Yes, pun intended. Hale-Bopp vs 3I/ATLAS.
Left image: E. Kolmhofer, H. Raab; Johannes-Kepler-Observatory, Linz, Austria (https://sternwarte.at) – Own work
Right image: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/Shadow the Scientist
The night skies in 1997 sparkled with the most brilliant comet in a life-time. Hale-Bopp, named for its two discoverers, was simply spectacular. But some saw something different. 37 members of the Heaven’s Gate cult committed suicide believing they would be caught up in spaceship hiding in the comet’s tale. Kooks? Absolutely. Non-scientific? Of course. Laughed at? Deservedly so.
Fast forward to 2025. A new comet called 3I/ATLAS. This time, there is another kook who suggested the greater likelihood is that this is an alien spaceship approaching. But this time instead of being fanatics of a religious cult, the kook is Harvard Professor Avi Loeb. Apparently a lot has changed in the last three decades.
The Hedgehog Report - Phoenix Edition 
107 responses to “A Tale of two Comets”
1st!
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I think this is the real thing and Bunu should hitch a ride on it.
Just my 2 cents.
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In America, anybody can become anything.
A black non-citizen criminal with multiple charges and a decade old final deportation order claiming a number of fake degrees can register to vote and can get a $300k a year job as superintendent of all public schools in the capital of a US state.
What a country.
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And it was a tough decision to fire the guy!
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Yes, very difficult
And the woman who said this is running for the Senate in IA.
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Senator John Kennedy lists some of things still in the Dem bill…
$3 million for circumcisions and vasectomies in Zambia – $833k for transgender people in Nepal – $4.2 million for lgbtq people in the Western Balkans and Uganda – $3.6 million for pastry cooking classes and dance focus groups for male prostitutes in Haiti – $500k for electric buses in Rwanda – $6 million for media organizations for the Palestinians – $300k for a pride parade in Lesotho – $882k for social media and mentorship in Serbia
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Not a fan of Maher, but he does do a good job roasting Kamala….
On the latest episode of Real Time with Bill Maher, the HBO host torched Kamala Harris’s newly released memoir 107 Days, calling it a self-pitying exercise in blame-shifting and delusion. Maher mocked both the tone and the premise of the book, which recounts Harris’s disastrous 2024 presidential campaign.
“Kamala Harris’s new memoir of the ‘24 election is called 107 Days,” Maher began, “but it should have been called Everyone Sucks But Me.” He added that 107 Days was “a victim’s title because, get it, she only had 107 days to win.” Then, with his trademark sarcasm, Maher reminded the audience that Harris hardly entered the race as an underdog. “Yeah, uh, and… a billion and a half dollars,” he quipped. “And a built-in army of about 75 million people who’d vote for any human-adjacent life form that wasn’t Trump.”
Maher went on to say that in Harris’s telling, “nothing is ever Kamala’s fault.” He skewered her tendency to point fingers at everyone around her for her campaign’s implosion. “Biden lets her down by not stepping down sooner,” Maher quipped, mimicking her tone. “Pouty face emoji.”
Even California Governor Gavin Newsom didn’t escape the mockery. “Gavin Newsom—he was asked for his endorsement but texted, ‘Hiking, will call back,’” Maher said, pausing before the punchline: “But then never did. And then he didn’t even ask her to prom.”
Maher also poked fun at Harris’s repeated claims that America wasn’t “ready” for her brand of leadership. “America itself lets Kamala down by not being ready for the running mate she really wanted, Pete Buttigieg,” he said. “So she’s stuck with the Home Depot paint salesman,” he joked, referring to Gov. Tim Walz.
“And the rest is herstory,” Maher added. “Poor Kamala—we made her the star of a rom-com and didn’t even give her a gay best friend.”
The segment closed with Maher ridiculing one of the book’s more self-serious anecdotes about election night. “Kamala writes that on election night, when it was clear she’d lost, an aide peeled the words ‘Madam President’ off the cupcakes before handing them out,” he said. “Oh, geez—that’s like a scene from Bridget Jones Runs for President, for Christ’s sakes.”
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“Senator John Kennedy lists some of things still in the Dem bill…”
And this is AFTER they trimmed the fat?
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Unfortunately some Rs house member in PA backstabbed their constituents. Notably 3 Dems voted against the expanded background checks.
But the bill won’t pass the senate unless Rs there also vote to support.
“Democrats in control of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives were successful in passing a bill requiring background checks on the vast majority of firearm transfers on Tuesday, but opposition within their own ranks scuttled two other gun control measures.
