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@LeeJarvis10 Today he was very good, very clear, and objective

Luke Pearce 👌 Best Referee in the World 🌎 Convince me otherwise ? Always enjoy the game when he refs as he doesn't make it all about himself instead he puts the players at centre stage.

@LeeJarvis10 Always cautious of the “best ..” labels, but I agree - an excellent referee.

@nessandandy @Lloyd_Cole Look (based on these comments) he’s a knut, but Perfect Skin is objectively wonderful

@Lloyd_Cole Says a man who wrote Perfect Skin one of the most tediously irritating tracks ever recorded.

My loathing for The Sultans Of Swing grows every time I encounter it. It’s perfectly executed. Wrong in every way.

@the_zb_ Clearly put.

There are some real misunderstandings here about the grumbling surrounding the regulations. I’ve seen several voices claiming that people upset about the regs are just “sour grapes” because it looks like Mercedes will dominate. That’s a mistaken take. People and drivers are aggrieved and extremely disappointed in the inherent NATURE of the regulations, and how the cars must be driven (not driven, as the case may be), and how heinously offensive it is to watch. That will not change no matter what the development trajectory looks like. The product on track looks offensive. It’s awful. And it’s inherent to the nature of the regs - it’s not changing. Harvesting for such electrification means a permanent and unchangeable sacrifice of driver differentiation in high speed. That is obvious at this point, the needs of the regulation mandate this. There’s no room to engineer around this, physics is physics. And that is a damning, heinous thing to watch. It’s so anti-racing and so anti-F1 that it’s an exercise in cognitive dissonance watching an onboard. I hope to goodness that we all refuse to try and condition ourselves to accept this as “normal” or just “something to get used to”. It’s not about parity, it’s not about who is in front or behind. You may or may not believe me when I say that, but this product would be no better if Ferrari were 2 seconds ahead of everyone. This is not F1. And I hope there is a swift and decisive fix, and a colossal push toward regulatory overhaul by 2029 with turbo V8’s with mild hybrid assist (turbo lag mitigation) and sustainable fuels. That is the solution.

@fiagirly I see this is the “new improved Lewis” …

Hamilton asking for more feedback on where he’s losing time: 📻 | Lewis Hamilton: “I need more feedback of where that four tenths is.” 📻 | Santi: “Two tenths in the first sector, power limited.” 📻 | Lewis Hamilton: “I understand it’s two tenths but where is that power limit?” 📻 | Santi: “Power limit is between 2 and 3. Same Second sector. Same Third sector.” 📻 | Lewis Hamilton: “2 and 3 is not helping. Is it apex speed? is it exit?” 📻 | Santi: “It’s power limit.” 📻 | Lewis Hamilton: “That does not help me, mate. Is it the exit or is it the apex? I don’t care about power limit.” 📻 | Santi: “It’s the apex.” 📻 | Lewis Hamilton: “Okay. Is apex too high or too low? Give me some feedback…”

@haribaldijones @jaredwright17 Good summary!

England need a Tadgh Beirne 6 and a Lorenzo Cannone at 8. Ireland need four scrum props. Scotland need a Guillard + a Ramos. Italy need a JGP and a Finnito.

@MasoJucwa Actually that’s a pretty impressive team …

None of these guys start in the current team. Prove me wrong.

@dolphinsands “Trump speaks at Fort Brag” …

@rugby_ap Mongalo. Spill chuck.

@rugby_ap Mondale? At Boks?

Prendergast is like Fassi. Tall and light and hates a tackle. Except Mongalo sat Fassi down and told him it was in his hands whether he would play Springboks or not and that came down to his willingness to rectify that part of his game. Same chat with Sam has to happen

@bensmithrugby “Only real loss …” (*laughs in Welsh).

The 2023 All Blacks really were that team: W 41-12 vs Argentina in Arg W 35-20 vs Boks smoked W 38-7 vs Wallabies W 23-20 vs Wallabies L 7-35 vs Boks (Cash grab friendly) L 13-27 vs France (only real loss) W 71-3 vs Namibia W 96-17 vs Italy W 73-0 vs Uruguay W 28-24 vs Ireland (KO’d world number one and best team) W 44-6 vs Argentina (record semi-final margin) L* 11-12 vs Springboks (The 15 on 14 asterisk final) *Held Boks tryless, scored two of their own, one wrongly scrubbed off, played a man down for 80% of the game. Jordie Barrett missed pen spared the Boks the ultimate humiliation. Only one legitimate defeat against France.

@ChrisCWright1 Yes Chris, agree; it sounds like hero worship.

