Football And Other Stuff

First, the football:

No, this is not about the NFL anthem kneelers, but the football that I really care about, which is played by college students.  This not to say, of course, that the NCAA is without sin.  Like it not, as long as the participants are human, there are going to be problems.  But that said, I've always been more fond of the college game.  One reason is that under normal circumstances, a college athlete gets to play for a total of four years.  (These can be spread out over five years, the non-playing year called a "redshirt".)  This forces coaches to think about the future, and gives them a reason to put in their backups and reserves, who are mostly younger than the starters, to give them some experience.  This helps prepare them for more extensive roles that come after the older players graduate.

This weekend, starting with Friday the 13th yesterday, has seen some stunning upsets.  Last night, unranked Syracuse beat #2 Clemson 27-24.  (Clemson had given my Virginia Tech Hokies their only loss two weeks earlier.)  Later on the west coast, California easily defeated #8 Washington State.  Today, Boston College, who last week lost to VT 23-10 at home, went on the road to Louisville (whose quarterback is a Heisman Trophy winner) and beat them 45-42.  VT has no game this weekend, after playing half (six) of our regularly scheduled games, which gives Hokies such as myself a chance to mentally relax and watch other schools' games.

UPDATE:  Just after I finished this post, I learned of another upset.  LSU comes back to defeat #10 Auburn 27-23.

Now for the other stuff:

My response to this headline is "They're not alone."

Something is foreign-subsidized in Denmark.

In Britain, almost 3,400 people got arrested in 2016 for "offensive" online comments.

British civil servants are told not to use gendered pronouns.

Conservative speaker Laura Ingram blasts the "enemies" of President Trump's supporters.

A former sheriff blasts a former secretary of state.

The Academy kicks out Harvey Weinstein.

France might revoke Weinstein's Legion of Honor.

The proposed observance of Muslim holidays in Germany, which I mentioned yesterday, isn't going over too well.

Some E.U. states are "fed up" with Macron and Merkel trying to block Brexit.

In its upcoming meeting, the E.U. will not decide whether to admit Turkey.

Switzerland will vote on whether to ban the burka.

In South Africa, another white farmer is murdered.

Kneeling spreads to the other football.

Contrary to leftwing criticism, President Trump's decision to discontinue Obamacare subsidies to insurance companies is perfectly legal.

Two DACA recipients have been caught trying to smuggle in (other) illegal aliens.

A man whose family was held hostage by the Taliban tells his horror stories.

A proposal could allow women to go on the Hadj without male escorts.

Thousands of people have been evacuated due to California's 16 major forest fires.

And finally, a comedian flops by telling anti-Trump jokes.  (intermediate source)