NBA.com/schedule (https://on.nba.com/2XM9cja). The 2021-22 regular season, which comprises 82 games per team, will tip off on Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021, and conclude on Sunday, April 10, 2022.Throughout the season, the league will feature NBA 75 Classic Matchups to celebrate the teams, players, coaches and moments that have defined 75 years of NBA basketball. Below are some of the Classic Matchups that will be highlighted during the season:- NBA TV will present a matchup between the New York Knicks and Toronto Raptors on Monday, Nov. 1 (7:30 p.m. ET), marking the 75th anniversary of the league’s first regular-season game, which was played between the Knicks and Toronto Huskies on Nov. 1, 1946. - The three franchises that have played in every NBA season – the Knicks, Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors (who began as the Philadelphia Warriors) – will face each other across three nationally televised games during a five-day stretch in December: Warriors at Knicks on Tuesday, Dec. 14 (7:30 p.m. ET, TNT); Warriors at Celtics on Friday, Dec. 17 (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN); and Knicks at Celtics on Saturday, Dec. 18 (8:30 p.m. ET, NBA TV). - On Friday, Jan. 7, the Los Angeles Lakers will host the Atlanta Hawks on ESPN (10 p.m. ET). The matchup will take place 50 years to the day (Jan. 7, 1972) that the Lakers defeated Atlanta for their 33rd straight victory, which remains the longest winning streak in NBA history. - TNT will air 18 Tuesday doubleheaders and 12 Thursday doubleheaders in the 2021-22 season, while ESPN will televise 21 Wednesday doubleheaders and 13 Friday doubleheaders.  Every doubleheader across both networks on those four nights will begin at 7:30 p.m. ET/10 p.m. ET. - NBA TV will tip off its live game coverage for the 2021-22 season on Saturday, Oct. 23 with a doubleheader as the Indiana Pacers host the Miami Heat (7 p.m. ET) and the Suns visit the Portland Trail Blazers (10 p.m. ET). - NBA TV’s Center Court franchise will make its season debut on Monday, Oct. 25 with the Washington Wizards visiting the Nets (7:30 p.m. ET) and continue the following week with the NBA 75 Classic Matchup between the Knicks and Raptors. Center Court, which includes 20 games throughout the season, incorporates enhanced viewing options such as unique camera angles, next-gen analytics and social media integrations into the originally produced telecast. - The top two overall picks in the NBA Draft 2021 presented by State Farm, the Detroit Pistons’ Cade Cunningham (No. 1) and the Houston Rockets’ Jalen Green (No. 2), are scheduled to meet in the regular season for the first time when Detroit visits Houston on Wednesday, Nov. 10 on ESPN (7:30 p.m. ET). - A TNT doubleheader will highlight the Martin Luther King Jr. Day schedule on Monday, Jan. 17. First, the Memphis Grizzlies will host the Chicago Bulls (3:30 p.m. ET) in Memphis’ 20th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration Game. In the second game, the Bucks will face the Hawks in Atlanta (6 p.m. ET) in a rematch of the 2021 Eastern Conference Finals. The national television schedule for Martin Luther King Jr. Day will also include a matchup between the Jazz and Lakers in Los Angeles on NBA TV (10:30 p.m. ET). - The seventh season of NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC will premiere on Saturday, Dec. 11 when the Warriors visit the 76ers (8:30 p.m. ET). The Primetime series will have a game each Saturday from Jan. 29 – March 12 except Feb. 19 during the All-Star break. - Six-time NBA All-Star Kyle Lowry of Miami, who played the previous nine seasons with the Raptors and helped the franchise win the NBA championship in the 2018-19 season, leads the Heat in a road game against Toronto on Thursday, Feb. 3 on TNT (7:30 p.m. ET). The matchup is the first of the Heat’s two road games against the Raptors this season. - The ABC Sunday Showcase series will return on Sunday, Feb. 13 when the Hawks visit the Celtics (2 p.m. ET). ABC will air Sunday Showcase doubleheaders at 1 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. ET on Feb. 27, March 6, March 13 and April 3. - TNT will broadcast the first matchup between the Bucks and Suns since the NBA Finals 2021 presented by YouTube TV when the teams meet on Thursday, Feb. 10 in Phoenix (10 p.m. ET). In the second meeting, Milwaukee will host Phoenix on Sunday, March 6 on ABC (3:30 p.m. ET). - ESPN and TNT will both televise doubleheaders on the final day of the regular season, Sunday, April 10. The matchups for ESPN (1 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. ET) and TNT (7:30 p.m. ET/10 p.m. ET) will be determined at a later date. - The NBA on TNT, ESPN, ABC and NBA TV will present flexible scheduling throughout the regular season to provide the most compelling matchups to a national audience. - ESPN Radio will broadcast 24 games in the regular season, including Nets-Bucks on opening night and Warriors-Suns and Nets-Lakers on Christmas Day. It will also provide coverage from NBA All-Star 2022 in Cleveland and air the NBA Finals 2022 presented by YouTube TV.The 2022 NBA Play-In Tournament will take place April 12-15 (Tuesday – Friday), followed by the start of the 2022 NBA Playoffs on Saturday, April 16. TNT will present the 2022 Western Conference Finals and ESPN/ABC will present the 2022 Eastern Conference Finals. ABC will televise the NBA Finals 2022 presented by YouTube TV, marking its 20th consecutive season as the exclusive home of the league’s championship series. Game 1 of the NBA Finals is scheduled to be played on Thursday, June 2.NBA League Pass will offer live, out-of-market games all season through the NBA App, NBA.com, connected televisions and TV providers. Fans can unlock direct access to stream matchups featuring their favorite teams and players with NBA League Pass (blackout restrictions apply). For more information, visit www.NBA.com/leaguepass.For the 2021-22 season, 46 weekend games will air in primetime in Europe, the Middle East and Africa as part of the league’s “NBA Saturdays and NBA Sundays presented by NBA 2K22” primetime initiative. Read the full article

[lightoftruth]

January 6 is the day we learn whether our Constitution will hold and whether congressional Republicans care.

