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Good luck everyone, have a great day, it’s Friday! Of note for Energy names (XLE, XOM, CVX), the IEA, in fitting with EIA, raised its 2020 oil demand outlook, but cut its 2021 view due to the improved outlook this year. However, it noted that risks were skewed to the downside. Of note for Casino names (CZR, WYNN, LVS) announced it will reopen its Bally’s on Las Vegas Strip on July 23rd. However, Nevada has ordered bars in Clark County, where Las Vegas is, to close on Friday. Of note for PC names (DELL, HPQ), Worldwide PC shipments rose +2.8% Y/Y in Q2 2020, totalling 64.8 million units, according to preliminary results by Gartner. IDC data reported Q2 20 shipments rose 11.2% Y/Y to 72.3mln units. “Early indicators suggest strong PC shipments for education, enterprise, and consumer, muted somewhat by frozen SMBs,” said Linn Huang, research vice president, Devices and Displays at IDC. “With inventory still back ordered, this goodwill will continue into July. However, as we head deeper into a global recession, the goodwill sentiment will increasingly sour”. Market share: HP (HPQ) 25%, Lenovo 24.1% (LNV GY), Dell Technologies (DELL) 16.6%, Apple (AAPL) 7.7%, Acer Group 6.7%.
DOW JONES
Merck & Co. (MRK) Animal Health Unit received FDA approval for its Bravecto Chews for dogs of 8 weeks and older; it is a once a month treatment for fleas and prevention of fleas. Pfizer Inc. (PFE) - BioNTech (BNTX), who is partnering with Pfizer to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, says they are confident it will be ready to get regulatory approval by year-end; expects to begin Phase 3 trials (N=30,000) by July-end. CEO said several hundred million doses could be produced even before approval, and over 1bln by the end of 2021.
NASDAQ 100
Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) plans to create at least USD 100mln in stock awards to retain the 900-plus employees of Zoox, the self-driving car startup it offered to buy last month, and can walk away from the deal if large numbers of them turn down job offers from the technology giant; AMZN is aggressively expanding into self-driving technology, announced in June it had agreed to acquire the Silicon Valley company, for USD 1.3bln in cash, which it hopes to close by September. Facebook, Inc. (FB) – A bug in the Facebook Software Developer Kit (SDK) is causing major third-party iOS apps, like TikTok and Spotify to crash on launch. The SDK enables account logins through Facebook and enable apps to integrate Facebook within the app for analytics and advertisements. Gilead (GILD) released additional data on remdesivir for COVID-19: was associated with an improvement in clinical recovery and a 62% reduction in risk of mortality; 74.4% of treated patients recovered by day 14 (vs 59% of patients receiving standard of care).
S & P 500
AbbVie Inc. (ABBV) - Allergan announced it received FDA approval for its supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) that supports the expanded use of BOTOX for the treatment of spasticity in patients aged two years or older. Energy Transfer’s (ET) fight to stave off a shutdown of the Dakota Access oil pipeline now heads to a federal appeals court after a district judge rejected a request to freeze an order that operations of the pipeline be halted by August 5th. Ford Motor (F) announced the 50% staffing restrictions imposed on plants producing car parts in Chihuahua, Mexico is not sustainable, as US plants are running at 100%. The US ambassador to Mexico stated Ford “may have to shut some US car plants as early as next week if they fail to receive Mexico-produced engines”. Simon Property Group Inc (SPG) and Authentic Brands are considering a bid for retailer Brooks Brothers Group, as is WHP Global, reports WSJ citing sources. The move would be the latest in which property owners are looking to purchase large renters who use their property to keep its business strong. Previously SPG has considered buying bankrupt JC Penney. Tyson Foods (TSN) is looking towards automated butchers amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to WSJ.
OTHER
Barrick Gold (GOLD) sent a dispute notice to Papua New Guinea over the government’s refusal to extend a mining lease in the Porgera valley. Cannae Holdings (CNNE) and the Senator Investment group, who are trying to acquire CoreLogic (CLGX), have reportedly hired a proxy solicitor, DF King after CLGX rejected the unsolicited USD 7bln offer. Express (EXPR) announced 95% of its stores are open and its strategic transformation remains on track, while traffic and sales have steadily improved with e-commerce being positive in June. “Comparable sales for open stores sequentially improved from down over 50% in early May to approximately negative 15% by the third week in June. Traffic also improved, from approximately negative 65% in early May to approximately negative 30% by the third week in June. As COVID-19 cases began to spike in several states in late June, the Company saw declines in both sales and traffic in Arizona, California, Florida, and Texas, which were significant enough to impact total results.” Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSM) reported double-digit sales growth in June; sales were approximately USD 4bln, +28.8% M/M and +40.8% Y/Y. Revenues for the H1 period were around USD 21bln, +35.2% Y/Y. Tencent (TCEHY) is in exclusive talks to purchase Hong Kong game developer Leyou Technologies, according to CNBC. WD-40 (WDFC) Q3 20 (USD): EPS 1.06 (exp. 1.07), revenue 98.2mln (prev. 114mln).
Additional US Equity Stories
Intel Corp. (INTC) has reportedly delayed another major near-term server project, according to SemiAccurate, who reportedly has multiple sources confirming this new delay and none are optimistic about the new schedule. Gilead (GILD) Former FDA Commissioner Gottlieb says the Gilead (GILD) remdesivir data is very encouraging but needs to be confirmed in a prospective trial. United Airlines (UAL) reached a deal with a pilot union representing 13,000 employees regarding voluntary furloughs and early retirements. Nvidia Corporation (NVDA) had a PT upgrade at Rosenblatt Securities to USD 500 from USD 400, noting a secular shift into data-processing units and the co.’s entrance into new markets will drive revenue growth for the co. Carnival Corp. (CCL) preliminary EPS USD -6.07, Adj. EPS -3.30, revenue 740mln (prev. 4.84bln); expects future capacity to be moderated by phased re-entry of its ships, sold one ship in June, has agreements for the disposal of five ships. In total 13 ships expected to leave fleet represent a 9% reduction in current capacity. Reduced operating costs by over USD 7 billion on an annualized basis and reduced capital expenditures also by more than USD 5 billion over the next 18 months. H2 monthly average cash burn expected at USD ~650mln. The company currently expects only five of the nine ships originally scheduled for delivery in fiscal 2020 and fiscal 2021 will be delivered prior to the end of fiscal year 2021. Apple Inc. (AAPL) Apple Silicon 13.3-inch MacBook Pro to go into mass production in the fourth quarter of this year, but also now predicts we will see an Arm-based American Airlines (AAL) has threatened to cancel some Boeing (BA) 737Max orders, a sign of deepening financial stress in the aviation industry.
Today, I stumbled upon a YT video from the excellent Nick Crowley discussing the phenomena known as 'the backrooms'. As someone who has spent literal decades savoring the strange, the dark, the occult, the conspiratorial, I have somehow missed out on this particular phenomena/story/concept. Watching his short but intriguing overview of the backrooms, it made my skin crawl. I had a very real, very waking experience, just a few years ago, which took me to a place that is disturbingly similar to these so-called 'backrooms'. Imagine my surprise when the video - and most related content - described this as nothing more than a creepypasta with its roots in 4chan. And while my experience does have a seemingly innocent explanation, the similarities are far too intriguing to ignore. This is all 100% true, as it happened, to the best of my recollection. For background - I am a professional musician and record producer, with a career that started in 2010. Nowadays I spend my time in the studio, but for many years, I toured the US full-time as a bass player with a wide variety of bands. In mid 2017, one of the larger bands I toured with - 40 Oz to Freedom, a Sublime tribute act - was hired to play the Brooklyn Bowl in Las Vegas. This was an excellent gig, paid great, and we were always treated very well by the staff. The Brooklyn Bowl is a part of the Caesar's family of properties. As such, we were always put up in very nice rooms at one of the Caesar's-owned casinos on the Strip. On the night in question, we had been placed in individual suites at the Linq. After playing the gig, we all went back over to our rooms. My bandmates were excited to spend the rest of the evening partying it up on the Strip and hanging with fans. However, I had a very early flight out of McCarran the next morning to play with a different group back home in CO. I decided to forgo the offer of a night of fun and just relax in my room until my flight left. Sometime around 3am, I decided to go down to the lobby for a snack. So I got dressed, put on my shoes, and left my room. I walked to the end of the hall and called the elevator. Getting on, I pressed the big, rounded "L" button - Lobby. That's when things got strange. The elevator lurched slightly, as if it didn't quite know what to do with my request. The overhead light flickered out for a split second. But after a beat, as if nothing was amiss, it began its descent without further protest. In the moment, I didn't think much of it. It was late, after all - perhaps it had been sitting for a moment or just needed maintenance. But when I reached my destination, I knew something was wrong. The doors slid open, but where there should have been a bustling casino lobby, there was simply a large, empty, white room. A rusted, red-painted metal staircase led down from a landing in front of the elevator to the floor. Opposite the staircase - an enormous red metal door. Above the staircase - a loudly humming, off-yellow florescent light. Initially, I was baffled. I looked at the display in the elevator. In confirmed this was indeed the lobby. My mind raced to all of the stories and places I'd learned about - glitches in reality, underground cults, human trafficking rings, illicit auctions, Silent Hill. But all of that was just lore. I had to know what I had stumbled on. I walked down the staircase and approached the door. By sheer luck, it was open. I swung it open and stepped through. Around a sharp corner, there stretched a long, faded hallway, with seemingly infinite rooms branching off in either direction. Aging greenish-yellow wallpaper, patterned with what looked like a leaf or floral motif. Dank, musty, moist carpet. All lit by humming, flickering fluorescent tubes. A sharp sense of danger and wrongness tingled through me. What the hell is this place? How did I end up here? I decided to press forward a bit, overcoming the impending sense of doom that had consumed me. I walked up the hallway a short distance, peering into the rooms. Each was dark and empty, devoid of windows, and covered in the same fading wallpaper. There was what looked like graffiti here and there, scrawled illegibly on the walls in black ink. After venturing past three or four rooms, each step became a dare. I knew I should turn around and get back to my room. Whatever this place was, it was not a pleasant place to be. It made no sense. And so, trusting my better judgement, I turned around, went back through the red door, up the staircase, and called the elevator. After what seemed like an eternity, the doors slid open, and I was whisked without incident back to the plush confines of the Linq. I had decided that I suddenly wasn't that hungry. Several hours later, I readied my things to leave for the airport. I got on the same elevator, wondering if it would take me to the same strange hallway. I pressed the large rectangular L once more. No shudder, no flicker this time. And just a moment later, the doors opened to reveal the bustling pre-dawn casino lobby that should have been there all along. ---- Now - as I said at the beginning of this story - there is a partially plausible explanation for this experience. The Linq was established in 2014, after a short 2-year stint under the name 'The Quad'. But prior to 2012, the lot belonged to the aging Imperial Palace casino. The Imperial Palace was built in 1979, and featured an Asian-themed decor. My best guess was that I somehow happened upon a section of the hotel that was simply a part of the old Imperial Palace that hadn't yet been renovated. Descriptions of the interior of this old property roughly match what I saw. However, there are still key elements of my experience that make no sense to me. The Imperial Palace was destroyed to be rebuilt as The Quad in 2012, 5 years before I was there. How would any section of the old hotel still remain? Even if there was, in theory, still an untouched portion of the Imperial Palace left after the building itself was torn down, 5 years of renovation renovation were done and 2 name changes occurred, why would this area be easily accessible to guests? And through a strange service entrance, no less? The elevator took me to the ground floor, yet the area I was in was clearly old hotel rooms. The ground floor of casinos almost never house rooms, only food courts and gaming floors. Rooms start on the third or fourth floors, typically. Why were these rooms seemingly on the ground floor? The exact button on the exact same elevator took me to the Linq lobby the second time around. Did the elevator massively glitch the first time? These questions all remain unanswered. There is one last thing I'd like to mention as well. I hate to be this guy on Reddit - but while I was exploring this area, I filmed it on my phone. I will do everything I can to find that phone - I'm somewhat certain I still have it. If I can, I will happily post the video. So - did I just find a derelict hallway buried in the bowels of a casino, awaiting a much-needed renovation? Or did I stumble through a strange barrier into the backrooms? I leave it to you to decide.
