DramatistDreamer

Lissen, the U.S. has some slim pickings these days, I'm just enjoying the fact that she's not a Trumpist, lol.

After reading the whistleblower's report, you had to know this was coming (or something like it).

She was always capable, imo, it's just that she often got bogged down playing these lengthy points that would lead to nowhere in last second because of poor shot choices. Glad to see that she is coming into her own as she's one of the few U.S. players that I can actually enjoy watching.

Wow, thankfully I missed that entire era of NYT. I was in grad school and too busy to read 95% of their articles. I do remember the bitterness I felt at the decision to invade Iraq. What I know of Elizabeth Vargas is mostly her personal struggles against alcoholism, I didn't realize that she was pushing such a vile narrative but I rarely watch 20/20.

What in the Fresh Hell is this??! I think someone ought to check the water at the NYT.

I never liked Rudy, not even a little. He was a horrid mayor who sold the city to tourists and he lied to emergency workers about the safety and air quality--many have died and are dying as a result of his lies. Rudy was, is and will always be pure scum in my book. Also, I hope Giuliani's cousin/wife takes him for every nickel he's worth.

I'm going to go on ahead and admit that I don't read the NYT nearly as much as they used to for many reasons but their paywall has just irritated me into curtailing how much I read their articles. I'll admit that I never actually had a paid subscription. Since about 1998/99 when NYT began to put their news online, I had an account and would get the headlines delivered to my inbox. It worked for me, this way, for a good solid decade before changes began to gradually take effect. There was an allotment of articles 10 a day, which was eventually whittled to 5 day. And even then, with the use of the incognito browser function, that was a workaround (yes, I'm telling on myself) but recently, NYT closed that loophole. I guess I'd feel worse about the sorry state of the NYT if they still allowed more access, and yeah, better reportage.

It would be great if P&G would give Alina Adams permission to run an official Twitter account or at least, someone equally dedicated if she doesn't have the time to spare. These shows deserve that much.

It's certainly wild (i.e. rollercoaster) but not unexpected AFAIC. IMO, it's really what people were referring to when they were speaking of the millenium and 'systems coming apart' only most may not have truly realized it because people were so fixated on some type of explosively chaotic event (like the Y2K that never happened) to occur but to me, this was what it was all about to begin with. People like Boris Johnson have been planting these seeds for over a quarter-century now so it should come as no surprise that this is happening. I don't think the chaos that has ensued should be a surprise either, given the violent rhetoric that was used to get GB to this particular moment in time, it's just that the British have deluded themselves into believing that one can make order out of chaos. Given what it took to derive this result, an orderly "Brexit" was never going to be in the cards. What's happening in the U.S. now is, to borrow and paraphrase (mess with) the words of Gabriel Garcia Marquez "a chronicle" of a collapse "foretold". Since before the Tea Party, the GOP was moving in this direction, whether people wish to acknowledge this, or not. And the fact that Americans have been getting more of their news from comedy shows, reality shows and combative talking heads on conservative radio and ratings grabbing cable "news shows" than news broadcasters that actually do in-depth, considerate reporting (hey PBS is still out there, people!) really foretold the way in which this country was going and paved the way for a reality-show, ratings grabbing man to ascend into the White House.

Even though individual efforts are greatly appreciated, I mentioned Twitter because it's a far more accessible platform and tend to get a lot more traffic than most eponymous websites these days, I'm afraid. ATWT and many other soaps need a highly visible platform to help keep the memory of these shows alive. No offense, but these soaps are not going to get much sunlight being tucked away on a website. Y&R sucks as a show these days but it generates a pretty respectable following that keep the show visible (as terrible as it is) via its official Twitter page. I'm pretty sure the show's Twitter feed gets a lot more traffic and interest than most other sites on other platforms. These soaps, especially the canceled ones need visibility if they are to be remembered. JMO.

Tonight's debate was a whole lot more coherent and substantive (still some questions that the moderators failed to ask though), probably because there was about 1/2 of the candidates on the stage that were there previously. Also some protesters interrupted Joe Biden just as he was answering one of his the final questions.

Crackle is free and ad-supported, by the way. It is sort of on the tier of ad-supported streamers like Tubi and Pluto.

I think I may be wrong about that. Now the rumor is that Osaka's team just started to follow Wim Fissette on social media. This is the end-of the-season madness period. How could I have forgotten how wild the Challenger circuit can be?

Apparently Osaka has reunited with Baijin and Kiki had some pointed thoughts about it that she posted. Not even an hour ago, I was just musing about the possibility of a Sloane Stephens/Kamau Murray/Monica Puig retread. Looks like I may have been right. Or NOT.

More tennis-related news incoming- Jeremy Chardy and his wife Susan are l'expecting.

So apparently, Osaka split from her coach? There's a tasteless joke to be made about the Osaka team waiting for the next Williams Sister castoff but-😅

The Trump administration is really out here putting people's lives in danger.

that's been going on for years, no? Isn't she now involved with the Spanish Tennis Federation? All of the court surfaces, even grass are now so slow that it's become a baseliner's paradise. No doubt, Kim Clijsters observed this and believes that even Wimbledon will be much more accommodating to her game. Speaking of what's old becoming new again- Darren Cahill and Simona are reunited, but did they ever leave? I got the distinct impression that he was still coaching her, even from the commentary booth.

Since this thread has kind of morphed into a general discussion on streaming, I thought that this was as good as anywhere to post this. AppleTV and the raft of other upcoming streamers must find this news a bit unsettling.

Can fellow mother and former Belgian nemesis Justine Henin be far behind?

Welcome to the boards. I try to be a lot more cordial usually, but from time to time I get a little ornery when folks only seem to show up to remind us to be civil to people who are part of a system that would never return the civility and break every rule of engagement in the process. It gets more than a little tiresome. I actually once heard someone telling people not to 'fat-shame' Trump when he called a woman "Miss Piggy" for months. Civility is not supposed to be a one-way street.

I must have the source/poster blocked because I'm not seeing all the posts. Oh well. Trump has his children working in the White House, so can we all stop looking at this White House/administration as being like any of the others? Trump Inc. has 'crossed the rubicon' concerning normal standards so why should his administration and family get treated with kid gloves? This administration locks children in cages, allows toddlers to sit in their own soiled diapers for days, not hours and refuses to give badly needed feminine hygiene products to teenage girls. So I have to RME at the "standards police" now trying to lecture anyone about how children are discussed when the Trump WH continues to tear children away from their parents/families. Vulnerable children who are fleeing violence and violent acts of nature like hurricanes (do those people read and care about the young girl who was just separated from her parents coming off a plane to Miami from the Bahamas, where their home was destroyed by hurricane Dorian). People trying to "shame" people over Trump kids can take that wagging finger of disapproval elsewhere because like other posters mentioned when the insults were hurled at the Obama daughters (during the worst of the fight again the ACA), Republicans, right-wingers et al. didn't care. Suddenly they care? GMAB. Go somewhere else with that! I didn't want to post a rant today but honestly, why is anyone pretending that this WH of vipers adheres to any normal standards of decorum or engagement. It makes me want to quote that infamous Michael Jordan quote.

Either that or he believes that Melania's side piece at Saks has a lot of explaining to do.