The 2020 presidential election was, in several targeted battleground states, an unconstitutional electoral exercise. Even putting aside evidence of significant fraud, virtually none of which received a hearing by our courts, events leading up to and including the November national election constituted a radical and grave departure from the federal electoral system adopted by the framers of the Constitution and the state ratification conventions. Now, let's be clear: None of this matters to the Democrat Party, since it and its surrogates perpetrated these unconstitutional acts, as I shall soon explain. Nor does it matter to the media, which is utterly illiterate on the subject and unequivocally supports the supposed outcome in any event. But it should be of great moment and concern to the people of this country and especially to congressional Republicans in both Houses, for if the latter do not at least confront and challenge this lawlessness on January 6, when Congress meets to count the electors, it will be the GOP's undoing and, simultaneously, the undoing of our presidential electoral system. Ultimately, it will be the people of the United States who love our republic who will be the losers.

Win, lose, or draw, on January 6, the Republicans must not act as if "the people have spoken" and be cowered into passivity or worse, such as joining the Democrat Party and media hecklers, by insisting that they are part of a lawless party seeking to "reverse the results of the election." Too many Republicans have already buckled, including the Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, Sen. John Thune, and Rep. Adam Kinzinger. No doubt others who are unreliable and cowardly when facing the organized mob will follow. But let us not be judged by those who have intentionally and strategically manipulated our politics and the law to undermine our constitutional order. It is they who must be condemned.

Specifically, Article II, Section 1, Clause 2 of the federal Constitution could not be more explicit. It states, in pertinent part: "Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress ..." This language was purposeful. During the Constitutional Convention, there were various proposals suggested for electing a president. Should the president be directly elected by the people? That proposal was rejected out of concern that such a purely democratic process could be hijacked by a temporary majority. Should the president be chosen in the first instance from within the national legislature? That proposal was also rejected on grounds of separation of powers. Should the judiciary play a role in the selection of the president? That idea was dispensed with as being the most objectionable, as judges were to be the least political of all public officials. The framers deliberatively and with much thought created the Electoral College process, in which the people and their elected legislatures — both state and national — would play important roles. But the electoral process rested first and foremost on the state legislatures directing how the electors would be chosen. The reason: While rejecting the direct election of a president, the framers concluded that the state legislatures were closest to the people in their respective states and would be the best representatives of their interests. At no time did the framers even raise the possibility that governors, attorneys general, secretaries of state, election boards, administrators, etc., would play any significant role in the electoral process. Indeed, certain of those offices did not even exist. Moreover, as I said, the courts were rejected out of hand. Thus, such an important power was to be exercised exclusively by the state legislatures.

After the 2016 election, the Democrat Party, its various surrogate groups, and eventually the Biden campaign unleashed hundreds of lawsuits and an unrelenting lobbying campaign in key states that had previously been won by President Trump, taking unconstitutional measures intended to stop President Trump from winning these states in the 2020 election, thereby literally undoing this critical constitutional provision. What had been carefully crafted at the Constitutional Convention and clearly spelled out in the Constitution was the main obstacle to defeating President Trump and winning virtually all future presidential elections. The problem for the Democrats was that in several of these battleground states, the Republicans controlled the legislatures, while the Democrats controlled state executive offices. The Constitution was not on their side. Therefore, they used the two branches of government that were to have no role in directing the appointment of electors to eviscerate the role of the Republican legislatures.

In Pennsylvania, considered the battleground of the battleground states, the Democrat governor, attorney general, and secretary of state made and enforced multiple changes to the state's voting procedures, all of which were intended to assist the Democrats and Biden. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court, whose seven justices are elected, has a 5-2 Democrat majority. (In 2018, there was a big push by the Democrat Party to fill three of the seats with Democrats, and it succeeded.) Just months before the general election, that court rewrote the state election laws to eliminate signature requirements or signature matching, eliminate postal markings that were intended to ensure votes were timely, and extended the counting of mail-in ballots to Friday at 5:00 p.m. (state law had a hard date and time — election day on Tuesday, which ended at 8:00 p.m. ET), thereby fundamentally altering Pennsylvania's election laws and nullifying the federal constitutional role of the Republican legislature.

In Michigan, among other things, the Democrat secretary of state unilaterally changed the state's election laws with respect to absentee ballot applications and signature verification. Indeed, she sent unsolicited absentee ballot applications by mail prior to the primary and general elections. State law required would-be voters to request such ballots. She intentionally circumvented the Republican state legislature and violated the federal Constitution by issuing over 7 million unsolicited ballots. Furthermore, a court of claims judge, appointed by a Democrat, ordered clerks to accept ballots postmarked by Nov. 2 and received within 14 days of the election, the deadline for results to be certified. The ballots would be counted as provisional ballots. The state legislature had no role in these changes.