Going through old issues of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and posting highlights in my own words. For anyone interested, I highly recommend signing up for the actual site at f4wonline and checking out the full archives. PREVIOUSLY:
NOTE: I mentioned it in the first post of 2002 but a lot of y'all are aware that a few months ago, SaintRidley picked up the Observer Rewind reins after I stopped and started doing his own recaps from the 1980s. Well, he's been doing great work with it and he just finished posting the year of 1987. I went ahead and added it the Previously" section up there. ↑↑↑ Just wanted to make sure to bring it to everyone's attention.
It's been awhile since we've had major PPVs going head-to-head with each other, but it happened this week when WWA aired it's 2nd ever PPV live from Las Vegas, going head-to-head with PRIDE. Dave recaps the history of head-to-head PPV battles, specifically the WWF vs. Crockett war in the late-80s. How Vince McMahon created Survivor Series specifically to run it in direct competition with Crockett's first ever PPV, Starrcade 87. The resulting loss of needed revenue was a huge reason why Crockett eventually had to sell the company to Ted Turner and, in retrospect, set into motion everything that led to WCW's eventual death last year. He goes on to recap how Royal Rumble was created and aired on free TV to go head-to-head with Crockett's next PPV attempt, Bunkhouse Stampede. Then Crockett responded by creating the first Clash of the Champions and airing it against Wrestlemania IV. Not sure PRIDE vs. WWA is up there in the same league as that PPV battle. Which, to be fair, Dave admits it's not the same thing.
Anyway, the PRIDE show was among the greatest events of all time, one of the very few times in the history of the Observer that a show got a unanimous 100% thumbs up vote on the reader poll. It aired in Japan live and in the U.S. on a bit of a delay, with the matches edited in a different order. In Japan, the card was headlined by Vanderlei Silva vs. former UWFI wrestler Kiyoshi Tamura, which was an excellent fight that Silva won. In the U.S., the show was built around Ken Shamrock vs. Don Frye in the main event (in Japan, it aired 3rd from last) and the 2 men had an absolute war that should shut up critics who say both are too old. Shamrock lost a split-decision in a fight that Dave thinks should have legitimately been a draw. (This fight is considered to this day one of the all-time wars in MMA history. An utter slobberknocker. Neither fighter was the same again afterward and Frye has said that the damage Shamrock did to his legs in this fight led to him later getting addicted to painkillers). After the fight, Shamrock went over to ringside and hugged his girlfriend Alicia Webb, who you may remember as Ryan Shamrock. The girl that played his sister in WWF.
And then there was WWA. A low-budget, amateur-ish event, marred by bad production and no-shows. Not that the crowd would even know, because most of the lineup was never even announced ahead of time anyway. The scheduled main event of Jeff Jarrett vs. Randy Savage didn't happen because Savage held promoter Andrew McManus up for more money at the last minute. Savage originally had agreed to work the show in exchange for a 30% ownership stake in the company, which was agreed upon. But three days before the show, Savage upped the ante, saying he wanted the 30%, plus an extra $50,000 in cash. At that point, they started haggling back and forth to try to strike some kind of deal. Ownership got pulled off the table and then Savage asked for a flat $250,000 fee to work the show. WWA turned that down and came back with a flat $150,000 offer instead. Savage turned that down and at that point, everything broke down. For what it's worth, a lot of the lower card wrestlers on the show worked for $300. Last second attempts to bring in Sting to save the show didn't work either. Road Dogg was also supposed to appear on the show but couldn't because of legal issues. Word is he got arrested 2 days before the show in Florida on a probation violation. As a result, the PPV was headlined by Jeff Jarrett defending the WWA championship against Brian Christopher.
The whole show was simply an embarrassment. The production was completely minor league and the crowd was totally dead for all these long matches with guys nobody cares about. The in-ring work was fine, but the booking often made no sense, with overbooked three-ways and 6-way undercard matches that ended up being more clusterfuck than match. It was also one of those Russo-type things where the commentary team made endless inside-references that only the hardcore internet fans would get. But then again, this show only drew hardcore internet fans anyway, so why not? They also constantly made reference to WWF, which came across as desperate and sad. In particular, Larry Zbyszko was given the chance to cut a meandering promo, challenging Vince McMahon to a fight over some unspecified grievance from 20 years ago and criticized them for having Chris Jericho as their world champion. Dave thinks Zbyszko was actually angling for a job from WWF by trying to start his own angle and says this promo was basically his job application. And he thinks it was pretty pathetic. Backstage, the disorganization was apparent and most even within the company saw what a mess it was and have already given up on the promotion as a lost cause. Dave said this PPV made it clear that nobody will be challenging WWF anytime soon.
Other notes from the WWA Revolution PPV: yes, in case you're wondering, that Japanese man sitting behind the commentary table all night who very briefly (literally blink and miss it) got involved in the Scott SteineDisco Inferno tussle was indeed NJPW star Hiroyoshi Tenzan and yes, they flew him all the way from Japan (and had him bring his ring gear just in case), only to have him do almost nothing and never be acknowledged on camera. Eric Bischoff was backstage, as a guest of Ernest Miller. Bischoff laughed off any questions about going to WWF but said the ol' "never say never" shtick. The crowd was about 2,800, most of them freebies and they were desperately giving away tickets in the casino before the show. During the first match, the building looked practically empty so they quietly began moving everyone closer to ringside to pack the area around the ring to make it look presentable for TV. Opening 6-way match featuring all the hottest indie stars was a sloppy mess, with too people flying everywhere trying to get their shit in and the cameras missing most of it. Bret Hart came out and cut a long, rambling promo before announcing Brian Christopher was replacing Randy Savage in the main event, to zero crowd response. By the 5th match, people in the crowd could be seen leaving, never to return. Jerry Lynn showed up, interrupting an Eddie Guerrero interview, at which point Dave mentions, oh yeah by the way, the WWF released Jerry Lynn 2 days before the PPV. Considering WWF has been talking about reviving the cruiserweight division after Wrestlemania, Dave doesn't know why they'd get rid of a guy who could be one of the best in the division. Anyway, yeah, this show sucked. Here ya go, enjoy.
WWF's latest investor conference call took place and wasn't particularly newsworthy, but there's some stuff to note. The new agreement with DirecTV is until August of 2003 and is under the exact same terms they were operating under last year, which means WWF gained nothing while losing an estimated $4.4 million in revenue over the last few PPVs. Following the brand split, WWF plans to run 16 PPVs per year, and increasing the price by an extra $5. Linda McMahon said Wrestlemania 18 has sold 58,000 tickets as of the time of the call, for a record gate of $3.96 million, breaking the record set by last year's WM. Dave goes through all the numbers and for the most part, in comparison to previous quarters, almost everything is down. Which is no surprise to anyone who has been paying attention because WWF is clearly on the downswing. Linda also said they're currently interviewing new writers and are hoping to double their writing staff, which Dave thinks is a terrible idea (and time has damn sure proven him correct). Finally, Linda was also asked how the purchase of the WCW library has benefited the company, which Dave thinks is an interesting question since revenues have declined since then and the Invasion angle flopped so hard that it killed any brand value the name "WCW" may have had. Linda talked about the value of the tape library but Dave points out that it's been a year and WWF has done practically nothing with that library (of course, in the end, they found ways to monetize that WCW library and it more than paid for itself).
In his first match as an official member of the AJPW roster, Keiji Muto lost the Triple Crown championship to Toshiaki Kawada in a match nearly a year in the making, before a sold out crowd at Budokan Hall. He hasn't seen it yet, but the match was reported to Dave as a near-classic (he ends up giving it 4.5 stars). The other 2 NJPW stars who jumped ship, Kendo Kashin and Satoshi Kojima, also worked their first official AJPW matches. Kaz Hayashi, formerly a member of Jung Dragons in WCW and who worked in WWF's developmental until asking for his release a few weeks ago, also debuted on the show and will be part of Muto's faction.
Obituary time for Swede Hanson, who worked primarily in the Carolinas and had a brief run in the WWF as a cult favorite babyface in the early 80s. Sadly, he passed away in a mental hospital because he had advanced Alzheimer's disease which made it impossible for his family to handle him and they had him put away. Jeez, that's rough. He also had a litany of other health problems. Dave gives an in-depth history of his career in the 60s and 70s as a heel in the Carolinas before talking about the WWF run. Vince Sr. brought him in as a monster heel to challenge Bob Backlund, and Dave thinks someone else must have backed out at the last moment or something. By this time (in 1979), Hanson was well past his prime and hadn't been a major star anywhere in years but he was a big dude and so they brought him in to face Backlund and they actually sold out Madison Square Garden with Backlund vs. Hanson in the main event (though Dave says Bruno Sammartino working the undercard sure didn't hurt). The match sucked and almost immediately after, he became a jobber in the WWF, but Vince Jr, on commentary, just loved to call him "Rawboned Swede Hanson" and the "Rawboned" nickname caught on. Vince said it with such gusto that Hanson briefly became a cult favorite jobber from it and the crowd turned him babyface at damn near 50 years old. It led to a brief career resurgence and him having a small role in the Backlund/Billy Graham feud for the title before he finally faded into oblivion.
Mark Henry won the "world's strongest man" competition at the Arnold Classic bodybuilding and fitness event. Henry has been out of WWF for the past 2 months training for this competition and the training paid off, with Henry capturing first place and making a legitimate viable claim to his "strongest man in the world" moniker. During the event, Henry became the first man in 50 years to cleanly press the 366 pound Apollon wheel weight above his head. In another event, he carried an 800 pound block of bolted together railroad ties up a 40-foot ramp faster than the other competitors. For his victory, Henry won a $75,000 Humvee and some other cash prizes. Over the same weekend, he also won another $1,000 in a contest where he was able to lift an inch dumbbell (which weighs 172 pounds) to his shoulder with one arm. There's a bunch of other weightlifting stuff here, but you might be surprised to find out....I dunno shit about any of this. I got winded lifting pizza to my mouth earlier. Mark Henry strong.
Another obit for former wrestler, promoter, and father of 80s valet Baby Doll, Nick Roberts who died of pancreatic cancer. Once again, a bunch of details and stories about someone I've never heard of in wrestling history that Dave somehow knows everything about. I know I've said it before, but these obituary pieces are some of the greatest reasons for subscribing to the Observer.
Masahiro Chono says he wants to take NJPW in a more serious, realistic direction. No sports entertainment gaga nonsense, they want it to be like a real sports product. So much so that, in his own match with Manabu Nakanishi at the last big NJPW show, Chono wouldn't even bounce off the ropes, saying that it's not credible and no one would do that in a real fight. Ah yes, Inoki's gonna love this.
FMW wrestler Kodo Fuyuki has said he plans to try to keep the promotion running after it was announced it was folding last week. FMW still has 8 shows scheduled for this month and Fuyuki said he plans to try to run them himself and keep the company going (no such luck buddy).
Japan Today, an American newspaper that covers Japanese news daily, had a story on Antonio Inoki battling diabetes. It says he was first diagnosed in 1982, which Dave says is right around the time Inoki's in-ring work dropped off considerably when he lost his stamina. The story said for the last 20 years, Inoki has eaten a ridiculously healthy diet and is in better health now at 59 than he was then at 39.