Anti-gun lawmakers had introduced a package of four bills; “universal” background checks, a ban on so-called ghost guns, creating a “red flag” law, and one that the Center Square describes as “banning equipment to convert guns into machine guns with ‘switch’ devices”. That last bill was approved on second reading, but still needs one more vote before it can be sent to the state Senate.
Democrat Rep. Frank Burns cast votes opposing all of the bills, which led to the defeat of the “ghost gun” ban and “red flag” law. He actually had a few other Democrat colleagues join him in opposition to the background check bill, but several Republicans backed the measure and secured passage.”
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Margot Cleveland
@ProfMJCleveland
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Maximum sentence for participating in a guided tour of the Capitol on January 6 — 22 years Sentence for attempting to kill a Supreme Court Justice — 8 years
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You mean an illiterate, foreign Marxist judge didn’t understand?
Gene Hamilton
@GeneHamiltonUSA
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“Cleared the way” because two things are patently obvious about this case: 1. TEMPORARY Protected Status means what it means. 2. The lower court didn’t understand the meaning of “[t]here is no judicial review…” in the statute.
Kudos to the team at
@TheJusticeDept
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Will the gop-e continue to hold the line in the Schumah shutdown? Or will they do the Potomac two step and retreat?
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If the GOP retreats, you can kiss the midterms good-bye. Chuck U. Schumer is on record saying that the NY Times poll blaming him for the shutdown was biased against him. If that is not someone on the defensive, I don’t know what is. There is absolutely no reason whatsoever to retreat.
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Maximum sentence for participating in a guided tour of the Capitol”
Tina is offering guided tours of her home. She even hired a couple guides.
But the best part is that she doesn’t care if her guides are beaten up, her doors and windows smashed in, her house trashed and her stuff stolen.
I think that is what they term “super hosts”.
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https://wset.com/news/local/early-voting-numbers-surge-in-bedford-county-turnout-more-than-doubles-numbers-in-2021-registrar-polls-democrat-republican-virginia-public-access-project-october-2025
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They are going to come to some sort of deal where the Dems (or enough of them) vote to reopen the government and the GOP agrees to negotiate some of the ACA credits.
It will be enough for both sides to declare victory, but in effect it will be a loss for the Dems because they won’t get 90% of what they want.
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“foreign Marxist judge”
Is a foreign born Marxist judge worse than an American born Marxist judge?
A friend wants to know.
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I can see why Cuba didn’t want him back…
WASHINGTON (TNND) — An illegal immigrant deemed too dangerous by Cuban officials to be deported back to his home country was arrested for allegedly slicing his manager’s head off in front of his family and kicking it “like a soccer ball.”
The murder of Chandra Nagamallaiah, a manager of a Downtown Suites motel in Dallas, occurred on Wednesday. He had told suspect Yordanis Cobos-Martinez, 37, and another motel worker, who were cleaning a room, not to use a washing machine which was broken.
According to the other worker, Cobos-Martinez grew very upset that Nagamallaiah would not give him these directions in Spanish. Instead, Nagamallaiah expected the other worker to translate to Cobos-Martinez for him.
Nagamallaiah’s wife and son attempted to step in, but Cobos-Martinez pushed them away. Cobos-Martinez ended the attack by beheading his manager.
“The suspect then kicked the [Nagamallaiah’s] head twice into the parking lot and proceeded to pick it up and carry it to the dumpster and put it inside,” the detective wrote.
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You be the judge.
Jay Jones, the DEM running for Virginia AG:
Here are some of the texts Jones sent out:
–Jones said if he had two bullets for three people and one of those people was then-House Speaker Todd Gilbert, a Republican, “Gilbert gets two bullets to the head.”
–“Spoiler: put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets every time.”
–At one point he suggested he wished Gilbert’s wife could watch her own child die in her arms
But then in response to this, Jones admitted he said these things, but said:
“Let’s be clear about what is happening in the Attorney General race right now: Jason Miyares is dropping smears through Trump-controlled media organizations to assault my character and rescue his desperate campaign,”
Then finally, not until last night he finally says this:
“I take full responsibility for my actions, and I want to issue my deepest apology to Speaker Gilbert and his family,” Jones said in a statement released Friday evening. “Reading back those words made me sick to my stomach. I am embarrassed, ashamed, and sorry.”
Is he really sorry? If he was, he would immediately drop out, and if he was, he never would have shifted the blame to Miyares running a smear campaign.
My. Goodness. Gracious.
TWO BULLETS to the HEAD!!! This is so far beyond the suggestive rhetoric we have heard for years. This is directly calling for the assassination of a political opponent.