In Wisconsin, the Elections Commission and local Democrat officials in the state's largest cities, including Milwaukee and Madison, changed the state's election laws. Among other things, they placed hundreds of unmanned drop boxes in strategic locations in direct violation of state law. Not surprisingly, the locations were intended to be most convenient to Democrat voters. In addition, they told would-be voters how to avoid security measures like signature verification and photo ID requirements. These bureaucrats and local officials bypassed the Republican legislature in altering state election procedures.

In Georgia, the secretary of state is a Republican. Regardless, as explained in the Texas lawsuit brought against Georgia and the three other states mentioned above, "on March 6, 2020, in Democratic Party of Georgia v. Raffensperger, Georgia's Secretary of State entered a Compromise Settlement Agreement and Release with the Democratic Party of Georgia to materially change the statutory requirements for reviewing signatures on absentee ballot envelopes to confirm the voter's identity by making it far more difficult to challenge defective signatures beyond the 22 express mandatory procedures set forth at GA. CODE § 21-2-386(a)(1)(B). 71. Among other things, before a ballot could be rejected, the Settlement required a registrar who found a defective signature to now seek a review by two other registrars, and only if a majority of the registrars agreed that the signature was defective could the ballot be rejected but not before all three registrars' names were written on the ballot envelope along with the reason for the rejection. These cumbersome procedures are in direct conflict with Georgia's statutory requirements, as is the Settlement's requirement that notice be provided by telephone (i.e., not in writing) if a telephone number is available. Finally, the Settlement purports to require State election officials to consider issuing guidance and training materials drafted by an expert retained by the Democratic Party of Georgia." Georgia's Republican legislature had no role in these electoral changes resulting from consent decree.

Consequently, in each of these four battleground states — and there were others — whether through executive fiats or litigation, key, if not core, aspects of state election laws were fundamentally altered in contravention of the explicit power granted to the state legislatures and, therefore, in violation of the federal Constitution and the process set forth for directing the selection of electors. And this is before we even get to the issue of voter fraud. That said, in many instances, ballots that would have been rejected or, if counted, evidence of fraud, were now said to be legal — not by state legislatures but by those who unilaterally changed the election laws.

The United States Supreme Court had an opportunity before the election, and in this general election cycle, to make clear to the states that they must comply with the plain language of Article II, Section 1, Clause 2 of the Constitution. Indeed, when a federal district judge in Michigan altered that state's election laws, a closely divided U.S. Supreme Court overturned his order. Justice Gorsuch pointed out that the state legislature writes election laws. However, when a case was brought to the Court involving the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's interference in state election laws, the U.S. Supreme Court was paralyzed. Chief Justice Roberts attempted to distinguish between federal and state courts, which is irrelevant; in another instance, Justice Alito ordered the Pennsylvania secretary of state, not once but twice, to segregate certain mail-in ballots, but nothing came of it. A court divided against itself cannot stand, to paraphrase Abraham Lincoln. Its failure to enforce the Constitution (and by that I don't mean make law or intervene in legitimate state election decisions) has contributed mightily to our current plight.

Despite what has been reported and repeated, the president is not actually or officially chosen on Election Day. The president is not chosen upon the certification of electors by the states. The process ends in Congress. And on Jan. 6, Congress — following both the Constitution and its own procedural law — makes the final decision on who is to be president and vice president of the United States. Of course, in every election in my lifetime, up to now, while there have been some controversies, the process has proceeded without much attention. But this time is different, as it must be. The Democrat Party, its surrogates, and eventually the Biden campaign instituted an unprecedented legal and lobbying campaign, mostly under the radar, as it was not well covered by the usual media outlets, to undermine our Constitution, the Republican state legislatures, and the Trump re-election campaign, in favor of Biden. In other words, the Constitution's electoral process for choosing electors and ultimately the president and vice president was systematically and strategically attacked. It is now left to Congress, or at least the Republicans in Congress, to confront this. The Democrat Party has done severe damage to the nation's electoral system, to the point where the state legislatures are now in the position of having the least input on the manner in which elections are held and federal electors are chosen — the complete opposite of what the Constitution compels and the framers unequivocally intended. And the legislatures in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Georgia have, in a variety of ways, objected to what's occurred, underscoring the seriousness of the problem.

If this outcome is allowed to stand without a fight on Jan. 6, it is difficult to see how this can be fixed. The Democrats will view this as a sure sign that they are free to do more and even worse. It will become extremely difficult for Republicans to win nationwide elections (something the ten or so GOP senators who wish to run for president should keep in mind). It will also become increasingly difficult to win a Republican majority in the Senate. And the 2020 constitutional violations will be used as a baseline for even more unconstitutional manipulations of the electoral system. The Democrat Party's goal is to turn the nation's electoral system into the one-party rule that exists in virtually all blue states, especially California with its supermajorities.

As I said earlier, win, lose, or draw, the congressional Republicans must act. It is the Democrats and their media who seek to undo election results by undoing the election system. Look at what they did in 2016 (need I remind everyone of the relentless assault against candidate and then President Trump?) and now 2020. And they have every intention, as they have boldly proclaimed, to further undermine our constitutional system should they win the Senate majority in a few days — by eliminating the filibuster and any ability to slow their radical legislative agenda; packing the Supreme Court with left-wing ideologues; and packing the Senate with four more Democrats from Puerto Rico and D.C. And that's just for starters. This is the same party that did not care that it had no hope of removing President Trump in the Senate, but impeached him anyway — on the most specious of grounds. They are playing for keeps and destroying our constitutional system, for which they have little regard. I am well aware that it takes a majority of both Houses to send the election of the president to the House of Representatives, where each delegation gets one vote, an extremely difficult hurdle.