Dave said he got tons of positive feedback on the debut of RF Video's Ring of Honor promotion in Philadelphia. The show was sold out in advance, was well organized, and had several really good matches. They limited a lot of the mistakes that most indie companies fall victim to, such as too many matches, too many run-ins, too much mic work, too many guys trying to do too much stuff, etc. Steve Corino and CZW announcer Eric Gargiulo did commentary. Eddie Guerrero faced Super Crazy in an excellent match and the main event was a three-way featuring Low-Ki, Christopher Daniels, and American Dragon that Dave has heard rave reviews for. And thus, ROH was born.
Vic Grimes took the most insane bump of all time at an XPW event before 1,500 fans in Los Angeles. Grimes was facing New Jack in a scaffold match said to be at least twice as high up as the fall Mick Foley took off the Hell in a Cell. The ring below had tables stacked 4-high to break his fall, but Grimes ended up missing most of the tables when New Jack overshot him. Perhaps on purpose. Grimes missed all but the corner tables at the edge of the ring before coming down on the corner turnbuckles. After the bump, they tried to rush fans out of the arena since it was almost 1am and gave many the impression Grimes life was in danger. But he was surprisingly okay and was walking around backstage after, although he was definitely banged up. Grimes was really nervous about the bump earlier in the day, as you might expect and Dave says he's pretty damn lucky he didn't miss the ring because he almost certainly would have died if he took that bump straight to the floor. Elsewhere on the show, there was a match where porn star Lizzy Borden (wife of XPW promoter Rob Black) faced another porn star, Veronica Caine, in a match that was supposed to end only when someone was stripped totally naked. But right before it happened, the lights went out and the women were rushed out of the ring and when fans realized they'd been ripped off, they were so pissed the arena feared a riot. (Anyway, here's the bump and yeah....Grimes very easily could have died from this. No mention from Dave on the fact that New Jack also tazed him before this)
Shane Douglas is expected to take over as XPW booker when his WCW contract with Time Warner expires next month.
Former WCW journeyman wrestler Chip Minton's primary career was bobsledding. He only wrestled in WCW occasionally while doing that, primarily as a jobber on the C-shows. Minton was part of the US bobsledding team in both the 1994 and 1998 Winter Olympics and was planning to compete this year, but failed to make the team. Soon after that, he failed a steroid test and has been suspended from the sport for 2 years.
Remember a couple weeks ago, it was mentioned that Roddy Piper was in a car accident but he was playing down how serious it was? Turns out....very serious. Piper suffered 4 broken ribs, one of which punctured his liver and nearly killed him. He also suffered severe back injuries and shattered his ankle. Piper was taken to the hospital and was near death but obviously, he managed to pull through and has still been making all his appearances for XWF in recent days. (Yeah I think in Piper's autobiography, he dedicates the book to the guy who saved his life by rushing him to the hospital and even says he was clinically dead for a few moments. Then again, Piper was like a lot of those old time guys and was prone to exaggeration, so who knows).
Eric Bischoff is teaming up with Mark Burnett, the producer of the hit show Survivor, to produce a MMA reality show called Skien. From Dave's understanding, it will basically be a reality show with K-1 kickboxers leading up to a PPV event. (Here's an article about it from Variety at the time, but this ends up going nowhere).
Notes from Raw: only one thing really notable, they filmed a segment at referee Tim White's bar The Friendly Tap. The bar really is owned by White and WWF pretty much always films angles there when they're in town (Providence, RI). This time, the skit featured the APA going into the bar to drink and the bar was filled by a bunch of gay men and drag queens (played by a bunch of wrestlers from indie promotion Chaotic Wrestling) while the APA guys acted all grossed out by it all. Then Billy and Chuck attacked them. Dave thinks this played on all the typical homophobic stereotypes and he seems pretty irritated by it. Anyway, among the wrestlers from Chaotic were Todd Sinclair (better known now as ROH's senior official), Rich Palladino (ring announcer for Beyond now) and John Walters (indie wrestler and former ROH Pure champion).
Next week's Smackdown hasn't aired yet but it was taped and Dave has details. Notably, this is the episode where Austin chases down the NWO and tries to shoot them with a net gun. Dave says this was a mess, with the gun going off but no net being fired from it and they'll have to fix the whole thing in post-production. It went horribly when they filmed it and it aired for the live crowd and it killed the crowd and basically forced them to improvise on the spot (on one of the Something To Wrestle podcasts, Bruce Prichard tells this story and how frustrated they were with this net gun being a piece of shit). This episode also featured Stephanie yelling at Chris Jericho for getting her the wrong hand lotion and Booker T and Edge feuding over a Japanese shampoo commercial. (Rock/Hogan was great, but man, the build for everything else at Wrestlemania 18 suuuuuucked.)
Prototype won the OVW title from Leviathan at the latest OVW tapings. After the match, they did an angle to set up David Flair as the #1 contender for the title. Prototype's only singles loss in OVW came last week, when Flair beat him, so there ya go (this video covers ALL of that. The FlaiCena match, the Leviathan match, the post-match angle, etc).
Wall Street Journal did an article talking about the decline in Smackdown's ratings, saying they were down 28% from last year and down 42% from the year before that. The article blamed it on Smackdown changing networks. Here's the thing though....it hasn't. Raw changed networks in 2000. Smackdown has been on UPN since its debut. Also, UPN has grown overall in ratings while Smackdown has declined. So....no. It's just because the show sucks now.
Charlie Haas, fresh off returning to the ring and winning the HWA title after the death of his brother, tore his ACL this week. He just had surgery and will be out 4-6 months. Rough few months for that dude.
A Washington newspaper did a story on James Dudley, who you may know as....WWF Hall of Famer James Dudley and little else. On-screen, he's never really done much. But Dave says Dudley started working for Vince Sr. back in the 1940s, when Sr. was a boxing promoter, and was essentially his Vince Sr.'s driver and assistant. Dudley did a lot of odd jobs for the company during those early years, working ticket booths and stuff like that, but to most people, he was just kinda known as Vince Sr.'s limo driver. So when he was indicted into the WWF Hall of Fame a few years ago, it was a pretty controversial decision among a lot of people, given that someone like Bruno Sammartino isn't in, by the company's limo driver is. Anyway, before his death, Vince Sr. made Vince Jr. promise to take care of Dudley and keep him on the payroll. So for the last 18 years or so, even though he doesn't work for the company, Vince McMahon has continued to pay him a salary. He also bought him a new car as a gift some years back.
Billy and Chuck's recent tag team title win makes Billy Gunn the most decorated tag team wrestler in WWF history, as he's now held the tag titles 9 times (3 as part of the Smoking Gunns, 5 as part of New Age Outlaws, and now once with he and Chuck). The previous record was Mick Foley, with 8. (to the best of my research, if we're only talking WWF/WWE tag title reigns, that record is now held by Edge).
USA Network CEO Barry Diller took part in a lecture at Syracuse University and talked about losing the WWF to TNN. When asked why it happened, he responded, "Because I'm a dope." He said he didn't fight hard enough to keep the WWF and admitted the loss hurt, but also said it may have been the best thing for them in the long-run because pro wrestling doesn't really fit the direction they're planning to take the network. He said wrestling fans came for wrestling and left immediately after it was over and there was never any cross-over fans who stuck around to watch the next show or anything like that. He said they could never figure out what to connect wrestling to within the rest of their properties.
WWF held a try out camp in Cincinnati and reportedly, nobody was particularly impressive, including AJ Styles. The knock on Styles was that he's average looking and too small. Wrestler Sonny Siaki was said to be the most impressive, but he also rubbed people the wrong way with his attitude so probably not gonna make the cut this time. Matt Morgan, who was on the Tough Enough casting special last season got a tryout and since he has no formal training, he was pretty awful but he's big so Dave seems to think he'll get a chance anyway. The other one they were impressed by was a woman named Erin Bray, who was one of the final 25 picked for the original Tough Enough. But then some other contestants spotted her out on a date with one of the show's judges and they threw a fit, which resulted in Bray not making the final 13. Another wrestler, Travis Tomko, is a guy who has worked some indies and is a former bodyguard for Limp Bizkit ("Tomko, gimme a beat." "No.")
Rock was a presenter at the NAACP Awards and Dave thinks he looked pretty great for a guy who was almost murdered in an ambulance by the NWO a few days earlier. Cheeky Dave is just the best.
Speaking of, Dave throws in a random paragraph to backhandedly shit on Kevin Nash. For years, people in the business joked that Lex Luger made the most money with the least ability or drawing power of anyone ever in wrestling. Dave says it's gotta be Nash. For example, Nash is not wrestling and is only going to be in Hall's corner for the match at Wrestlemania (his knees really are giving him problems), but he has been promised that he's going to get the same type of payoff as if he was the guy in the match working with Austin in the semi-main event. Not to mention all the huge contracts he signed in WCW, or how he got a huge-by-WWF-standards deal here, plus got Vince to cave to almost all his other demands regarding schedule and bringing back Scott Hall, among other things. (I mean, while Dave is being kind of a dick here, I don't think he's really wrong either. When it comes to top draws in the history of the business, Nash isn't anywhere near even the top 10 or 20. And he's never exactly been a great wrestler. But since the 90s, Nash always managed to make sure he gets PAID like he's in that upper echelon. Nash is one of those very few wrestlers who isn't entranced by the fame or the fake accolades. He treats wrestling for what it is: a business. It's the way they pay their mortgages and buy groceries, just like you and me at our jobs. I love it. I laugh my ass off every time I hear "Brock Lesnar signed a huge new contract to only work 6 matches a year." Good for him. I hope he gets even more money for less dates next year. You should always know your worth and never let your employer take you for anything less. Nash has always been one of the guys to do that and he's probably going to die comfortably in a nice house while these other guys from his era are still clinging to fame at 60 years old doing $300 indie shows on crippled knees. Anyway, that's my soapbox). Dave seems to feel the same way and admits, love him or hate him, you gotta give Nash credit for being one of the smartest guys in the biz.
Fear Factor featuring the Hardyz, Lita, Test, Molly Holly, and Jacquelyn aired this week. First they had to climb up a rope ladder hanging from a helicopter over the river and they all made it up except Jeff Hardy who slipped near the top and fell (knowing Jeff, he probably purposely let go so he could take the big fall for fun). Lita also got eliminated for being the slowest one up the ladder. Next they had to chug a gross drink that included bile, rooster testicals, spleen, and some animal brains all blended together. Molly Holly almost vomited after one sip and was out. Jackie and Matt succeeded. Test refused to even try. So then it came down to Matt vs. Jackie and they had to walk across the tops of high poles and move flags around. Matt Hardy ended up winning the whole thing and won $50,000 for charity.
Sunday Night Heat is being converted into one of the B-shows like Metal and Jakked. Awhile back, they started airing Heat from the WWF New York restaurant but the production costs of that were high. So in a cost-cutting move, they're just gonna tape dark matches and throw them on Heat the same way they do those other shows, featuring all the nobodies that can't ever get TV time on the main shows.
As mentioned last week, Scott Hall has been taking a drug called Antabuse, which makes him violently sick when he drinks or even smells alcohol. It caused him to get sick after Raw last week when Austin poured beer all over him in a bit after the cameras were off. Hall has said he is clean and has been clean for awhile, except for the incident a couple weeks ago where he fell off the wagon. Others are skeptical and question if Hall only takes his medication on TV days and needless to say, there's some doubt here.
Everywhere he goes, Brian Christopher has been telling people he's coming back to WWF after Wrestlemania, but contrary to what he's saying, Dave says there are zero plans for that (indeed, it does not happen).
FRIDAY:More on WWA's PPV disaster, the landscape for any new promotion attempting to start up, WWF huge show in Japan, WWF loses appeal over "WWF" initials, Bret Hart given offer for Wrestlemania 18, and tons more...
