DrW

Do you have a source for this sweeping statement? Probably not, because it is not true. There are two important questions here. First, were there cultures that actually approved of infanticide? Yes. One example, the Spartans in Greece, and there were others. From Wikipedia: Sparta was above all a militarist state, and emphasis on military fitness began virtually at birth. Shortly after birth, a mother would bathe her child in wine to see whether the child was strong. If the child survived it was brought before the Gerousia by the child's father. The Gerousia then decided whether it was to be reared or not.[27] It is commonly stated that if they considered it "puny and deformed", the baby was thrown into a chasm on Mount Taygetos known euphemistically as the Apothetae (Gr., ἀποθέται, "Deposits").[113][114] This was, in effect, a primitive form of eugenics.[113] Sparta is often viewed as being unique in this regard, however, anthropologist Laila Williamson notes that "Infanticide has been practiced on every continent and by people on every level of cultural complexity, from hunter gatherers to high civilizations. Rather than being an exception, then, it has been the rule."[115] There is controversy about the matter in Sparta, since excavations in the chasm only uncovered adult remains, likely belonging to criminals.[116] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparta#Birth_and_death Second question: Do all cultures recognize a fetus as a baby? No. And there are lots of examples, too many to list here. In ancient culture, lets go with the Stoics in Greece (again, from Wikipedia): The Stoics believed the fetus to be plantlike in nature, and not an animal until the moment of birth, when it finally breathed air. They therefore found abortion morally acceptable. Another example, Judaism. From https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/abortion-in-jewish-thought/ Jewish law does not share the belief common among abortion opponents that life begins at conception, nor does it legally consider the fetus to be a full person deserving of protections equal those accorded to human beings. In Jewish law, a fetus attains the status of a full person only at birth. As an added bonus, here is the Israeli view of abortion... Is abortion legal in Israel? Yes. All Israeli women seeking to terminate a pregnancy (and have it paid for through state health insurance) must appear before a three-person committee, but in practice nearly all requests are granted. There are no laws limiting when an abortion can be performed, and a woman whose request is denied by the committee can still seek an abortion at a private clinic. Estimates are that about half the abortions performed in Israel are done in private clinics. As of 2014, abortions were paid for entirely by the state for women aged 20 to 33, and subsidized abortions were granted for those outside that age range. https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/abortion-in-jewish-thought/

I am not convinced an extra thread would get enough responses. Thus, I will keep my responses to the "muppy challenge" in this thread. My first entry: Ticket to Ride The original: The "punk rock" version The psychedelic/heavy version (there are some recent live versions available, but they just document that at some point you should retire) The aria version Very close to the original, from one of their biggest competitors at that time https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QU_tOlCYGvI

Difficult to find a live video with reasonable audio from them... And I could not find a live version of my favorite Hüsker Dü song...

Bob Beamon's long jump at the 1968 Olympics - improving the world record at that time (8.35 m) by nearly two feet (8.90 m). Since then, more than 50 years ago, only a single jump has been longer. Another Olympic epic moment, this time in a sport that is definitely not main-stream, equestrian, specifically show jumping. At the 1956 Olympics (due to Australia's strict quarantine rules, the equestrian events were performed in Stockholm, Sweden), in the first round the German rider Hans-Guenther Winkler pulled a groin muscle at the penultimate obstacle after his mare took off early and threw him out of position. (From Wikipedia) Despite the pain Winkler decided to ride in the second round as the German team would be eliminated without him. After he was given tranquilizers Winkler found that he was comfortable sitting, but riding was difficult and painful. Any drugs that could reduce the pain enough to make him comfortable in the saddle also would reduce his mental capacity, and therefore, he was only given black coffee before his ride to try to help reduce his dizziness and double-vision. Halla apparently sensed that her rider was not right and performed the entire course clear with only steering from Winkler, and their performance won them the individual and team gold.

My favorite Clash song... Two interesting covers. First, Paul Simonon himself turns it into a New Orleans-style funeral march... Second, a different interpretation...

Bijan Robinson (RB Texas). Today against Kansas: 172 yards, 3 TD in the first half...

My wife commented that the colors of Sean Lennon's outfit did not match well with the color of his guitar... Well, if this is the only problem - the rest is impressive. They play a King Crimson and a Pink Floyd cover, and those fit very well with their own songs.

I completely agree. It reminds me of an other case of cancer which took a life much too early. In 2017, the front woman of Those Darlins, Jessi Zazu, died of ovarian cancer at the age of 28. A couple of years earlier, she had written a song "Ain't Afraid". It is not clear if she knew about her cancer diagnosis when she wrote this song.

Interestingly, the fake injury drama is much less prevalent in women's soccer, although I noticed that they start to adopt this bad habit from the men.

This should at least initially give an advantage to teams who have a core of players from the same club team, like Germany (7 players from Bayern Munich) or Spain (7 players from Barcelona). After the group games, the teams which make it into the knock-out round have gained some familiarity among their players and the quality of the games usually improves.