Nonetheless, it is not asking too much for the Republicans to uphold the United States Constitution — which they all took an oath to do — and to fight to preserve and protect the plain words set forth in Article II. They must make the case to and on behalf of the American people. And they must make it clear to the Democrats that we, the people, who believe in this Republic, will not roll over! Now, let's see how many statesmen there are among Republican members of Congress.

[newsfact]

When is the NFL trade deadline? Latest news, rumors & top targets to know for 2021

The NFL trade deadline might not be as exciting as its counterparts in other major North American sports. In fact, it tends to pale in comparison to those deadlines and other events on its own league-year calendar, including free agency and the NFL draft.

That said, it’s still a critical part of the NFL’s in-season calendar. It represents the last chance for teams to get significant upgrades without having to battle other teams for each player’s service on the free-agent market and waiver wire.

MORE: 15 players most likely to be trade at 2021 deadline

Also, the NFL trade deadline has become more active in recent years. The realities of the COVID-19 pandemic have caused teams to reassess their salary cap situations, so that could play a part in this year’s deadline.

If a team isn’t competing now or isn’t using a player on a big contract, they may look to offload some of their assets to open up future salary cap space to rebuild. That’s part of why we’ve already seen guys like Stephon Gilmore and Zach Ertz get traded.

There will be plenty of trade rumors before the deadline. Many will surround embattled Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson, but several other players on teams going nowhere could emerge, like Brandin Cooks and Jamison Crowder. So too could players that are just poor fits on their current teams (we’re looking at you, Odell Beckham Jr.).

Below is everything you need to know about the details of the 2021 NFL trade deadline, including a list of potential targets for teams looking to make deals.

IYER: One trade deadline deal every move should make in 2021

When is the NFL trade deadline 2021?

Date: Tuesday, Nov. 2

Time: 4 p.m. ET

The NFL trade deadline will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 2 at 4 p.m. ET. Some trades may not be announced until after 4 p.m. ET, but all must be agreed upon and filed to the league office before that time.

There were a handful of trades before the deadline in 2020, but just one occurred in 2019. There will be plenty of trade rumors ahead of the trade deadline in 2021

Can NFL teams trade after the deadline?

NFL teams cannot trade after the trade deadline. Teams won’t be able to complete trades until the new league year begins in March 2022. The NFL hasn’t officially announced when the new league year begins, though it usually comes on eve of free agency.

Teams can, however, agree to deals in principle before the league year opens. That happens on occasion during the offseason, as we saw with the Rams’ trade for Matthew Stafford in 2021 and Washington’s trade for Alex Smith in 2018.

MORE: Latest Deshaun Watson trade rumors

NFL trade news

— Oct. 27: The Texans trade running back Mark Ingram to the Saints for undisclosed late-round draft pick compensation.

— Oct. 25: The Jets acquire quarterback Joe Flacco from Eagles for a conditional sixth-round pick.

— Oct. 25: The Rams trade linebacker Kenny Young and a 2024 seventh-round pick to the Broncos for a 2024 sixth-round pick.

— Oct. 23: The Broncos acquire defensive end Stephen Weatherly and a 2023 seventh-round pick from the Vikings for a 2022 seventh-round pick.

— Oct. 15: The Cardinals acquire tight end Zach Ertz from the Eagles in exchange for cornerback Tay Gowan and a 2022 fifth-round pick.

— Oct. 6: The Patriots trade cornerback Stephon Gilmore to the Panthers for a 2023 sixth-round pick.

— Oct. 5: The Dolphins trade wide receiver and turn man Jakeem Grant to the Bears for a 2023 sixth-round pick.

NFL trade deadline rumors: Potential trade targets

The NFL expanded its postseason in 2020, so now 14 teams make the NFL playoffs. That means that more teams are in the playoff hunt and thus, there are more buyers on the trade market.

That hypothetically makes it more appealing for some of the league’s cellar dwellers to offload talent, as there is more competition for available assets. Teams like the Texans, Dolphins and Jets could opt to accelerate their rebuilds while a few players from potential playoff contenders could use changes of scenery as well.

QB Deshaun Watson, Texans

Watson is the biggest potential prize of the NFL trade deadline. He’s one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, but he is also dealing with a ton of legal troubles off the field, as he has been accused of sexual assault and sexual misconduct in 22 lawsuits. The NFL has yet to rule him ineligible to play, however, so he could play this year.

The Texans want at least three first-round picks for Watson. Will a team pay that much considering his issues? That much remains unclear.

MORE: Can Deshaun Watson play this year?

WR Odell Beckham Jr., Browns

Beckham’s time with the Browns hasn’t gone as expected. He has posted just 226 receiving yards on 16 catches in five games this year and has never shown good chemistry with Baker Mayfield during his time in Cleveland. Beckham is still a very talented receiver, so perhaps a contender that needs a receiver — like the Packers — could make a deal to acquire the 28-year-old receiver.

