My problem, other than an aging memory, is that I don’t know when I wagon the actual Arlington grounds and when I was on a path that was really close to the graves but not actually ON Arlington grounds. Totally possible. Or maybe I was just a young asshole and didn’t pay attention. That, too, is possible.

Arlington may be and standalone example. It’s so huge and is such a tourist destination that I cannot think of another example like it. When I think back to the cemeteries I have been to, and I go to a lot I am a geek for this stuff, each one has a different air and expectations. It is good form to show a cemetery…

I run through Arlington all the time. (Not every section, I admit) Stay on the paths, leave when required, respect active funerals, etc and you are fine. I would also gleefully let my dog shit in a CSA cemetery without scooping, though I may get my ass kicked.

I would also except cemeteries set aside for specific…

I’ve lived near a couple of historic cemetaries (Congressional in DC and Woodlands in Philly) and both ENCOURAGED running, walking dogs, and basically using as a park as long as you followed the rules. I believe Congressional actually charged a small fee to walk your dog. Or maybe it was a suggested donation.

Google “Breendoggle”

I didn’t learn about that until after his death in that Jezebel post by Jia Tolentino. I also got to learn that another rockstar I loved when I was 14 was raping 14-year-olds back in his glory days.

That really isn’t the defense you think it is.

It’s not just companies. Not to get all psychobabble, but individuals do this all the time. Blame their failures on external circumstances while taking full, personal credit for their successes. (The rightwing’s entire ideology toward wealth is based on this fallacy). Teachers commonly hear the following refrains from…

Regardless, the decision is up to whomever catches the ball. If the person in possession of the ball chooses not to throw it back, that’s their prerogative. It ain’t up to some third party douchebag to enforce it.

Of course, only a cop could believe that a handcuffed teenager arrested for drug possession can’t wait to have sex with a police officer.

Maybe schools should just stop including such sweet, sweet buyout clauses in coaches’ contracts. If giving participation trophies to little kids is so evil, why do we tolerate failure bonuses for grown men?

It is. But if they fired him for that they would owe him 12 million dollars. If they fire him for cause, they don’t. It’s all about the money. Whenever you read something weird like this over when, how, and why to fire an NCAA coach it is almost always about the buyout clause.

Dial 911? Whoah Einstein! That’s three whole numbers in a row. Whaddya think we are? Some sort of engineerin’ school with them fancy abacuses and whatnot?? Take yer big city ways outta the Hoosier state. We got no room for yer ARABIC numbers here!

Actually if they ever make a movie with Godzilla and Darth Vader whoever wins will depend completely on who the writers and director wants or needs to win and they will laugh hysterically at everyone who tries to use some in-depth Star Wars canon analysis navel-gazing to argue why the result the movie makers pulled…

Hell, I knew a guy who played guitar for the guy who owned the rights to the name “The Box Tops” A gig’s a gig.

But if* they really are supposed to be students first and athletes second, then there needs to be some basic, minimal standard for what, in fact, constitutes being a student at the school for which they were playing. And that would would mean some level of NCAA enforcement of some academic standards. If you are just…

Counterpoint: If a school is not requiring its athletes from maintaining at least minimum grades in a minimally rigorous program of study, they could conceivably have a competitive advantage over teams that make their athletes spend at least SOME of their week studying and attending classes. I mean, it’s conceivable…

No. Not false. But maybe a quirk of a specific subculture.

I’m from the mid-atlantic and we used “bubbler” to specifically mean a public water fountain that worked. So if you are running around the National Mall you never ask another runner for a water fountain, but a bubbler. Because the mall is full of water fountains but few that work.

Patriotism is a lot like praying. It only really counts if other people see you do it.