Here are two things I find interesting and useful about Chomsky: first, as a scholar he was more wide-ranging than everyone else in modern history, and second, unlike every other intellectual, he was nearly always right. His colleagues in linguistics used to call him "an instrument of truth." (He was also an instrument of morality--notwithstanding the mob's recent hysteria about something of no significance whatsoever, namely personal emails.) I know it sounds like hero-worship (I do have my criticisms of him, incidentally), but if you really dig deep into scholarship and think rationally about the issues, I think you'd have to agree. Consider a few examples. He was right about the intellectual bankruptcy of behaviorism and philosophical empiricism. His 'innatist' perspective on the nature of the human mind--the importance of genetic endowment, etc.--is the perspective of modern biology. The idea that the human brain is pre-programmed to "grow" a language in its early years, an idea called Universal Grammar, is grounded in overwhelming evidence. The fact that this idea is still controversial testifies to the astonishing irrationality of the intellectual community. I've never been able to understand theoretical linguistics, but the fact that Chomsky founded modern linguistics and has continued to shape the field shows how enormously insightful his approach is. His point of view on the limitations of the human mind, for instance his distinction between 'problems' and 'mysteries,' is obviously correct. The human mind has an innately determined cognitive architecture: we aren't God, and we can't understand everything. Philosophers have criticized this point of view as "mysterianism," but philosophers are typically irrational. We'll never intuitively understand the inner essence of the universe--quantum mechanics, for instance, is full of extraordinary paradoxes that simply can't be resolved through conceptual (as opposed to mathematical) thought. We'll never resolve the mystery of free will vs. determinism (Chomsky was right that compatibilism fails) and we'll never solve the traditional mind-body mystery. On the history of science, Chomsky's discussions of Galileo, Newton, and the progress of physics and chemistry since those early days have always been extremely insightful and illuminating. On mainstream media, his and Ed Herman's "propaganda model" is, of course, accurate. His critiques of the media have always been correct, as is commonly accepted now on the left. His investigations of the Cambodian genocide, which hacks and propagandists have hysterically attacked since the 1980s, were grounded in exhaustive research and evidence. In fact, as is easily verifiable, he doesn't deny that a genocide took place. (See: jamiemetzl.com/noam-chomsky-a…) Anyway, his point was to look at how the Western media treated genocides of official enemies vs. genocides the West carries out. His analysis was very illuminating. He was right to defend Faurisson's right to free speech. Nor does his defense suggest in the slightest that he endorsed Faurisson's ideas. That's often been claimed, but people are idiots. He was right about the terrible faults of capitalism. He was right in his innumerable critiques of U.S. foreign policy and imperialism. He was right in his constant (early) attacks on neoliberalism and the U.S.'s domestic policies. He was right that U.S. policy toward Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, etc. has been totally indefensible. He was right in his pioneering critiques of U.S. policy toward Israel and the Palestinians. He was right that we should always be skeptical of power and authority, even if it claims (like the Bolsheviks) that its policies are socialistic. He was right that global warming and nuclear war are the greatest threats to the future of humanity. He was right that we shouldn't worship Marx but should treat him as a serious thinker who sometimes made errors. He was right to criticize the orthodox Marxist theory of revolution. (I've criticized it too: sfarchive.dsausa.org/issues/summer-…) He was right that workers should control the means of production through democratic structures. He was right (like Rosa Luxemburg and others) to criticize Leninist vanguardism because it could lead to authoritarianism and wasn't the proper way to carry out a viable, lasting socialist revolution. History vindicated him. His hundreds of thousands of factual claims have, it seems, nearly always been right. For instance, read "Understanding Power" and its online footnotes. Read "Deterring Democracy." Read any of his books and see how many factual errors you can find. Certainly there are some. But not many, in proportion to the sheer scope of his knowledge. His critiques of the intellectual community have been exactly right. Which is why intellectuals hate him and slander him. His position that machines and AI are not conscious is sheer common sense--and therefore rejected by many people. Machines are very, very different from animals; for instance, they're not alive. One would have thought it's kind of obvious that something has to be alive in order to be conscious. Every single subject Chomsky has waded into, he has illuminated. It's very easy to argue that he's the greatest intellectual in history, one of the greatest geniuses in history, and an almost unimaginably decent human being (for instance in his responses to literally millions of letters and emails, and his incredible kindness to ordinary people). Chomsky showed us what human nature is capable of, the greatness we can achieve if we apply ourselves and if, frankly, we've been lucky enough to be born with exceptional genes and an exceptional brain. The contrast between him and most of his critics is like a contrast between Mount Everest and a bump on the ground. His legacy is secure, and he'll be celebrated as long as decent and rational people exist.

@TimPlewman Yes, agree. Not just the new owners - the decline has been with us for sometime. As for the series and film offerings - very arbitrary.

Under the new owners, DSTV - Super Sport has been degraded to Its sort of okay sport… Ignoring the Winter Olympics is a travesty.

@richardcalland @DaleSteyn62 Yes I agree. Surprisingly observed.

@DaleSteyn62 An elegant post,’ if I may say so. You should write more. What about cricket Memoire?

Sitting in Cafe Leopold is something straight out of a 80’s movie. The traditional honk and hoot can be heard from outside. No new age aircon just good old school roof fans hovering away. Chaos as waiters squeeze between tightly packed seating. Mixed lighting as they can’t afford to replace what’s broken. Same manager since 2008. The customary American drinking a Budweiser. Weirdly awesome. I love this place

@AleksPhoenix What nonsense; there was no smirk. Magnificent moment.

When she tapped her chest and gave that side smirk to her son, I cringed so hard I almost walked out of the theater. This cannot be the masterpiece you all hyped

@RoryPetzer Very good

John Steenhuisen delivering the news himself and not asking Uber Eats to do it is admirable.

@scrumming_ten Ah, yet another fine whine …

Enjoy the Glasgow vs Leinster URC final Corrupt South African referees shafted the 1 South African team in position to win the tournament

@MrJamesMay VG

Top tip from someone who helped develop a Driving Theory Test app: The number inside your car needs to be equal to, or lower than, the one displayed on the massive sign visible through the window.

@BanzZoid @adrian_slabbert In the final year?

@adrian_slabbert Guys need to grow up. Who’s gonna refuse a scholarship to Michaelhouse

Glenwood have withdrawn from their sports fixtures with Michaelhouse on the 31st Jan. Apparently the 2025 Glenwood U16A prop and captain is now at Michaelhouse....

@InternetH0F Surely one side is Canada and the other is the US?

This guy pushed a rock off a cliff and split the whole lake down the middle 😮‍💨