CB Kyle Fuller, Broncos

The Broncos have a deep cornerback room. They spent the No. 9 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft on Patrick Surtain and have used Ronald Darby and Bryce Callahan as their nickel starters this year. That has left Fuller as the odd man out when Darby has been healthy.

Fuller has appeared in 102 games with 99 starts during his career and has 19 interceptions. The 29-year-old can still function as a starter, so perhaps a playoff team will look to acquire the veteran.

OT Andre Dillard, Eagles

Dillard is a former first-round pick but has never emerged as a starter for the Eagles. Instead, Jordan Mailata has emerged as their left tackle of the future. Dillard won’t be a free agent until 2023, so the team could opt to keep him as a swing tackle through next season.

However, if a team views Dillard as a starter, perhaps they’ll give the Eagles an enticing package for him. After all, Dillard looked good in place of an injured Mailata earlier in the season.

RB Marlon Mack, Colts

Mack has actually demanded a trade away from the Colts. He is buried behind Jonathan Taylor and Nyheim Hines in the Colts’ backfield rotation but has averaged 4.4 yards per carry during his career. He could be a good part of a backfield rotation and with so many backs banged-up, a contender could look at him as a cheap upgrade.

WR Brandin Cooks, Texans

Cooks, 28, has already been traded three times during his NFL career. He might be happy to be traded again to leave the Texans. Cooks is on pace for a 107-catch, 1,283-yard season with the Texans, and that’s working with Tyrod Taylor and Davis Mills. Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes would surely appreciate Cooks’ service as a No. 2 receiver.

DE L.J. Collier, Seahawks

Collier had three sacks as a rotational player for the Seahawks last year. This year, he has played in just two games while being a healthy scratch in others. That’s not the production you want from a former first-round pick. The Seahawks could look to move him if they don’t see a future with him in Seattle. And another team could take a chance on his athletic upside.

WR Andy Isabella, Cardinals

Like Collier, Isabella is a former high draft pick (second-round pick) who has had trouble cracking Arizona’s deep receiver rotation. He’s a lightning-fast receiver who can help teams looking to add speed to their offense. The Cardinals probably wouldn’t ask for a lot in exchange for Isabella, who hasn’t played an offensive snap and has played just six special teams snaps overall.

WR Jamison Crowder, Jets

The Jets have invested a lot in the receiver position the last two offseasons, adding free agents Corey Davis and Keelan Cole to the fold and spending second-round picks on Denzel Mims (2020) and Elijah Moore (2021). Crowder is a quality slot receiver and the 28-year-old would be an instant upgrade in the slot for teams battling for a Wild Card spot.

RB Melvin Gordon, Broncos

Would the Broncos trade Gordon? They just spent a second-round pick on Javonte Williams, so it’s possible. The two have played relatively evenly so far, but if the team wants to unleash the UNC product Williams, unloading Gordon could pay dividends. Gordon is one of the better RBs that could be traded, as he is averaging 4.5 yards per carry this season.

WR N’Keal Harry, Patriots

Harry hasn’t worked out since being a first-round pick by the Patriots in 2019. He has fallen behind on the Patriots’ receiver depth chart, as Jakobi Meyers, Kendrick Bourne and Nelson Agholor are all ahead of him. Harry may need a change of scenery to realize his potential and Bill Belichick is never afraid to make moves on the trade market.

MORE: Why the Eagles traded Zach Ertz

Why are NFL trades so rare?

The NFL’s trade deadline is arguably the weakest of the four major United States’ sports leagues, as it has decidedly less action than the NBA, the NHL and MLB.

However, there is a reason for that. Mainly, it’s due to the way the NFL’s salary cap works, as Sporting News contributor Jason Fitzgerald detailed in a 2019 piece.

!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s) {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)}; if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0'; n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0; t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,document,'script', 'https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js'); fbq('init', 235247967118144); fbq('track', 'PageView'); Source link

The post When is the NFL trade deadline? Latest news, rumors & top targets to know for 2021 first appeared on NEWSFACT.

from WordPress https://ift.tt/3q1IHSG via IFTTT

[goldeagleprice]

A Modest Proposal for the U.S. Mint

Last week Thursday into Friday morning, the U.S. Mint conducted its fourth Numismatic Forum.  The location was at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, the site where the first such event was held in 2016.

Attendance was by invitation only.  In years past there have been perhaps 55-65 guests.  At one point, one of the speakers mentioned that 44 guests attended this year, with about 1/3 of them only participating on Thursday.

The impression I gained from the first Numismatic Forum was that it was an event to see and be seen for those influential in the numismatic community.  This year’s attendance was whittled down.  For instance, I did not see any attendees representing the American Numismatic Association or Industry Council for Tangible Assets, as happened at prior events.  There were fewer representatives this year from the numismatic media.  The one category of attendee that seemed to be well represented last week was the top tier U.S. Mint customers in the bulk purchasing program.  The Royal Canadian Mint also sent representatives for the first time.

From Left to Right: Rob Kurzyna, Superintendent of the Philadelphia Mint, David Jacobs, Superintendent of the San Francisco Mint, Ellen McCullom, Superintendent of the West Point Mint, Randy Johnson, Superintendent of the Denver Mint, David Croft, U.S. Mint Associate Director for the Manufacturing Directorate, and David J. Ryder, Director of the US Mint.