If you’re new to Coronavirus research, start here…
Feb 19, 2020, updated periodically...Unfortunately there’s not just one link you can use to get an estimate of the real numbers of infected, or of the seriousness of this outbreak, and you will have to do some digging of your own. But here are a few points to consider and research for yourself:
The basics
Name. The names 2019-nCoV, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, and novel coronavirus all basically refer to the same thing, either the new virus or the disease it causes. (The WHO calls the virus SARS-COV-2, and the illness COVID-19.)
Family. It is a type of SARS but is much worse than SARs; experts have also called it "worse than Ebola" in terms of how fast it is spreading.
Re-infection. Getting sick with it more than once is a possibility; "recovered" patients may even be contagious or test positive for the virus after so-called "recovery." Link
Spreading without symptoms. People are able to be asymptomatic or presymptomatic, but still contagious, for weeks. Studies have shown that an infected person may be shedding virus for weeks after "recovery."
Ineffective quarantines. Quarantines are being done for 14 days in many countries, even though it has been documented that 38 days would be more effective. The word quarantine comes from the Italian quarantina giorni, a space of 40 days. We need to get smarter about how long people are quarantined.
When Did It Start? By Nov 2019, officials had briefed the US White House on a virus that was sweeping through Wuhan, China. Link
Fast-spreading. Between 2/19/20 and 5/1/20, cases grew from 1000 to over 3 million. Many countries do not have the capability to adequately test people. For instance it could become very widespread in parts of Africa without ever making the news.
Symptoms and Treatment. There is no cure; treatment focuses on the symptoms like the cough and fever. The symptom list is long and varies from patient to patient but the majority of them have cough and fever and the serious cases develop pneumonia, which is what kills them. Secondary infections are also common, and those patients get antibiotics, but, antibiotics don't do anything against a virus; they are used solely to treat additional complications. The symptom list seems to be ever-changing: a March 7 report showed that 22% of patients had diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and/or abdominal discomfort before respiratory symptoms (another report said it was about 50%). One first-person account said that a rash was her only symptom. CNN aired an interview with US nurses on the frontline who said that in some cases the only symptom prior to death was that the tissue around the eyes turned red (not the eyes, but the face area around the eyes).
No vaccine. Labs around the world are racing to develop a vaccine but that is, at best, months away; some say a vaccine may be impossible due to how the virus tricks the body into making more virus. And keep in mind there was a SARS outbreak nearly 20 years ago and we still don't have a vaccine for that.
Lives on surfaces. Many redditors have asked about whether it is safe to accept packages from China. Studies have shown that the virus can survive on surfaces for at least 9 days under certain conditions, and up to 27 days in other conditions.
"Do I have it?" Many redditors have posted questions saying they feel ill and want to know if they have it. If you think you have it, call a doctor or hospital; reddit is not the place for a diagnosis. The hospital will want you to wear a mask when you come in, and will want you to call ahead so they can isolate you from other patients.
"How do I avoid it?" Many redditors have asked what they can do to avoid catching or spreading the virus. Standard virus protocol applies: avoid close contact with people who are sick; stay home when you are sick; cover your coughs and sneezes with a tissue then throw the tissue in the trash; frequently wash your hands (especially after going to the bathroom, before eating, and after blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing) using soap and water as hot as you can stand it for at least 30 seconds (the scrubbing under running water is important; a 5-second fingertip wash is inadequate); carry hand sanitizer gel with you for times when you can't wash your hands; avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth especially in public; disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces using a household cleaning spray; etc. The US has recommended against all travel to China [update: against all international travel]. Some redditors started avoiding air travel, public transportation, and large crowds and gatherings at the end of January 2020.
Other reasons why we don't believe the official numbers
Information Warfare. In the earliest days of the revelations about the virus, a deliberate disinformation campaign was started, to get people to believe two major falsehoods: 1) “It’s not as bad as the flu,” and 2) “Everything is under control and will be back to normal soon.” You will see this repeated thousands of times around reddit, other social media, and in mainstream media in the US and elsewhere. Even US doctors are repeating this propaganda, almost verbatim, to any news reporter who asks. Read more about China's 10 million influence agents at Link
Naysayers. Historically unprecedented efforts have been made to downplay the virus - often by focusing on the supposedly low fatality rate, or the supposed recovery rate. It's far too early to know what "recovery" actually means. For instance, scientists from Nanjing Medical University and Suzhou Hospital have said males who "recover" may be infertile. There is also well-founded concern about permanent lung damage, and possible chronic joint/muscle pain which could be debilitating and lifelong.
Pre-determined case rate. In early Feb 2020, someone demonstrated that the rise in cases was very predictable from day to day; the data curve was "beautiful" in that it was flawless and perfect, unlike the real world. He was able to predict, a day in advance, with astonishing accuracy, how many new cases would be announced by China the following day. The implication was that the data only moved like that because it was pre-determined before it happened; in other words the real numbers were released in a slow trickle in order to manage the public's reaction.
Under-reporting. There are indications, including first-hand reports from doctors, that the "official" numbers of confirmed dead are grossly under-reported. Link
Estimates. In Jan. 2020, some people were thinking the infected number was over 150,000 (back when China was saying it was under 10,000). It's hard to get a reliable number, but there are clues pointing to a worrisome amount of cases. Researcher models have shown estimates of a multiplier for a realistic number that range from x4 to x35. In other words if China is announcing 75,000 cases today, some people are concerned that the real number (including those who are undiagnosed) is 528,000 up to an almost inconceivable 4.6 million. [Update: Less than 2 months later, the "official" number worldwide exceeds 3 million; if x35 holds true...I don't like that answer...]
Suspected vs. Confirmed. China also has a data set for "suspected cases," which may include people who have presented to the hospital (or to several hospitals, seeking care) with the symptoms but who were unable to get diagnosed because the hospitals were overwhelmed. Some observers consider "suspected" cases should be considered "confirmed" until there has been a negative diagnosis.
Crematorium Info. Investigative journalism in China has led to recordings of phone conversations with crematorium workers, who are desperately asking for help because they are going 24/7 and are still backed up in Hubei from the amount of dead to incinerate (imagine California and half of Texas not being able to keep up with the bodies). The employee states the number of bodies has been 4 to 5 times the usual, starting ever since Dec. 29.
Portable Crematoriums? Lu Media reported that 40 units officially described as "cabins for the disposal of garbage and animal carcasses" have aided Wuhan in the epidemic area; their capacity is 5 tons per day. Professor Ming Ju of National Taiwan University believes that these cabins are "mobile incinerators" used to process human corpses. (To expand on that: 5 tons is 10,000 pounds or 4,536 kilos. Using a rough average weight of 62 kg per adult, that's 73 adults per day, per machine, so 40 machines are capable of handling 2,920 adults per day. That's in addition to the numerous regular crematoriums which can process a dozen or more people simultaneously.) That is all speculation; it is also likely that a city on lockdown would have an enormous problem getting rid of household refuse and medical waste, in which case those mobile incinerators would come in handy for that, too.
Cell phone Subscriber Decreases. Jennifer Zeng reported a combined net loss of 15 million subscribers to three of the large cell phone companies in China, in Jan and Feb 2020 alone. Link
"Not as bad as the flu" nonsense. From Jan to March 2020, mainstream media (MSM) and social media were chock full of people conducting information warfare; their goal was to perpetuate the “official” myth that coronavirus is not as serious as the flu, and that everything will be back to normal soon. There are several other virus-related subs on reddit which are moderated by people who do not allow any dissenting views, and who only permit people to post things that have already been announced by a government. In March 2020, the US CDC Tweeted that the fatality rate of this virus is at least three times that of the flu.
CNY. Chinese New Year is a major travel holiday when people go home to spend time with their families; it is often the only time of year when migrant workers get to see their loved ones. Millions and millions of Chinese people were on the move when this outbreak began.
Ineffective City Quarantines. China announced each city lockdown up to a day or two in advance, which gave infected people plenty of time to try to flee. After Wuhan was locked down, it was announced that some 5 million people had left before it started. Many of the people trapped in Wuhan were just caught there during their New Year's travels.
Constant number manipulation. China has changed how they count cases, and has advised that if a person has tested positive for the virus but is asymptomatic (has no symptoms) then they should not be added to the list of confirmed cases.
Practically no testing in the US. In the US, the vast majority of citizens (99.99999+%) can't get tested. The CDC policy has changed several times but even now, unless you have symptoms severe enough to require hospitalization or have had close contact with a CDC-confirmed case, testing is not available for most Americans. [Update: As of 5/1/20, the US has tested approximately 2% of its population, and has over 1 million cases.]
"Self-quarantines." The US relies on self-quarantines. On 2/19/20, WSJ reported "Public health officials in the U.S. are striving to keep tabs on thousands of Americans who have quarantined themselves at home after returning from mainland China..."
States hiding data. Some states, notably Florida, were initially claiming that they couldn't legally disclose how many people have been tested. "According to the Tampa Bay Times, “state Surgeon General Scott Rivkees said the Florida Department of Health is not authorized to publish the number of people in the state being tested for the virus out of privacy concerns.” US health privacy laws contain an obvious and necessary exemption for cases that involve public health crises.
Hacked Accounts Spread Reassuring Deception. Redditors are posting that they have been getting bizarre texts from close friends and family members in China saying "situation is under control" and "we're all fine" etc. Others posted screenshots of messages from several business contacts in China who all repeated an official message practically verbatim: "Impact limited to Wuhan...Everything is under control...will be back to normal soon...thank you for your concern."
Body bags. Rumors are circulating that China has ordered 1 million body bags, and shifted factories to body bag production; someone also posted an online industrial buyer order in which someone was looking to purchase 45 million virus masks.
Monitoring. China announced a few days ago that they are "monitoring" close to half a million people who have had "close contact" with infected people. Monitoring efforts involve self-reporting plus tracking of movements based on cell phone geolocation, A.I., facial recognition technology, and mandatory checkpoints.
What leaked videos and social media posts have shown us has happened in China
Dropping Dead. There are a handful of videos that show people seeming to suddenly collapse, notably a police officer walking down the street, in social media posts circulating on Feb 19, 2020. Videos show people dead and dying in hospital waiting rooms. Other videos show dead bodies laying on the sidewalk; a young woman collapsed in a vegetable market, etc. These spread in China in Jan.; in Feb. we saw similar vids from Iran. On 2/20/20, Harry Chen PhD posted a man laying face-down in a Hong Kong mall, the implication being that he collapsed from the virus or virus-related complications.
Unprecedented Censorship Efforts. Videos get deleted almost as fast as they get posted. One leaked video shows uniformed internet police pounding on someone's door, demanding that they delete their social media post, and also that they immediately must post a retraction to apologize for spreading "rumors" or otherwise they will face legal consequences for harming social order.
Voices from Inside Hospitals. Voicemails and texts from Chinese nurses and medical workers urging their loved ones, "Do not go outside" and saying that they are totally overwhelmed with infected patients. Numerous nurses collapsing into hysterics, unable to cope with the requirement to work 22 hours a day, and the inability to leave the hospital; some have been threatened with having their medical license revoked if they walk away.
Dirty masks. Used surgical masks being resold: an old man on the sidewalk selling used surgical masks of various colors from an open box. Another video recorded surreptitiously shows a team of people inside a shop with a big pile of used surgical masks, which are being sorted, flattened, and folded. The video ended with a view of a big stack of boxes; the implication was that used masks were being repackaged for sale as new. The brand name was not legible but it featured a woman's face on the cover, and Chinese writing on the box.
Quarantine Evasions. City quarantines don't work. Videos show people climbing over head-height barricades and fences built across roads and bridges, family members handing their children across the fence, and arguments in the street when someone is discovered to have Hubei province license plates or to be speaking with a Wuhan accent.
