DramatistDreamer

It seems as if the ATP/WTA/ITF want to do their best to 'de-publicize' this as well as the fighting at the China Open so they can continue to chase dollars. This is reminiscent of the ATP's efforts to dampen criticism around Justin Gimelstob and his criminal assault charges. Their preference is to focus on the likes of Kyrgios and Serena as being the worst problems for tennis. Their stance was that chair umpires (e.g. Carlos Ramos) are flawless and to be trusted implicitly, despite the fact that Ramos has shown clear bias in past incidents.

Unfortunately it seems as if he's taking America/American democracy down with him. Mercifully I missed the tirade but every time I hear of one of these incidents whether on social media or at a press conference or summit, I wonder how the U.S. will survive having had such a reckless individual at the helm.

LOL.

And so it is done.

Meanwhile,

Does Yovanovitch even work for the State Department anymore? I seriously doubt Pompeo ever had any hold on her, so I don't see her having one iota of regard for what he wants in the matter.

There was a news story on last night's news that security is being 'beefed up' at many theaters that are screening Joker because some authorities fear the threat of mass shootings and violence. I don't plan on seeing the movie but part of me wonders how this could affect turnout.

Mr. Obba Babatunde reminding you that he once made his living as a dancer as well as an actor at the Dolemite Is My Name red carpet.

For those of us who live in states that support Net Neutrality, it is likely to reinforce actions already in the making (i.e. restoration of the rule) but for those who live in states that don't...

A ruling on Net Neutrality that offers mixed results. Net neutrality court ruling: States can set own rules

Speaking of Andy Murray, this is kinda funny.

Kerber is far far far from one of my faves but this seems to qualify as a type of low-grade harassment on account of some members of the China Open crowd. Of course, that sign is in reference to Kerber's post-match remarks about Andreescu in Miami.

Whyyyy??

I usually try not to post memes, especially in the Politics Thread but this one made me giggle.

That Chris Collins news was a long time coming.

I've been reading about this for the past year but with each read, I grow more worried about what will become of the people in countries like the Central African Republic. This is distressing and even more so, the more that I read about it.

This reminds me of when the Republicans in Congress were dodging their constituents after they tried to tank the ACA for the umpteenth time after Trump got in office. It will be interesting to see if all that ducking and dodging will yield similar results at the polls in the next election.

When are these players going to learn??

Quite a few tournaments have had incidents where there were confrontations in the past decade or so, mainly between fans. Australian and U.S. Open both had incidents where there were confrontations, although only one got anywhere near this physical but in the case of the U.S. Open, I'm pretty sure both parties were drunk. I haven't heard about such an incident occurring at The China Open before. I doubt this will be deal-breaker because both Tours make so much money in Asia, it's why the Asian swing (involving numerous tournaments) occurs during what should basically be the off-season. In fact, the fact that there is a dual ATP/WTA tournament (a la Indian Wells, Miami, Rome, Madrid) tells me that both Tours have actually doubled-down on the strategy of an Asian swing. China is also one of their biggest markets. Personally, I can take it or leave it (half the matches occur while I'm sleeping anyway) but I don't see either Tour leaving all that money on the table. The ITF, ATP and WTA are far too greedy to leave all that money on the table without grabbing it and stuffing it in their collective pockets.

Don't know what to make of this but Scaramucci just tweeted to standby for more whistleblowers. This administration is beyond a circus of grifters, thieves and corrupt folks.

Well. Damn.

Apparently, some Chinese and Zhang fans are disputing this. Nonetheless, this is a security issue and needs to be investigated.

I gave up on CNN years ago. Then again, I haven't subscribed to cable in almost a decade, so it wasn't hard.