The U.S. Mint is responsible for producing the circulating coinage for America (coins, sets, and medals sold to collectors, and bullion coinage.)  The products it manufactures are specified by legislation passed by Congress and signed into law by the president.  Thus, the U.S. Mint has limited ability to take the initiative on what it produces.  For circulating coinage, the Mint produces quantities requested by the Federal Reserve Bank, a process that further limits the flexibility of the Mint.

U.S. Mint Director David Ryder welcomed the audience, then promptly gave a future outlook for planned issues.  Among the plans (some of which would require legislation in order to occur) are:

  In 2020, the Mint is planning to offer a coin and medal set honoring the 400th Anniversary of the Mayflower landing, a product to be issued in conjunction with the British Royal Mint.

In 2021 there will be new designs for Gold and Silver Eagle coinage to incorporate more anti-counterfeiting features.

A second round of America The Beautiful Quarters is not planned, even though the original legislation for the series authorized a second set of issues.

Instead, from 2022-2025 the Mint would like to issue a 20-coin series of quarters featuring American animals

Also from 2022-2025, the Mint would like to issue half dollars featuring endangered species.

In 2026, the intention would be to issue one-year circulating commemoratives of the cent through $1.00 coins to honor the 250th Anniversary of American Independence, an idea similar to the Bicentennial quarters, halves, and dollars that came out for 1976.

Beginning in 2027, the Mint hopes to issue a 20-quarter series over four years depicting sports popular with youth.  The Mint would poll children and numismatists to identify which 20 sports would be depicted.  These coins would have some ties with the 2028 Summer Olympics that will be held in Los Angeles, California.  In addition, there would be half dollars issued for the Paralympics happening at the same time.

Discussions are taking place at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to change the reverse of the $2.00 Federal Reserve Note for 2026.

  After Ryder’s introduction, attendees walked over to the Philadelphia Mint a short distance away to meet new Superintendent Rob Kurzyna and Chief Engraver Joe Menna.  After a presentation on the U.S. Mint’s history, we were given a tour right on the production floor, an opportunity not extended to the general public.

After we returned to the Federal Reserve Bank, U.S. Mint Chief Assayer Jeannette Grogan, who works at the West Point Mint where bullion Eagles are struck, described her duties.  When gold is received to be used for striking coins, the incoming metal is checked for 13 potential impurities.  In the case of platinum that is received, a total of 24 potential impurities are analyzed.  In response to a question she received about why “copper spots” could develop on a .999 fine 1-Ounce Gold Buffalo, she explained that the metal is not completely pure.  When such spots appear, they almost always are a gold-silver sulfide impurity that makes up less than 1/10 of one percent of the metal.

It was disclosed that the U.S. Mint is becoming more pro-active at working with coin legislation in Congress.  In the past, the Mint usually testified before a committee in the second chamber after a bill had already passed out of the first chamber.  Once a bill reached the second chamber, it was almost impossible to incorporate revisions that would improve the Mint’s ability to adjust details such as mintage limits.  Now the Mint’s liaisons with Congress are trying to work with those preparing the original draft of coin legislation to better meet Mint production capabilities and the likely public demand for issues.

Next was a review of the joint marketing of Mint and Bureau of Engraving and Printing products.  It was explained that the American Innovation Dollar program allows each coin to feature either an innovator or an innovation, with the 2019 issues representing both options.  Also, because these coins are never authorized to be put into circulation, they will not be included in the annual proof and mint sets.  Instead, there will be a separate American Innovation Dollar Proof Set issued each year.

The Mint is looking to continue the program of randomly inserting limited mintages of W-mintmarked quarters into circulation but may revise the process in how they are dispersed.

When the Mint is directed to issue specific coins, there is often some flexibility in being able to strike coins with different finishes such as reverse proofs and enhanced reverse proofs.  However, there is the risk that if there are too many such limited-mintage special finishes issued, it could destroy the long-term value of all special issues.

To appeal to the youth market, the Mint offered a 2019 Rocket Ship set around the time of the 50th Anniversary of the 1969 First Moon Landing.  The timing contributed to the strong sales of this set, which is not something that can be counted on to boost sales of future youth issues.

On Nov. 14, the Mint will put on sale the 2019-S Enhanced Reverse Proof Silver Eagle Dollar with a mintage of 30,000 coins.  The issue price will be $65.95.  Attendees and the Forum anticipate this will sell out almost instantly, in part because the certificate of authenticity coming with the coin will have an individual serial number.  Mint officials made it clear several times that a low serial number on the certificate would have no relation as to whether the accompanying coin was one of the first to be struck.  Attendees were of mixed sentiment about the value of putting serial numbers on certificates of authenticity.

During this segment of the program, Mint Director Ryder projected that the America the Beautiful Quarters would generate a $10 billion profit, although a good amount of this would have been generated by the annual production of quarters for circulation purposes.

In terms of sales, the fiscal year 2019 (ended Sept. 30, 2019) volume was up 20% from 2018.  International bulk dealer sales more than doubled, partly in response to the U.S. Mint exhibiting at the huge Berlin, Germany international coin show in February for the first time since 2008.  Purchases by dealers in the bulk sales program were up 16% from the previous fiscal year.  Tier Four bulk purchasers, those who spend at least $1,000,000 annually with the Mint, account for 84% of all bulk sales volume.  Bulk sales account for 30% of the U.S. Mint’s sales volume of numismatic products.  Over 80% of all sales of FY 2019 were shipped the same day.