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Youngkin weighs in:
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin shared a statement condemning Jones’s words and calling for him to drop out of the Attorney General race.
“This violent, disgusting rhetoric targeted at an elected official and his children is beyond disqualifying, Youngkin said. “Jay Jones said that “Gilbert gets two bullets to the head” and then hoped his children would die. Read those words again.”
“There is no “gosh, I’m sorry” here,” Youngkin’s statement continues. “Jones doesn’t have the morality or character to drop out of this race, and his running mates Abigail Spanberger, Ghazala Hashmi, and every elected Democrat in Virginia don’t have the courage to call on him to step away from this campaign in disgrace.”
Democratic candidate for governor Abigail Spanberger said she spoke with Jones Friday and made clear he must take responsibility for his words and said she was disgusted by his comments.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Winsome Earle-Sears said Jones’ comments should be “wholly disqualifying for someone running for an office that protects the people of Virginia.”
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This thing has legs. Its a centipede in fact.
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DW, you think that might be enough for at least the Rs win the AG race?
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It has legs, but the gop need to push it.
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I saw Miyares didn’t comment.
Good, let Jones hang himself.
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Don’t go wobbly gop-e.
MICHAEL SMERCONISH SCORCHES SCHUMER’S SHUTDOWN: “700K federal employees are being used as pawns! It’s not fair to them and will discourage others from seeking federal employment — as well as damage Americans’ faith in the workings of their government.” https://x.com/i/status/1974463390098600424/video/1 “Republicans have advanced a clean continuing resolution. This is not the time and place to litigate health insurance policy. The objective should be to fund the obligations already made by the Congress.” Dems are in big trouble right now.
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She needs to push this. Her campaign has been lack laster:
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Yes parade through the Capitol,(shrine) – get 20 years
Attempted assassination on a sc justice – get 8 years.
This makes sense.
-free passer
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GOP-e needs to negotiate and give illegals Medicare.
-freepasser
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Whoops medicaid, but Medicare too.
-freepasser
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if Miyares doesn’t win there is no hope for Virginia
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Smercomish is a little far left apparatchik whose audience is composed of 90% leftists.
He runs a poll on his site every day and the liberal viewpoint always wins big, so he knows where is bread is buttered.
I am surprise he dared come off the reservation on the shutdown, but his audience by 2-1 still thought Rs should be blamed
https://www.smerconish.com/daily-poll/past-poll-results/
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Tina is offering guided tours of her home. She even hired a couple guides.
But the best part is that she doesn’t care if her guides are beaten up, her doors and windows smashed in, her house trashed and her stuff stolen.
I think that is what they term “super hosts”.
Have the “paraders” shown up yet?
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GOP-e needs to negotiate and give illegals Medicare”
Said nobody at HHR.
But I predict the shutdown will end with some sort of deal where the Dems vote to reopen the govt and the GOP agrees to limited extensions to the ACA subsidies.
They won’t agree to fund NPR or PBS or change the Medicaid requirements.
We will see.
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Leftist angry that Pete Hegseth has a son named Gunner.
Hegseth is Norwegian and Gunnar is a very common name, so probably has nothing to do with guns.
Of course, no problem with “Hunter” Biden.
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Any Cubs fans here? Brew Crew is pounding them, 9-1 by the second inning and NO home runs at all.
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Jason, they constantly remind us how worldly they are compared to us rubes, and then beclown themselves by illustrating their broad stupidity.
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Democratic Party 2025:
Two bullets in the head,
and your two children dead.
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”…and your two children dead.”
In or ex-utero, they don’t care! And if they survive, hormone therapy and chop chop surgery for the rest!
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Politico’s take:
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/04/virginia-elections-jay-jones-texts-00594261
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Jay Jones, not dropping out:
“We’re gonna continue to move forward,” he said. “This race has never been about me. It’s always been about the people of Virginia and what they deserve out of their leaders and their attorney general.”
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How about we deserve someone who doesn’t fantasize about two bullets in the head of a political opponent?
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The Jones texts were from 2022, so its not like some stupid comment in college 15 years ago
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The texts mentioned the persons young children. They are 100% vile
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EWErickson
Between the Biden appointee sentencing the would be Kavanaugh assassin, the Left’s reaction to Charlie Kirk, and the Democrats’ AG nominee in Virginia, the Democrats are becoming a pro-assassination party.
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19.7K Views
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Unbelievable. This guy thinks he qualifies to be the ATTORNEY GENERAL while wanting to put two bullets in the head of a political opponent and for his children to die.
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And Google is doing it’s part to circle the wagons. Search Jay Jones, and while the reckless driving comes up, nothing in the search result dropdown about the texts.