Doors welded shut. People are being welded into their apartments in Wuhan. Some apartment buildings have had their entrances sealed, once multiple people inside are believed to have the disease. Videos showed a middle-aged, non-athletic woman attempting to scale the outside of the building by going from balcony to balcony, and she fell to her death. A small town road labeled as the "Road to Lihua" which shows a street full of residential buildings, and every single building is barricaded from the outside, thus trapping the uninfected inside with the infected and the dead.
Mobs. So-called "recovered" patients being attacked and beat up for returning to their village after being released from quarantine.
Sprayers. Numerous videos show fleets of trucks rolling through streets in China, spraying what we suppose to be some sort of disinfectant, as though there was a need to clean the sidewalks or even the air itself. China has used water sprayers for at least five years to combat pollution, but speculation is that these trucks contain some sort of chemical rather than water.
Birds. A highway shot shows hundreds of crows perched on a concrete barrier; the subtitles claim that thousands of crows have been attracted to Wuhan by the stench of death.
Checkpoints. Villages and small towns enforcing quarantines with weapons, punches, slaps, etc. A car stops at a checkpoint, hesitates, then seems to intentionally plow into a medical tent.
Arrests. Patrols of white hazmat suit workers looking for people who went outside without a mask; they get arrested and carried away.
Packed hospitals. Hospital hallways jam-packed with people standing around waiting to get tested; shoulder-to-shoulder crowding conditions, which surely served to spread the virus faster.
Pets Killed. Village patrols beating dogs to death with a stick supposedly in order to "prevent the spread of the virus," and household pets thrown down from tall apartment buildings for the same reason.
Bodies. Multiple body bags in hospital ambulances, on the floors of hospitals, and in the hallway. (Similar videos surfaced from Iran and Brazil in March 2020.)
Transportation issues. That there were enough dead at a given time that no one could respond promptly to carry away the bodies.
Paid by the body. A citizen journalist secretly records an impromptu job interview at a local crematorium, where he is told he will not be paid unless he brings in bodies to cremate. They offer 500 RMB for one body, and 200 RMB for each additional body, up to 1100 RMB a load if he can bring in 4 bodies at a time.
Failures at life-saving efforts. A man's voicemail (identified by name as a doctor, if the accompanying image is to be believed) stating that for patients who are intubated (receiving oxygen via a tube shoved down their throats), extubation (removing the tube) is rarely successful - the patients die when taken off oxygen.
Panic buying. Fights over groceries, and rice flying off the cart before the grocery store can even put it on the shelves.
Refugees. Social media video posted Feb 19, 2020 claims to show hundreds of people with suitcases and baggage fleeing over the Chinese border from Guangxi province into Vietnam. Like most other videos claiming to be about this situation, there are many responses claiming this one is fake.
Fights. A child stabbing an elderly person and another child, during a fight over a small bottle of antiseptic.
Intentional Spreading. There are videos showing various suspects who are going around intentionally spitting on things, in an apparent effort to spread the virus. Tissue boxes are provided on elevators so that a person can use the tissue to press the button, and keep their fingers clean. Videos show a family riding the elevator, and a male takes a tissue and spits on it repeatedly, then smears all of the buttons with his spit. Another video shows an older woman alone in a different elevator; she repeatedly hacks and spits intentionally all over the buttons and the inner doors of the elevator, and then after a younger woman gets on and presses an elevator button, the older woman cackles to herself. Another video shows a young woman going down the street spitting on the door handles of cars. Another video shows a young woman sneaking around an apartment complex at night, spitting on doorknobs. Many Western viewers are unable to make sense of these videos, or conceive of a thought process that would make a person want to do this.
Attacks on medical workers. Patients in hospitals pulling down their virus masks and intentionally spitting into the faces of medical workers and receptionists - multiple incidents in multiple locations.
Arson? I have yet to actually see one of the alleged "arson" videos because they get deleted (for "inappropriate content") shortly after they are shared, but there are rumors of one or more videos showing buildings being intentionally set on fire in China, with people still alive inside the buildings. People are working hard to call these fakes, saying it emerged in early January and there is no proof that it is linked to the virus; however, since the videos immediately get flagged and deleted, discussion and debunking it for yourself is nearly impossible. On that note, if you see a video and believe it will be deleted, there are ways you can archive it (to a different website) so that others can see it later.
Failed donation efforts. Food trucks sent to Wuhan are not allowed past the city's barricades, and the food goes to waste.
Resistance. In Xiaogan, Hubei, the villagers did not want to be sealed up inside their homes, and they fought back. The police fired shots.
What else is happening in China
Pop-up Hospitals. In response to the outbreak, a pop-up hospital was built in China in about 10 days. It leaks.
Non-Hospitals. China has also opened “quarantine shelters” which do not provide medical care; observers are calling these deathatoriums, where people are supposed to just go and wait to die. However, if someone lives with a big family and has nowhere else to go, this may be a humane way to help the person have shelter without risking infecting their loved ones. Once a person goes in, they are not allowed to leave.
H2H and A2H. Human-to-animal-to-human transmission appears possible: It was reported by a UK tabloid on Feb 21, 2020 that hundreds of pets have dropped dead in China; although that source is questionable, the 2002 SARs outbreak led to research that household pets such as cats and ferrets could be infected by SARS-CoV which they caught from a human, and then could spread the disease to other humans (back in 2002).
Historic Firsts. Wartime policies are in place. China has locked down three entire provinces (Hubei, Liaoning, Jiangxi), all four centrally-administered municipalities (Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Chongqing) and more than 80 other major cities. Some estimate that nearly 800 million Chinese (9.8% of the population of the entire planet) are under some type of quarantine, lockdown, and/or movement restrictions. A bit of logic often repeated on reddit is "You don't do that for the flu."
Cages. People are being dragged kicking and screaming off the street into truck cages, because a spot-check of their forehead temperature revealed they had a fever.
Press Censorship. Reporters are going silent and China revoked the press credentials of 3 WSJ reporters.
Robots. In Wuhan robots (think "gonk droid" not "C3PO") and drones are being used to enforce the quarantine, ordering people not to leave their homes, even for food.
Information Control. Chinese whistleblowers are reportedly disappearing or suddenly being diagnosed as infected, hours after posting revealing information.
Claims of People Being Burned Alive. Taiwan News - and no other sources as far as I can find - is reporting alleged first-hand accounts of people who claim they saw people being burned alive in Wuhan, the alive bound up with corpses and dragged off together.
Doctors Sickened. Chinese medical professionals (around 1800) are getting infected despite safety procedures, and some are dying from the infection (notably the director of a hospital in Wuhan). Usually doctors and nurses aren’t too worried about getting ill from their patients due to their safety measures, which indicates that covid-19 is much more infectious than the usual flu strains.
Irony. A high-level government health official emphatically stressed to reporters that the virus is preventable and controllable, a few days before he himself was diagnosed with the virus.
24/7 Lockdowns. People in Wuhan no longer being let out of their homes once every 7 days, and are on 24/7 lockdown.
Propaganda Videos. In the early days there were quite a few propaganda videos showing happy, smiling shoppers in grocery stores that were fully stocked. There were very light crowds - lighter than usual even - and no shortages of food in these videos, despite the leaked videos showing empty vegetable bins, huge meat bins with only one pack of meat left, and violent fights between shoppers trying to get their hands on a sack of rice.
Positivity Efforts. There have also been propaganda vids showing infected patients dancing and doing exercise; this is all part of the order from on high to keep the message "positive" and ensure that nothing but pure "positivity" covers all virus news.
"Moving Deeds" Efforts. Propaganda efforts have been directed toward promoting the effects of control measures and the “moving deeds” of volunteers, community workers, and the police. They have also posted some 400,000 comments online to counter negative public opinions.
Barring Investigators. China wouldn't let any WHO Americans into the country until recently, but they are still being prevented from going to Hubei and Beijing.
Movement Restrictions. Drones carry QR codes at the entrances to cities; drivers must use their cell phone to scan the QR code, and then the system will analyze the phone's recent movements, then decide whether to allow the person into the city.
Medical situation propaganda. While leaked videos show overwhelmed, crying medical staff in packed hospitals, there are also some propaganda videos showing empty hospital corridors and calm, smiling, laughing, relaxed doctors; one claim being circulated is that some of those were filmed with actors hired to portray doctors.
New medical crime laws. On Feb 8, 2020 China’s National Health Commission announced seven types of "medical-related" crimes, stating that prosecution will be swift and they will not rule out the death penalty for these crimes, which, in plain English, are basically: 1) Don't injure medical workers, 2) Let medical workers go wherever they say they need to go, 3) Don't pull down your mask and spit in the face of medical workers, 4) Cooperate with mandatory health checks and quarantines and don't disrupt anyone trying to burn bodies, 5) Don't stay in a hospital if you've been told to leave, and funerals are banned, 6) Don't carry weapons into a hospital, and 7) Anything else they decide is illegal is also illegal.
Swift cremations. Funerals in Hubei are banned; the deceased are immediately cremated and the family is notified afterwards. If the deceased did not have a coronavirus diagnosis before death, the body will never be tested and the case will never be added to the official numbers.
The Unknowns
Longterm Health Implications. The US government has just announced that "recovered" COVID-19 survivors are permanently disqualified from military service. This speaks volumes about what the government knows about what this virus is and what it does. Link
Death Rate. The fatality rate is still an unknown; many people blindly repeat “2%” although we have not had enough cases outside of China, for long enough, to know the real number. Professor Neil Ferguson of the Imperial College of London has published a paper estimating Hubei province will see an 18% fatality rate. That’s one of five people out of 11 million; which means this professor is projecting roughly 2 million deaths in Hubei province alone. The same professor says that it is not absurd to anticipate we’ll have 400,000 infected in the UK. Early numbers from Italy are over 30% but of course it's still way early to know.
False Negatives. We don't know how many people have it and were tested negative, because there have been experiments where current test kits have failed to detect the virus until the 5th or 6th time tested.
Airborne? Reports from inside China have repeatedly referred to the virus as "airborne." This gets shouted down on social media as soon as it is repeated, with anonymous "experts" trying to convince you and everyone else reading that you simply don't know what "airborne" means, and trying to switch the focus to droplet contamination by sneezes and coughs. People in China, and certain parts of South Korea, Vietnam, and Italy have been warned specifically not to go outside.
Source of virus. The "official" source, which somehow was known and announced since the very early days, was a so-called "wet market" or "seafood market." In reality these markets are infamous for butchering and selling the meat of snakes, bats, rats, cats, dogs, badgers, civets, raccoon dogs, and other exotic mammals for human consumption. CNN reports from years ago documented dogs and cats in cages, waiting for butchering. The propaganda description is that the markets just sell seafood and birds. Sanitary practices in such markets consist of rinsing off surfaces with plain water periodically, and using the same knife to cut multiple species of animals, and the same knife to cut meat and then intestines and then meat again. The possibilities for illness and infection from such meat sources is obvious, and the official story is that this virus somehow jumped from bats (or some say from pangolins) to humans.
Virus Lab. The original source of the virus has been the subject of great debate. It has been reported as starting in Wuhan, which happens to have Asia's only Level 4 Biosafety Laboratory. Some Chinese researchers were indicted for taking virus samples from Canada to China, and, the head of a Canadian virus lab was also indicted for being on the payroll of China and accepting $50,000 a month payment from them. Draw your own conclusions.
HIV Proteins. Some research indicates that the virus shares four proteins with HIV, and bears certain genetic markers only found on genetically modified organisms. Those scientists were quickly silenced with criticism; most seem to believe the criticism. Regardless, numerous articles have claimed it somehow acts like HIV.
What's happening outside of China
Lockdowns. The entire countries of Italy, Spain, and India's entire 1.3 billion people are locked down. The US and UK are on some sort of half-ass "voluntary" thing, told to "stay home if you can" while many people ignore it.