I agree with your objection to diving and faking injuries; long-term, this is really a more recent development. Even 10 years ago, it was not this much of an issue. On the other hand, the criticism "it’s so long between anything actually happening" is ridiculous. In soccer, there is constant movement of all players and something can happen anytime - it is a constant back and forth; typically, each team possesses the ball more than 100 times. Soccer games have two halves of 45 minutes each, each half without a commercial interruption. Compare this to (American) football (which I love) where you have 60 minutes of action in a three-hour game, and each team possesses the ball perhaps 8-10 times. OK, let's get to the original questions: Being German, of course I watch, and I obviously root for Germany (with the US as the other team getting my attention). In our department, the graduate student organization holds a world cup bracket tournament. In 2014, I won, because I was the only one who had Germany as champions. Interestingly, Mario Goetze who scored the winning goal in the 2014 finals against Argentina, is back in the squad this time.

Robert Wyatt's "Rock Bottom" is one of my favorite albums. IMHO, the best track is "Sea Song". I just learned very recently that a live version exists. Here is the original studio recording; it is so beautiful...

Ever heard of The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger? If not, can you guess the identity of the lead guitarist/vocalist? Here we have them in a band set-up... And here as an acoustic duo...

Rock/Jazz from England, from 1970 (thanks to German public TV). Sadly, Dick Heckstall-Smith (sax) and John Hiseman (dr) are no longer with us.

Some bands which are out of the musical range I usually listen to did some interesting covers of songs I like. Example A (I bought the CD; all other songs are crap)

Beatles. For me, their best phase encompasses just three albums: Revolver, Sgt. Pepper, and the White Album> Although the last one contains some material that could have been omitted, I like the wide variety of genres. Their best song ever: "A Day in the Life". Rolling Stones. Their great days ended with "Exile on Main Street". Hearing Mick Jagger wail "Angie" on "Goats Head Soup" is painful. Their best song ever: "Sympathy for the Devil". Grateful Dead. I would agree with everybody who puts their glory period in the 60s and 70s. After a first album with mostly covers, "Anthem of the Sun" was an excellent start for their own style and song-writing (I have heard rumors of 90-minute versions of "Alligator", but I could never find one.). For me, the last great album was "Blues for Allah" ("Crazy Fingers" is my favorite). "Terrapin Station" (Can somebody please shut up Donna Godchaux?) was already a step down, with only half an LP of new songs. Jefferson Airplane. On their first album (JA Takes Off), their singer, Signe Toly Anderson, shows some promise - she could belt the blues ("Chauffer's Blues"). However, she retired and was replaced by Grace Slick, and JA really took off. To me, "Volunteers" was their last great album. There were just a few memorable songs afterward. As a German, Grace piqued my interest on "Bark" with her song ""Never Argue with a German If You're Tired or European Song", but, honestly, I cannot understand a single word of the song which is supposed to be in German. After their split, the Jefferson Starship version went down the drain, while Hot Tuna produced some nice albums.

Today I did a teaching peer review for one of our younger faculty members (this is where senior faculty observes a lecture and gives constructive criticism). In general, the lecture was well-done. However, every time a slide contained some written text, the young assistant professor read it (which is fine), but also accompanied his words by following the slide text with a pointer. Of course, this is completely unnecessary, but I also remembered I had seen that before... (You have to be a bit patient; the first occurrence is around 1:45)

Well, it is not art cinema, but I love "My Cousin Vinny". The interplay between Pesci and Tomei is so funny, and the courtroom scenes are more convincing than in many courtroom dramas. I have seen the beginning of the movie perhaps 10 times, but the end more than 30 times. Every time I see it on the TV schedule, I switch to it, independent of how far we are into the movie.

I am relieved. At least the Special Teams are hunky-dory.

A classic...

Lots of years ago I had a Dutch girlfriend. She gave me the LP "10 Mistakes" by the Dutch band Gruppo Sportivo. Pretty funny stuff. The song I like best is "Superman". If the long (2 minute) intro sounds familiar to you, it is Zappa's "Take your clothes of when you dance". The real fun starts afterward (the lyrics are the main attraction).

Seems like Russell Wilson does not want to poop at all.

Punk live albums are rare. My favorite is the Black Flag - Who's got the 10 1/2? And my favorite post-punk album: "Nocturne" - Siouxsie and the Banshees

An arguably even better source is the German TV show "Rockpalast" that started in 1974 and continues to these days. The list of artists they recorded live is lengthy (google it). Initially (I do not remember for how long) they had Rockpalast Nights, a concert with several bands. Where else can you find Pete Townshend jamming with the Grateful Dead? I would also like to mention that the A/V quality of their shows was phenomenal for the time (the linked song was recorded more than 40 years ago) .