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Some Dems still shilling for him…
https://twitchy.com/brettt/2025/10/04/va-state-senators-vouch-for-ag-candidate-who-posted-execution-fantasy-n2419916
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This guy thinks he qualifies to be the ATTORNEY GENERAL while wanting to put two bullets in the head of a political opponent and for his children to die.”
But we need to protect Democracy!
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DId Erick get over his TDS yet?
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CNN’s take: https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/04/politics/virginia-democratic-nominee-attorney-general-facing-pressure
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Wow, even the Washington Post didn’t give much succor to Jones:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/10/03/jones-texts-virginia-attorney-general/
They highlighted right away his desire to urinate on the graves of political opponents.
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Of course CNN stressed his apologies.
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JDVance
The Democrat candidate for AG in Virginia has been fantasizing about murdering his political opponents in private messages. I’m sure the people hyperventilating about sombrero memes will join me in calling for this very deranged person to drop out of the race.
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hipwreckedcrew
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The Govt didn’t just ask for 30 years for attempted SCOTUS assassin Nicholas Roske — the Guideline Range for his crime, as determined by the Probation Officer who prepared the Pre-Sentence Report was “360 Months to Life.” The Government asked for a sentence at the bottom of the range. The Defense did not contest that 360-Life was the correct range.
The ONLY basis to depart below the Range involves mitigating and aggravating evidence under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3553. One aspect is the “Personal Characteristics” of the defendant. Also, a judge must avoid unwarranted sentencing disparities in similar but unrelated cases. The whole purpose of the guidelines when they were adopted in 1984 was to create some level of consistency — not “uniformity” — in sentencing across the more than 650 federal judges in the country who have the responsibility for sentencing federal criminal defendants.
Judge Boardman has invited lawful and appropriate scrutiny of her decision-making.
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without the Mets in the postseason I have to revert to the method of red states versus blue states. Of course that means I have to root for the Phillies tonight
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So, DW, who do you root for between NYC DSA or Canadian socialists? It’s 2-1 in the 7th there.
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NYC
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Jay’s having a breakout moment, now 6-1 bottom of the 7th
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Prior comment got eaten by the server, I guess. Abandoning the Yanks to their fate as the Phillies game is about to begin
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The Jays-Yanks game got out of control in a hurry. Time to turn to the PHI-LAD.
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Out of control? It’s become a debacle; 9-1 now, with no signs of stopping
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In contrast, both Sanchez and Ohtani are off to great starts, each.
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Nice jam, but Sanchez skillfully got himself out of the 2nd; nice to watch real ball in the NL, not that socialist AL ball with their silly DH redistribution of hitting power.
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Hampton Roads Black Caucus has endorsed Winsome Earle-Sears
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That’s a nice get, DW; along with Ebony founder Jimmy Johnson, if she can inch up to 20% of the AA vote, could be an outside chance. I think Sears falls short by 4-5 at the moment, but let’s see how the next two weeks plays out.
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Hmmm…down 0-2 now. Ohtani allegedly said he looked forward to the cheesesteaks served at the visiting clubhouse. I wonder if he indulged in too many of those.
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Sorry, make that down 3, just happened as I typed.🙄
Looks like you didn’t have to wait until the 5th inning after all, BL.
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Caveat; they endorsed Youngkin, so I’m not sure how much pull they actually have
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before Youngkin endorsements were all Dem
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The vicissitudes of sports; Ohtani flubs the second and then goes 1,2,3 for a third inning that took maybe 6 minutes tops? Throwing 100+ heat to take down Bruce Harper, too.
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GF, who’s your team?
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File an appeal. Meanwhile, the insurrection continues.
Chicon
https://x.com/EricLDaugh/status/1974622263875162600?t=IK8GRs5YZKHE6GOxk-oS7w&s=19
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I recommend the Tenement Museum in New York. Today, we visited an apartment occupied in 1869 by Irish immigrants.
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https://www.tenement.org
The 1902 Jewish tour last year was also great. Such brave women and men.
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Kiké is the man in the postseason.
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”Kiké is the man in the postseason.”
And so is TEOSCAR! 3 run shot for a 5-3 lead. His bat finally warmed up
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I have to endure GF because he is a Dodgers fan. JG is a Tigers fan.
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Phew! That was close! Maybe we should have left Ohtani in for another inning.😂
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Dodgers fans are like Yankees fans. They have not suffered enough to deserve any more championships.
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Crunch time now. Mookie is 0-5, so is Ohtani, though he might still get the W.