Cruise Ship. The Diamond Princess cruise ship (quarantined near Japan) which some observers on reddit said would be a good test case for a real world model outside of China, has shown an alarming increase in the numbers of infected.
Suppression of Info. Google is believed to be suppressing virus news. Try the search engine that doesn't track you, https://duckduckgo.com
Macau. Macau closed its casinos. This would be like Las Vegas deciding to hang up a "Sorry, we're closed" sign for a few weeks.
Ukraine. Ukraine - civil unrest, riots, road blockades to protest quarantining and transportation of patients into the area.
South Korea. South Korea reported a surge of new cases on Feb 19, 2020, linked to an infected person attending a church service; 31 new cases were diagnosed. The growth in South Korea, in a matter of days, has been mind-blowing (In 13 days, the case count in South Korea has grown from 82 to over 5,300 cases). South Korea may have been a good predictor for what growth in the US will look like, except so far, South Korea is testing 2,000 out of every million of its citizens, while the US is only testing 1 out of a million.
Self-isolation. South Korea, Vietnam, and Iran are asking millions of people to stay at home, to contain the spread. In one city in South Korea the mayor has asked people to wear their viral masks even indoors at home.
Iran. While Iran is officially reporting 3 deaths as of Feb 21, 2020, a social media post says it's 20; that the virus can live on surfaces for 2 weeks, can transfer from animals, can reinfect after initial infection, and testing is 30%-50% accurate, with many false negatives and asymptomatic transmission, plus mutations of the virus. Other "leak" sources say there are 300 positive diagnoses in Iran. Just like we saw happen in China, a government official who urged the public not to overact about coronavirus has now tested positive for the illness himself. Within a couple of weeks of Iran's first case, multiple senior politicians had died (Mar 3, 2020). On Mar 12, satellite imagery revealed mass burial pits in Iran.
Dirty masks. Leaked video shows several women in head coverings who are sitting on the floor sorting through what appears to be thousands of used surgical masks - the implication being that these will be resold; the narration does not sound Chinese; the videographer holds up an example mask very close to the phone, to show that it is definitely used and soiled.
Travel to/from China. The US had up to 200,000 citizens in China at the time of the outbreak. As of mid-March, the US unbelievably still has daily flights from China. Canada still has unrestricted air transportation with China. Meanwhile, other countries have closed their borders to Chinese citizens and to anyone who has been to China recently.
Evacuations. The US has arranged multiple evacuation flights to bring Americans home from China. Some on reddit are concerned that this will only spread the infection faster, and would have preferred that anyone in China be left there. The US has spread these evacuees around at least three states, and enforces a “voluntary” quarantine of 14 days.
Quarantine Stations. For years the US CDC (Centers for Disease Control) has had 19 quarantine stations on military bases ready for just such an outbreak. American evacuees are currently being held at some of those.
Emergency Declarations. The US city of San Diego, California declared a "public health emergency" on Feb 14, 2020. As of March 7 these states have also declared a state of emergency: NY, FL, KY, PN, MD, UT, IN, CA, & WA. On Mar 14, Pres. Trump declared a national emergency and public schools in 12 states announced closures ranging from a few days up to 30 days.
Weak control measures in the US. In the US, hundreds of people are being "monitored" (sent home and told to call if they get a fever or cough) but are not being tested. These people may be contagious. Link
National Guard Mobilization in Tallahassee, Florida, US? A social media post claims to show a small fleet of what appears to be military vehicles, police officers, and ordinary trucks hauling large white trailers; the captions claim the vehicles are Chemical, Biological, and Radiological response units. Two large earth-moving/digging vehicles are in the fleet.
Spitting. US social media indicates Seattle patients are spitting on the clinic walls and floor.
People dropping dead. Social media posts from Iran (Feb 25, 2020) are showing us the same things we saw on social media in Hong Kong and on the leaked videos from China: various, random people just suddenly collapsed / dropped dead in the street. One theory being circulated is that the virus may cause heart failure, particularly during the patient's re-infection (or second time with the virus).
Supply Chain and Economic Impacts
Mask shortages. Chinese buyers are scouring the world to locate companies that can sell them viral masks in bulk. Many redditors have posted that they ordered masks online, but then got notified that their order was canceled or on back-order. In the US, as of mid-February most cities still have masks on the shelves at local stores; though many stores have imposed quantity restrictions such as 10 per customer. In states where the CDC has announced confirmed cases, people are having trouble finding masks anywhere.
Panic buying. Singapore has imposed limits on how much groceries and supplies a person can buy. Hong Kong has had panic-buying of household goods and groceries, with many rumors that ordinary things (such as toilet paper, which Hong Kong gets from mainland China) could go out of stock and stay out of stock for an unknown period of time. In the US we get our toilet paper from US companies; there is no reason to hoard toilet paper in the US! As of Feb 29 and Mar 1, panic buying appears to be happening in Hawaii, Oregon, California, and multiple locations in the US. As of Mar 13, panic buying has spread to many areas of the US. At this point if you failed to prepare, you should consider looking carefully at your own pantry and fridge, rather than going out and risking being in a panic buying crowd.
Global Crash. Economic damage in China and around the world is difficult to contemplate. Billions have already been lost. China produces about 17% of global GDP.
Cars and car parts. Some car makers have shut down plants temporarily and some may have to find alternative sources for components (such as plastics and wires etc.) before they can resume operations, unless this virus magically disappears by the end of February.
International Shipping. Some cargo ships are leaving Asia at 5% capacity (95% empty) and will not be able to continue to operate like that.
"Made in China." Experts are projecting shortages and disruptions in the global supply chain in general, affecting countless products either "made in China" or made with ingredients or parts sourced in China, including but certainly not limited to computers, electronics, auto parts, chemicals, medical equipment, machinery, telecom hardware, apparel and footwear, home goods, batteries, smartphones, and notably, pharmaceuticals (over-the-counter and prescription drugs), just to name a few examples. Even if a product is advertised as being made in your country, there's a good chance it contains Chinese components or ingredients or is at the very least being sold in a plastic container that was made in China. Industries are looking at options for finding other countries to become suppliers, so we can diversify the supply chain and avoid keeping all our eggs in one basket, though such measures could prove to be too little, much too late at this point.
There’s much more that can be posted here, but that's enough topics to get you started on your own research. I really doubt this is going to be disappearing in a month or two. If any readers have a source or video link etc., or additional points they you'd like me to add, just reply to this message, or send me a private message if you prefer. Thanks for reading!
Closest Mario Kart 8 Game (and Switch) to Mountain West Schools
It has been said that the Mountain West conference is “At the Peak,” and to me, nothing illustrates that more, than the fact that there are 12 teams competing in the only NCAA Division 1 conference that sponsors e-sports. Of course, since the matches are played head-to-head, Boise State has an advantage because they tint the monitors blue, and play with all blue avatars; an advantage that is confirmed in their winning of League of Legends and Overwatch, but with the Spring season being cut, next year the Mountain West has announced that they will be playing Mario Kart 8, for the Nintendo Switch. Due to the large amounts of people in the Mountain West cities suddenly having $1200 burning a hole in their pocket, every store that sells Nintendo Switch has sold out of their allotment; yes, even, Amazon. So, thus the conundrum becomes: How can these players, prospects, and ordinary people practice in order to “git gud” as the gamers would say? Well, that’s where I come in. For, you see, since I am allowed out on the streets again, finally, due to both my prison sentence being cut short, and my work being determined to be “essential,” I had the time to scope out some places. Alas, while my cough and fever are not improving as much as I had hoped since I last got back from Italy, I did manage to find some time to visit all of the Mountain West cities in order to find the easiest place to get a Switch and Mario Kart 8 location. For simplicity’s sake, I am going by the football stadium since it’s a well-defined point in most locations – San José State fans, the football stadium is that big ovoid building at the corner of E Alma Ave, and S 7th St… It’s the place where the people aren’t on Saturday’s is September. Should you get hungry during your travels, I have also managed to find a some breakfast locations in the same vicinity
Okay, so I lied a little; I tried to get into the university, but, unfortunately the men with guns wouldn’t actually let me get beyond the gate on S Gate Rd, and I was still a little jet-lagged having just gotten in from Frankfurt after having woken up for my 0610 flight for the Linate to Frankfurt leg (stupid weather prevented the flight from Denver to ABQ, but my loss is your gain). So, while this may not be the closest, it certainly will fit the bill. Tyler-Jay Rowland who lives at 3075 Navigation Drive, in Colorado Springs was more than willing to help out, especially since his son, Jeremiah, was grounded for a month for staying out after curfew two weekends in a row. As the falcon flies, this location is 5.2 miles away; in a car, it’s not too much further than that.
Boise State
Now, I don’t, technically, hate the way that Boise is laid out with the river running right through the center of town, but even though Maci Drew lives in the Clearwater Apartments, unit 323, which is in a straight line, only a quarter of a mile from the stadium, you will have to go the Exxtramile, to get to her apartment. Also, she would like me to point out, that times for a waitress like herself are a little rough, so please, if you’re hungry, skip Taco Bell, and eat at the Bar Gernika in downtown Boise, right next to the Central Plaza and Century Link Arena. “We have wifi” she said.
Colorado State
This is, by far, the most remarkable location; I had completely forgotten that they moved to an on-campus stadium, so I initially went to the Hughes Stadium location, and found a big pile of dirt. And not much else – well, if you exclude the trees that formed a nice line, that brought me back to my college days. Having corrected my too old Garmin in-car GPS, I found Tim Thatcher on 604 Balsam Ln; he’s a little deaf, so you might need to knock like you are ram-ing down the door. He bought the Switch after his wife of 35 years died to help him grieve and spend his retirement, “but it’s just making me too sad lately, and I’ve never been very good at vid’ya [sic] games. I still don’t know how I’m supposed to save the princess when she’s trying to beat me… That reminds me of my princess, who I lost last year. She was so kind, we met in high school, I had an onion on my belt as was the style in those days. They didn't have any white onions, because of the war. The only thing you could get was those big yellow ones.” I’ll be honest, at this point I started zoning out because, again, fever. He honestly looked really sad as I was talking to him, so you might want to try to cheer him up, since he’s just a lonely guy bein’ a dude. In a straight line distance, you’re only going .3 miles, and it’s not too much further by car.
New Mexico
This is by far the closest location to the stadium. The UNM Lobo Club is a non-essential business in the state of New Mexico, and UNM and the Athletics Department realized that funding would need to be cut dramatically throughout the state, and with the sweetheart deal they got from the legislature this year, they decided to close all athletic facilities, including the Maloof building, home of both Eddie Nuñez’s office, and the Lobo Club. I suggest using the side door closest to the field level entrance of the stadium. That’ll take you to the weight room; an alarm will go off, the code is “1892” the year the football team first played (interesting tidbit: the marching band was founded in 1889, the same year as the university); from there enter the main hallway, and go to the first door on the left after you pass the restrooms. The last time I was there, they had a vending machine that dispensed free Mountain Dew; I was howl-ing with laughter after I found that. Also, if you see Señor Manta, say “Hola!” he’s been down on his luck since his family were killed in the accident, and now he wanders the street like a lone Lobo.
Utah State
It was like a bomb went off. No one was around; maybe they were busy playing Farmer, or having a bonfire out in the dirt behind the stadium, wit their brown-eyed girls, but Jeff Field’s dorm room, Aggie Village Community building 17, first floor, third window from the right (he leaves it unlocked, so don’t worry about access) has a Switch just sitting there on the bed, as though he borrowed it from someone, but never managed to return it before he left. Go on, take it, just say that it was yours and he left it, no one will check.