An area of improvement for the Mint is that it has reduced customer returns and has become more accurate at projecting demand so as to minimize over-production.  There was a problem this year where the U.S. Mint was not able to fulfill all would-be purchasers of the Apollo 11 5-Ounce Proof Silver Dollars because of difficulties sourcing the blanks.  Current sales of this coin are in the mid-sixty thousands, with Mint Director Ryder projecting ultimate sales of 90,000 coins out of the mintage limit of 100,000.

Another area of improvement has been enhancements in worker safety.  The Mint’s experience rate for time lost due to injuries at work is only about one-quarter that of its industrial peer group.

The Mint has also improved its turnaround time to put a coin into production.  Where it used to take 18-24 months after a coin design was approved to begin striking it, it now only takes as little as six months.

The Mint has also acquired an expensive Pico-2 Laser for evaluation.  The use of this machine could make it possible to strike coins with super fine details.  The resulting issues would have greater beauty as well as being more difficult to counterfeit.

Discussion followed on Thursday afternoon and into Friday morning on potential refinements to the bulk sales program.  One potential change could be to ship forthcoming coins and sets in the bulk sales program to purchasers before the release date under an embargo agreement so that such sellers would be able to provide products immediately on the initial release date.

At the end of the program, there was a general question and answer session, which included all four Mint Superintendents.  One point raised was to return the dates and mintmarks to the obverse or reverse of coins where formerly-produced Presidential dollars or the current American Innovation Dollars have this information on the edge.  Unfortunately, the authorizing legislation for these coins specified that the dates and mintmarks be placed on the edge.  Therefore, the Mint does not have the option to relocate these characters.

One question I asked was if the 2021 Commemorative Morgan and Peace Silver Dollars program becomes law, (where the Mint is considering striking some CC-mintmarked coins at the old Carson City Mint,) would it also be possible to strike some O-mintmarked coins at the old New Orleans Mint?  These were two former mints that struck Morgan Dollars.

Director Ryder explained that there is significant competition for which two commemorative programs would be issued in 2021, and he is not sure that there is enough public support for this to be one of them.  However, if it does, he thinks these commemoratives will be among the most popular ever issued by the U.S. Mint.  It would cost $1.8 million to arrange the striking of coins at the Carson City Mint, which he expects would be covered by public demand for the CC-mintmarked dollars.

  My modest proposal.

I also made a modest proposal to two Mint officials that both liked the idea and thought it intriguing.  When the Kennedy Half Dollars were struck for circulation in the last two decades up to 2001, annual circulating mintages ranged from almost 20 million to over 50 million.  From 2002 through 2018, the Mint has not released any Kennedy halves into circulation, only selling them to collectors for more than face value, a premium they have maintained.  Since 2002, annual mintages have averaged less than 5.25 million.

Since the Mint is already authorized to strike Kennedy halves and to put them into circulation, I suggest that the Mint resume doing so, though only a few million each year.  With such a small mintage of a circulating coin, these will most likely trade for more than face value.  As a result, the public will likely contact their banks and credit unions hoping to acquire such coins, which would lead the financial institutions to contact the Federal Reserve to obtain them.  Consequently, the Fed would direct the Mint to strike such coins.  However, if the Fed chose not to order such coins, the Mint could perhaps set up a program where banks and credit unions could order $500 or $1,000 face value bags direct from the Mint.  After all, the Mint would make a high percentage profit even if it absorbed shipping costs to charge only face value delivered.

Then, should this program succeed in growing the number of funds that the Mint turns in to the U.S. Treasury, perhaps this result could prompt passage of an amendment to the legislation for the American Innovation Dollars to allow small quantities to be issued into circulation.  Current requirements are that four million of each design be struck but not placed into circulation.  When the Presidential Dollars through 2011 were still being put into circulation, mintages were all above 70 million per president.  If the Mint could then put a few million of each American Innovation Dollar into circulation, that would almost certainly result in the public asking their banks and credit unions for these coins, prompting financial institutions to ask the Federal Reserve to supply them, which would then ask the Mint to strike them.  Alternatively, the Mint could again bypass the Fed to deliver them directly to banks and credit unions at face value.

With low mintages of these halves and possibly dollars put into circulation, the Mint would increase the profits it transfers to the U.S. Treasury each year.  The other result would be an almost-certain increase in the number of coin collectors.

Decades ago, it was possible to search through loose change in hopes of finding coins worth more than face value.  Many of those who perused the coins in their pockets went on to become numismatists.  Today, it is almost impossible to find premium coins in circulation.

Should the Mint expand its program of putting limited quantities of W-mintmarked quarters into circulation by also issuing modest mintages of Kennedy Half Dollars and even American Innovation Dollars, the public would again have an incentive to “check their change” for coins that would be worth more than face value.  If adopted, this proposal could help fund the U.S. government and spark an increase in the number of coin collectors at the same time.  What’s not to like?

  Patrick A. Heller was the American Numismatic Association 2018 Glenn Smedley Memorial Service Award, 2017 Exemplary Service Award 2012 Harry Forman National Dealer of the Year Award, and 2008 Presidential Award winner.  Over the years, he has also been honored by the Numismatic Literary Guild (including twice in 2019), Professional Numismatists Guild, Industry Council for Tangible Assets, and the Michigan State Numismatic Society.  He is the communications officer of Liberty Coin Service in Lansing, Michigan and writes Liberty’s Outlook, a monthly newsletter on rare coins and precious metals subjects.  Past newsletter issues can be viewed at http://www.libertycoinservice.com.  Some of his radio commentaries titled “Things You ‘Know’ That Just Aren’t So, And Important News You Need To Know” can be heard at 8:45 AM Wednesday and Friday mornings on 1320-AM WILS in Lansing (which streams live and become part of the audio and text archives posted at http://www.1320wils.com).  