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Define “enough.” True, it hasn’t been recently, but for most of my life, they couldn’t make the postseason, so these past 13 years have been an aberration
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Great game, lots of back and forth tense moments. Switching to Seattle/Tigers; was scoreless in the 4th, Mariners just got a solo HR
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GF – 8 Dodgers titles. 4 since 1981. Phillies? 2 since 1883. 1980 and 2008.
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File an appeal.”
Yes, you don’t to do that.
Trump should not have filed all these appeals he ended up winning.
He should instead have tried to impeach the judges.
No, he wouldn’t have been able to implement any of his agenda, but boy, he would have sent those judges A MESSAGE!
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Credit where it’s due; Detroit must have wanted it more than Seattle; 3-2, 11 innings.
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If you told me before the game that Ohtani would give up 3 runs and have no hits, I would have predicted a Phillies win. That’s why I don’t bet on sports.
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How does a player who is not the pitcher “give up” runs?
Btw, I am not completely ignorant of baseball.
I read that Ohtani’s intepreter, who DID bet on sports to the tune of 17 million he embezzled from Ohtani (it must be nice to rich enough that you don’t notice 17 million disappearing from your account) got 57 months in jail.
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I guess there is more than one way to kill a State Trooper…
“A Florida Highway Patrol trooper died of complications from a broken leg he suffered on the sideline of a Florida Atlantic University football game on Sept. 6 in Boca Raton.
Trooper Craig Gaines died Sept. 19 while off duty at his Tallahassee-area residence, the Fraternal Order of Police Florida State Lodge reported on its Facebook account.
According to the post, Gaines was on the sideline providing security for Florida A&M University football coach James Colzie III during the Rattlers’ game at FAU when he was unintentionally run into by a player at the conclusion of a play.
Gaines initially “shook off” the hit but a medical evaluation determined he had a broken leg, the Facebook post said.
The Florida State Lodge reported that Gaines was at his northern Florida home when he began to feel ill and called FHP dispatch for assistance. His condition rapidly deteriorated and first responders attempted life-saving measures. Gaines died of medical complications from his leg injury, the report said.”
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How does a player who is not the pitcher “give up” runs?
Ohtani does pitch. When he is not pitching, he is a designated hitter. Since he pitched last night, he also batted.
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I think he is the only pitcher who still bats since the DH came into both leagues.
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i guarantee you that the reason hamas says it takes more than 72 hours to release the hostages is because they need to make them look as presentable as possible… trying to hide as much of the indications of torture as possible
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Ah ok, I didn’t know he was a pitcher.
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What a moron.
What is worse, throwing your career away at Fox Sports or losing a fight to a 69 year old.
Or almost being killed in alleyway in a city you don’t live when you have 6 month old twins at home.
Evidently Mark Sanchez was drunk leaving a bar in Indianapolis and told an Uber Eats driver he couldn’t park in an alley. The argument escalated, Sanchez attacked the guy and then got pepper sprayed and stabbed.
He faces several charges including battery and public intoxication.
https://deadline.com/2025/10/fox-sports-mark-sanchez-stable-condition-stabbing-1236570342/
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DH is terrible.
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So is the extra innings ghost runner
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Is the pitcher still obligated to bat in one of the leagues?
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No. There is no rule against a pitcher batting. However, most pitchers are not good batters because they only pitch every 5 days. So managers use the designated hitter instead of the pitcher. I hate the DH but that is where the game is now.
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The Virginia Beach Dems issue a statement which “reaffirms its full support or Jay Jones for Attorney General” and “[calls] on all Virginians to line up behind Jay Jones”
There you go.
Dems will not care.
Let’s see if some Indies do.
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They shouldn’t line up in front of him in case they get hit by a stray bullet.
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I did not see details on the complications of Trooper Gaines broken leg. I wonder if he was a diabetic and developed the same infection I had.
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C
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I kinda remember they switched year to year and when the AL pitchers had to bat some were really terrible because they never had to do it.
But that must have been decades ago when for some reason I watched some World Series games in bars.
Did they do away with that because it put one league at a disadvantage?
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unreal. Imagine had a GOP candidate said all that. GOP needs to go full throttle with ads highlighting the party of violence wants two bullets to the head of every dissenting voice
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did not see details on the complications of Trooper Gaines broken leg. I wonder if he was a diabetic and developed the same infection I had.”
Possibly, but it seemed very sudden for an infection. Could have been a blood clot.
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The article does not say what the complication was, but that he fell ill and called EMS and he was dead when they arrived.
I would imagine an infection would have caused symptoms that would have hospitalized hi earlier.
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new Thread
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