Wyoming
Cowboys and Cowgirls are just different, I guess; I could not find a Nintendo Switch in town for the life of me. I found many Switchblades, Light switches, and many wooden rods, so I took my horse down to Cheyenne, and found a recently laid-off Subway Sandwich Artist called Dom, who knew just where to look. He directed me to 803 West 21st St, Suite B. He told me, “yeah, the guy who runs this storefront, has a little son, about 6 years old. He keeps a Switch in his desk’s keyboard tray for when he picks his son up from school.” Because of the ordeal in Laramie, I asked him to clarify, and he did, “yeah… Nintendo switch.” He said as he looked around shiftily. If that doesn’t work you can always try Suite C, I heard they stock Switches… oh wait, not that kind.” I was going to ask him for more information, but he entered what looked like an abandoned brick building just passed the railroad tracks, “You didn’t see me,” he said. And I also didn’t hear the gunshots that went off as I walked back to my car.
Table View
School
Distance Driving (mi)
Straight Line Distance (mi)
Drive/Drone Difference
Variance (from all schools)A
Air Force
8.44
5.22
3.22
0.047
Boise State
1.00
0.282
0.718
1.069
Colorado State
0.420
0.312
0.108
1.792
New Mexico
0.206
0.191
0.015
1.920
Utah State
0.444
0.305
0.139
1.751
Wyoming
47.90
40.69
7.21
4.894
A: Variance is calculated based upon DDD’s distance from the standard deviation of DDD… Why DDD? Because, DDD is King.
Note: SDSU currently does not field an Esports team; I am including them because it seems likely that they will in the near future
Hawai’i
Hawai’i is interesting because the Honolulu airport has a much better open air location than the El Paso airport; there’s a water path, it’s weird man, it reminds me a lot of the Tiki Room at Disn… oh, yeah, Hawai’i, Polynesia, that makes sense. Anyway, the stadium is home to the largest swap meet’s I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately, I did not find any Switches, but I did find a guy swapping Macadamia Nut cookies for a few dollars, so naturally, I bought some. It started to rain, so even though many people are Rainbow Warriors or Wahine, as the women prefer to be called, I am not. I stopped in at the ‘Aeia Public Library for a spell, and my phone was dead, so I needed a place to charge for a bit. The nice librarian, Akela (“it means graceful,” I was told. After I asked, “like the wolf-spirit in Hindi myths?”), pointed out, that, “We loan out all sorts of stuff here; pots, pans, sewing machines. Believe it or not, we even rent out video game systems. Our most popular is probably the Nintendo Switch, but we also have a couple of Xbox’s and PS4’s.” I guess I looked very shocked because Akela continued, “with the military surrounding us, we, the library system, get a lot of goods from contractors who don’t want to have a lot of their goods shipped back to the mainland.” Seeing how much it cost to ship out, I completely understood, and bid ¬¬Akela aloha, and failed the Hawai’I test by passing out at the nearest Embassy Suites, in Kapolei, if I remember correctly (I probably don’t, I was tired).
Fresno State
A nice cow brought me to Clovis. Much like what happened in Las Vegas, it was not the cool one, but instead the one in California. She (I saw udders), brought me specifically to 264 Clovis Ave, and said, “what you seek, from my master, is in there.” I’m not sure if it was my fever, jet-lag, a combination of them, or something else entirely, but then the cow vanished as though she was just a thing on the internet. A stray puppy passed by me in downtown, so that was probably the highlight of the trip.
Nevada (Reno)
Look, I’ll be honest, Reno to me always makes me feel like I’m going to be leaving the city without one or both of my kidneys. I don’t know why I expect Renoirs to chew my body like a Pack of Wolves, but there you are. Diedre Thomas of 128 Keystone Ave, fell on hard times. She poured herself a glass of vodka, neat, and said, “you can have anything you want,” she paused briefly to wink at me, “for the right price.” I specifically enquired about the Switch, “Anything,” she replied. She pulled out what appeared to be a small glass bowl that looked like an incense holder, and a baggie of chalk dust, and… Oh my god, she was going to smoke cocaine. Anyway, as she pulled out the pulled out the baggie, I hastily took my leave. I then went to the airport and went to my next stop….
Nevada – Las Vegas
Can you believe parents still bring their children, like elementary school aged children to Las Vegas. And it’s not the cool Las Vegas, in New Mexico, it’s the one in Nevada; well, I guess, technically they bring their kids to Paradise, and not Las Vegas, but c’mon man, there isn’t that much difference. Anyway, head to the Excalibur hotels because Carla, the housekeeper said that on average 3 Switches get left by guests every day. I then felt really depressed while walking around the hotel, so I left to check out the Mirage, where I normally stay on these Mountain West trips. I also learned that if there’s one thing that freaks me out more than the throngs of people walking the Strip, it’s when there’s nobody around. Once the new stadium gets completed it will be vastly easier to get to the casino than at the current location.
San Diego State
I stayed with Dominic, at his house of Friars Road. I was starting to feel sick to my stomach with the lack of green chile, so it was so enjoyable to spend time with a fellow New Mexican (and my roommate junior year). He took me on a little tour: Balboa Park’s stadium (home of the former Harbor Bowl, and the first tie in UNM Football history), the USS Midway, and Ocean Beach. I had forgotten about the assignment until I looked down at my feet and found a working Switch. When it was still there after an hour, I borrowed a small boat, realised, I need a bigger boat and headed out to the Ocean. Having claimed rights, I then put it back, so you might also find it.
San José State
Look, there are a lot of people who depart from the San Jose Airport. The kids who travel on these flights are slightly scatter-brained because of the adrenaline of taking a plane ride (and passing through the checkpoint), and leave some of their electronics, and I found a shoe! A shoe! Who only puts one shoe on and then walks-off? It was an adult shoe, so it’s not like a child/toddleparent left it, no, someone made a conscious decision to leave their shoe… Maybe it was a protest? Anyway, just tell the guy that you left your Switch at the checkpoint, if he asks you what color it was say, it had yellow grips that slide off, but the screen was bounded by black.
Table View
School
Distance Driving (mi)
Straight Line Distance (mi)
Drive/Drone Difference
Standard Deviation (all schools)A
Fresno State
4.46
3.28
1.18
0.644
Hawai’i
1.420
0.696
0.784
1.001
Nevada (Reno)
2.410
1.69
0.720
1.067
Nevada – Las Vegas (SBS)b
18.426
8.93
11.258
Nevada – Las Vegas (NVS)c
2.125
0.590
1.535
0.391
San Diego State
9.861
8.08
1.78
0.252
San José State
6.575
4.60
1.975
0.164
A: Variance is calculated based upon DDD’s distance from the standard deviation of DDD… Why DDD? Because, DDD is King. b: Sam Boyd Stadium c: New Vegas Stadium (Allegiant Field)
Conclusion
Even if the stores are sold out of Switches, there are always places you can go to get them, some are definitely within walking distance of your house, maybe even right next door. If you do choose to do that, there are a few things to keep in mind: 1. Milk 2. Eggs, specifically from Natural Grocers, if they still have member pricing.
Jimmy's Top 10 Fun but Never Ever Forgotten Arcade Standards!
Jimmy's Top 10 Fun but Never Ever Forgotten Arcade Standards! Do you bear in mind Mr. Do, Mr. Do's Castle, Bomb Jack, Super Pac-Man as well as more? IN THE NEW AGE http://InThenewAge.com This time, I found several video games that probably many of you arcade players delighted in having fun, however, had either failed to remember concerning or have actually been looing for but can not find a high quality used arcade game worth buying. With that being said, the listing of games within the short article are already consisted of in practically all our multigame arcade game machines, significance, our product arcade game line names, "Timeless Arcade System.!". Do you remember these #arcadegames? Mr. Do, Mr. Do's Castle, Mr. Do's Wild Ride, Baraduke, ChopLifter, Super Pac-Man, Bomb Jack, Woman Pest, My Hero, and P-47 #videogames, #arcade #game #classics?
Super Pac-Man.
Super Pac-Man is the 4th entry in the Pac-Man collection of video games, launched in arcades in Japan on August 11, 1982 and North America on October 1, 1982. The third as well as 2nd games-- Ms. Pac-Man and also Pac-Man And also, both from earlier in the year-- were developed by Midway Games in the US without Namco's involvement, making Super Pac-Man the first official sequel. Earlier Pac-Man arcade machines utilize Zilog Z80 processors. Super Pac-Man is the very first in the collection based upon the Motorola 6809. Ok, I reviewed sufficient! Please, take me to the #arcadegames, #videogame, #arcademachines, #arcadegames. Noise and gameplay mechanics were transformed radically from the initial 2 entries into the Pac-Man collection-- rather of consuming dots, the player is called for to eat tricks in order to open up doors, which open up areas of the puzzle that contain what in earlier games were known as "fruits" (foods such as apples and also bananas, or various other rewards such as Galaxian flagships), which are now the standard things that should be cleared. In earlier levels, secrets open nearby doors, while as the gamer advances with the degrees, it is much more usual for keys to open far doors. Along with the original power pellets which permit Pac-Man to consume the ghosts, two "Super" pellets are readily available and also will certainly turn Pac-Man into Super Pac-Man momentarily. In this form, he comes to be much larger, can move with enhanced rate when the "Super Speed" switch is held back and might penetrate doors without unlocking them. He is additionally invulnerable to the ghosts, who show up thin and flat to provide the illusion of Super Pac-Man "flying" over them. He still can not eat them without the help of the original power-up. When Super Pac-Man is about to change to regular Pac-Man, he flashes white. The Superpower can then be prolonged by eating a power pellet or extremely pellet, if readily available.
Mr. Do.
Mr. Do! is a puzzle video game produced by Universal as well as released in arcades in 1982. The initial game in the Mr. Do series, it was just one of the first arcade games to be launched as a conversion package (by Taito), and took place to sell 30,000 devices in the United States. The object of Mr. Do! is to score as numerous factors as possible by digging passages via the ground as well as gathering cherries. The title character, Mr. Do (a circus clown-- except for the initial Japanese version of the game, in which he is a snowman), is frequently chased by red monsters called creeps, and also the gamer sheds a life if Mr. Do is caught by one. The game mores than when the last life is lost. Cherries are dispersed throughout the level in groups of 8. 500 bonus points are awarded if Mr. Do gathers eight cherries straight without stopping. A degree is total either when all cherries are gotten rid of, all creeps are damaged, "ADDITIONAL" is meant, or a diamond is located. Mr. Do can beat creeps by hitting them with his bouncing "power round" or by going down big apples on them. While the power round is bouncing towards a creep, Mr. Do is defenseless. If the ball bounces into a location where there are no creeps to hit (such as behind a dropped apple), Mr. Do can not use it once more until he has gotten it. When the power sphere hits a creep, it after that reforms in Mr. Do's hands after a delay that enhances with each use. Mr. Do or the creeps can push an apple off the side of an upright tunnel and crush one or more creeps. If an apple drops greater than its very own elevation, it vanishes as well as breaks. Mr. Do can additionally be squashed by a falling apple causing a death. Occasionally, the creeps change briefly right into even more powerful various colored monsters that can passage via the ground. If one of these digs through a cherry, it leaves fewer cherries (as well as less points) for Mr. Do to gather. It commonly crushes itself, other creeps, and/or Mr. Do when it digs under an apple. Each time ball game passes a certain threshold throughout play (5000 points), a letter from the word "BONUS" appears on the playfield as an Alphamonster, and also the player can beat or be beat by this beast in the same way as a creep. Defeating an Alphamonster awards that letter to the gamer and collecting all five letters of the word finishes the level, goes to a cut scene playing the motif to Astro Kid, and also grants the player an added life. Alphamonsters attempt to eat any apples they run into, which makes them difficult (yet not impossible) to crush. The creeps spawn at the center of the screen. After they have all showed up, the generator will certainly develop into a food product; selecting this up scores bonus points, ices up all the creeps, and also calls out an Alphamonster and also three big blue monsters. The latter can consume apples also. The creeps remain frozen (however still harmful) till the gamer either beats all 3 blue monsters, defeats the Alphamonster (in which instance any remaining blue monsters are developed into apples), loses a life, or finishes the stage. Seldom, going down an apple will certainly expose a ruby which, if gathered within regarding 15 secs, finishes the degree and also awards a bonus offer credit to the gamer (in addition to 8000 points), enabling him or her to play a totally free game.