  The post A Modest Proposal for the U.S. Mint appeared first on Numismatic News.

[newsfact]

How long is Zion Williamson out? Injury timeline, return date, latest updates on Pelicans star

The Pelicans will start the 2021-22 season without Zion Williamson.

On Oct. 14, Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin announced that Williamson will be re-evaluated in a couple of weeks and has “no fixed timeline” for his return. Williamson is coming off a foot injury that he suffered during the offseason.

David Griffin says Zion Williamson said surgeons reviewed scans and he is cleared for the next step.

“No fixed timeline”for return to game action. Next scans will be 2-2.5 weeks.

Zion will not be on the floor for the first week of games.

— Andrew Lopez (@_Andrew_Lopez) October 14, 2021

What’s next for Williamson? Here’s everything we know about his injury and the latest news on when he may return to the court.

POWER FORWARD RANKINGS: Where does Williamson land?

Zion Williamson injury timeline

It was revealed during the team’s media day that Williamson underwent surgery to repair a fractured right foot during the offseason. Williamson is said to have suffered the injury prior to the start of the 2021 NBA Summer League.

The Pelicans were initially hopeful that his timeline would “get him back on the court in time for the regular season.”

According to ESPN’s Andrew Lopez, the Pelicans will be able to take the next step in Williamson’s recovery process when he gets re-scanned in a couple of weeks.

When could Zion Williamson return from injury?

The Pelicans opened the 2021-22 regular season on Oct. 20 at home against the 76ers. They then went on a three-game road trip before returning to New Orleans to play the Hawks on Oct. 27. Williamson missed all of those games.

Following their matchup with the Hawks, the Pelicans will face the Kings on Oct. 29 and the Knicks on Oct. 30.

Date Opponent Wed, Oct. 20 vs. Philadelphia Fri, Oct. 22 at Chicago Sat, Oct. 23 at Minnesota Mon, Oct. 25 at Minnesota Wed, Oct. 27 vs. Atlanta Fri, Oct. 29 vs. Sacramento Sat, Oct. 30 vs. New York Tue, Nov. 2 at Phoenix Wed, Nov. 3 at Sacramento Fri, Nov. 5 at Golden State

Zion Williamson injury history

The No. 1 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, Williamson was limited to 24 games in his rookie season after he underwent surgery to repair a torn right lateral meniscus.

Williamson appeared in 61 of a possible 72 games in his sophomore season and earned the first All-Star selection of his career with averages of 27.0 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. He missed the last seven games of the season with a fractured left ring finger.

!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s) {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)}; if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0'; n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0; t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,document,'script', 'https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js'); fbq('init', 235247967118144); fbq('track', 'PageView'); Source link

from WordPress https://ift.tt/3BrrzIc via IFTTT

[omgstupendousbouquetbasement]

House Democrats File Bill to Fund US Government But Leave Out New Farm Money

The U.S. Congress this week considers legislation to fund the federal government through mid-December, but a dispute over farm aid raised questions about whether lawmakers can avoid a government shutdown amid a pandemic just weeks before the Nov. 3 elections. 

With government funding lapsing on Sept. 30, House Democrats announced Monday they had filed the stopgap funding legislation, but angered Republicans by leaving out new money that President Donald Trump wanted for farmers. The House will take up the bill Tuesday, a Democratic aide said. The Senate could then act later this week. 

The new federal fiscal year starts Oct. 1. 

The bill is designed to give lawmakers more time to work out federal spending for the period through September 2021, including budgets for military operations, health care, national parks, space programs, and airport and border security. 

FILE - Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., speaks during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Aug. 27, 2020.

The spending proposal "will avert a catastrophic shutdown in the middle of the ongoing pandemic, wildfires and hurricanes, and keep government open until December 11, when we plan to have bipartisan legislation to fund the government for this fiscal year," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement. 

But the measure's December end date will require Congress to return to the government funding question again during its post-election lame-duck session, either during or after what could be a bruising fight to confirm Trump's third Supreme Court nominee after the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. 

And the legislation does not include $21.1 billion the White House sought to replenish the Commodity Credit Corporation, a program to stabilize farm incomes, because Democrats considered this a "blank check" for "political favors," said a House Democratic aide who asked not to be named. Trump promised more farm aid during a rally in Wisconsin last week. 

Republicans were not happy.  

FILE - Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell meets with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office, July 20, 2020.

"House Democrats' rough draft of a government funding bill shamefully leaves out key relief and support that American farmers need. This is no time to add insult to injury and defund help for farmers and rural America," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wrote on Twitter.  

Republicans could seek to amend the document to add in the provision, but both chambers would ultimately need to pass the same version for the measure to go to Trump for signing into law. 

The bill proposes spending $14 billion to shore up a trust fund that pays for airport improvements and air traffic control operations. It also directs $13.6 billion to maintain current spending levels on highways and mass transit.   

from Blogger https://ift.tt/3mKQO2i via IFTTT