Mr. Do's Castle.
Mr. Do's Castle is a video game launched in arcades by Universal in September 1983. It is the second of the Mr. Do collection of video games, although it wasn't meant to be. It began as a game called Knights vs. Unicorns, but the U.S. department of Universal convinced the Japanese arm to customize the graphics into a Mr. Do! Gameplay:. The game takes place in a castle filled up with platforms and also ladders, some of which can be flipped from one platform to another. The game developments to the following degree when all cherries on the level have actually been gathered or all opponents have actually been defeated. The gamer sheds a life if Mr. Do is captured by a monster, as well as the game ends when the gamer runs out of lives. As in Mr. Do! the gamer can make an extra life by gathering all the letters from words "EXTRA". Routine monsters can be changed into monsters birthing the ADDED letters by gathering all three keys dispersed around the playfield and afterwards grabbing a magic guard from the top flooring. Beasts in this state are simpler to defeat than regular; a basic hammer strike will certainly get the job done. After a short period, they change back into their regular kinds. The game additionally offers a bonus offer debt for accumulating an uncommon ruby that shows up on the playfield at random intervals. The cherry blocks are absent from Mr. Do Vs. Unicorns and also early alterations of Mr. Do's Castle. Instead, obstructs that are not keys or heads at the start of a phase will certainly be fill blocks (those left behind when unicorns come under holes and are laid off for a time). As a result of this, there are just three methods to finish a degree in this variation, versus the four methods to total levels in Mr. Do's Castle. On top of that, in these early alterations, the fill obstructs change shades every 2 phases.
Mr. Do's Wild Ride.
Mr. Do's circumstance is a roller rollercoaster, as well as the things is to reach the top. As the automobiles (and eventually various other items) rate around the track, the gamer needs to get away by utilizing an incredibly rate button, or by going up little ladders spread about the track to evade the threats. 2 symbols at the end of the degree variety from cakes to ADDED letters or diamonds change upon gathering cherries at the top of each letter. The game is timed, and also the timer ticks quicker when the very rate button is held back. Crash with a roller rollercoaster auto or an additional object is deadly, knocking Mr. Do! off the rollercoaster as well as setting you back a life. After the 6th degree is completed, the game cycles back to the very first with numerous barriers and/or more roller coaster autos to prevent.
Bomb Jack.
Bomb Jack is a platform game launched in arcades in 1984 by Tehkan (later referred to as Tecmo). It was adhered to by two official sequels, the console as well as computer system title Mighty Bomb Jack, as well as the arcade game Bomb Jack Twin as well as Bomb Jack II, which was accredited for personal computer just. Gameplay:. The game's antagonists are enemies such as birds and also mummies which, once they go down in the bottom of the screen, can morph right into points like flying saucers and also orbs that drift around the display, making Jack shed a life if he touches them. Other comparable rewards are the B (Incentive) which raises the score multiplier (up to 5x), the E (Extra) which provides an added life, and the unusual S (Special), which grants a totally free game. There are 5 various displays in the game, each including a distinctive plan of systems (the fifth has no platforms at all).
My Hero.
My Hero (Seishun Rumor in Japan) is a side-scrolling beat 'em up released by Sega by means of arcade in 1985 and also for the Master System in 1986. The arcade variation consists of three various levels, each continuing in a countless loophole up until the player runs out of lives. It starts out with the gamer personality (named Steven according to the arcade leaflet, Takeshi in Japan) on a city street enjoying as a street ruffian runs off with his partner (called Remy, additionally according to the arcade flyer, Mari in Japan). This same procedure repeats for the rest of the game, only with 2 other managers as well as stage designs. Due to area limitations on the Sega Card, the Sega Master System port just includes the street gang in 3 stages that enter a continual loophole up until the player sheds all lives and also obtains a game over. The ninjas and also the ape/human enemies from the arcade variation are omitted.
Woman Bug.
Lady Insect is an insect-themed maze chase video game generated by Universal Entertainment Corporation as well as launched in arcades in 1981. Its gameplay is like Pac-Man, with the primary addition to the formula being entrances that alter the format of the labyrinth when used. The arcade original was fairly unknown, yet the game located bigger recognition as well as success as a launch title for the ColecoVision console. Gameplay:. The goal of Girl Bug is to eat all "flowers," hearts, and also letters in the maze while preventing other pests. The gamer is represented by a red, yellow, and also green personality looking like a ladybug while the adversary insects' appearance varies by degree. The border of the labyrinth functions as timer, with each circuit signifying the launch of an adversary pest from the central location, as much as (normally) an optimum of 4. The rate of the circuit raises on stages 2 as well as 5. There are 8 different enemy insects-- a various pest is presented on each of the first eight levels. Beginning on level 9, each degree has four different opponents. Unlike Pac-Man, the player can change the design of the maze by shifting any one of the twenty environment-friendly gateways. It is not possible to totally isolate a portion of the labyrinth via gate changing. When the fourth opponent pest goes into the puzzle, the central area will certainly show a level-specific vegetable. Eating a veggie offers the gamer reward factors as well as incapacitates the opponent pests for several secs, though touching them is still lethal. The arbitrarily put skull icons are deadly to ladybugs as well as enemy bugs. An opponent bug who dies returns to the central area. When a vegetable is consumed, the central area will remain empty unless an adversary pest dies and also is re-released, revealing a new vegetable. A ladybug who dies will certainly shrink from view as well as be quickly replaced with symbols appearing like the stereotypical wings as well as halo of an angel. The colors of the hearts and letters cycle through a brief red, a middling yellow, and a longer blue. The factor worths are as complies with:. Flower: 10 factors (20, 30, or 50 factors with appropriate multiplier). Blue letteheart: 100 points (200, 300, or 500 points with ideal multiplier). Yellow letteheart: 300 factors (600, 900, or 1500 points with proper multiplier). Red letteheart: 800 points (1600, 2400, or 4000 points with proper multiplier). Vegetable: Begins at 1000 factors, rises by 500 with each degree to an optimum of 9500 points on degree 18. Yet level, the veggie's appearance (horseradish) and also point worth continue to be fixed. If a heart is consumed while it is blue, a point multiplier will certainly enter into effect, indicated by the blue section in the top right corner of the screen. The very first blue heart doubles all factor values, the 2nd triples them and the third quintuples them. This multiplier lasts till the level is complete. Eating hearts while they are red or yellow offers no advantage past the points gathered. At each level, the puzzle will certainly consist of three letters. The initial will be randomly chosen from the collection of X, T, R (which show up only in EXTRA), the 2nd will be randomly picked from the set of (which appear only in SPECIAL), as well as the 3rd will be an A or an E (which appear in both words). An additional goal of the player is to complete the words UNIQUE (indicated in red in the top left edge) and BONUS (in yellow at top center). If, as an example, a letter S is eaten while it is red, the corresponding letter in the word SPECIAL will transform from grey to red. Consuming an S while it is any other color (or if the S in SPECIAL is already red) offers no advantage beyond the points gathered. Finishing the word SPECIAL rewards, the gamer with a complimentary game, while finishing BONUS provides the player an added life. Completing either word causes all its letters to return to normal as well as immediately advances the player to the next level. The veggies associated with the first 18 degrees and also their equivalent factor values are: 1 - cucumber (1000 ), 2 - eggplant (1500 ), 3 - carrot (2000 ), 4 - radish (2500 ), 5 - parsley (3000 ), 6 - tomato (3500 ), 7 - pumpkin (4000 ), 8 - bamboo shoot (4500 ), 9 - Japanese radish (5000 ), 10 - mushroom (5500 ), 11 - potato (6000 ), 12 - onion (6500 ), 13 - Chinese cabbage (7000 ), 14 - turnip (7500 ), 15 - red peper (8000) [note that the name is misspelled in the game], 16 - celery (8500 ), 17 - wonderful potato (9000 ), 18 - horseradish (9500 ). The tune that plays when a new Girl Insect enters the labyrinth is a fragment of a tune called "Ladybug Samba".
Baraduke.
Baraduke, also called Alien Market, is a scrolling shooter arcade game originally launched by Namco in 1985. The player takes control of a spacewoman in a biohazard match, Gamer 1 is Kissy and Player 2 is Takky. They have to clear 8 worlds of raising trouble (each one is composed of five regular floorings and one boss flooring) by utilizing their wave guns to damage all the enemies inhabiting them. They need to also save the one-eyed Paccets for added factors and the opportunity to make another guard in the end-of-floor perk games. On each floor there are a certain variety of opponents known as Octy, which will leave power-up pills behind when defeated. Defeating all the Octy on the present flooring will open up a pipe at the end of the flooring, and the player will have to find as well as enter it to continue to the following one. The one in charge floors include a large enemy (a Blue Worm in Globes 1, 3, 5 as well as 7, a Turning Eye in Worlds 2, 4 and also 6, and also the Octy King himself in World 8) that must be killed in order to proceed to the next world.
Choplifter.
Choplifter (elegant as Choplifter!) is military themed scrolling shooter created by Dan Gorlin for the Apple II as well as released by Broderbund in 1982. It was ported to Atari 5200, Atari 8-bit family, ColecoVision, Commodore 64, VIC-20, MSX, and Thomson computers. Graphically enhanced versions for the Atari 8-bit family members and Atari 7800 were released in 1988 by Atari Firm. In 1985, Sega released a coin-operated arcade remake, which subsequently was ported to the Famicom and also Master System in 1986. Choplifter is just one of minority games that initially appeared on a house system as well as was ported to the arcade. 10.P-47. P47 Thunderbolt (called P-47: The Freedom Fighter in Japan) is a shoot 'em up game developed by NMK and also Jaleco. It was launched in the Arcades in 1988 as well as ported to many house systems. It was adhered to by P-47 Aces in 1995. Gameplay:. The game takes place in World Battle II and also the gameplay is basic. The player should make use of the ideal tool to fight an employer or go with a phase. For all products visit IN THE NEW AGE TODAY! - Arcade machines:. Arcade games that consist of up to 4,500+ popular video arcade games such as however not restricted to; Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Vermin, Galaga, Street Fighter games, Dual Dragon, Metal Slug games, Space Intruders, Planets, Defender, Stargate, NBA Jam, Martial Arts Champ, and also a lot more! - Pinball machines:. Standard pinball machines, single game pinball machines, and virtual pinball machines that include 2,000+ famous pinball games such as but not restricted to; Black Hole, Street Fighter, Comet, Space Capsule, Eight Ball Deluxe, Wickedness Knievel, Dirty Harry, Physician Who, Elvira, Jurassic Park as well as even more! - Slot machines:. Actual Las Vegas casino slot machines such as but not limited to; IGT slot machines consisting of IGT Game King, Bally slots, WMS slot machines. - Jukeboxes:. Rock-Ola jukeboxes; Rock-Ola CD jukeboxes, Rock-Ola vinyl-45 jukeboxes, and the Rock-Ola Songs Facility digital downloadable jukebox! Various other game room items. Air Hockey, Foosball, Bubble hockey, Dart machines, popcorn machines, skill crane toy machines. - Save money:. [When putting an order online or by telephone, usage coupon code "save5" as well as obtain 5% off on a lot of game room products including however not restricted to; Arcade games, arcade machines, pinball machines, slot machines, jukeboxes, and game tables!] IN THE NEW AGE. http://InTheNewAge.com
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