June 24, 2016: Holding On

My grandfather's 91st birthday is this weekend. He started forgetting the younger grandchildren about a year ago, then me and a couple others last year and his own children here in the last few months. Everyone thinks this is probably his last birthday, and frankly, in the month since it was put together I was wondering whether we'd ever reach this one.

On top of this, this is the side of the family I have very little in common with, and I haven't seen most of them for years. This weekend could be all kinds of difficult.

65 thoughts on “June 24, 2016: Holding On”

  1. So, the Brits exited the EU. Friends in Northern Ireland were worried that this may reignite violence on the island. Time will tell.

    1. I'm no political scientist or international relations-er (? There's a degree for that, but no job title), but the chance that this turns into a huge fustercluck is about 90% it seems. I just honestly hope no one end up injured or dead because of it, which sadly isn't a given that it won't happen.

      1. I agree with your percentage chance of a clusterf*ck. Some of the voting splits are crazy, young people were overwhelmingly in favor of staying.

        I have a lot on my mind about what Brexit means but know this isn't the place for me to try to put those thoughts into coherent text.

        1. I think the differences in voting across age are interesting and meaningful. If you look at that data, there's almost as much difference in old vs. young as there is in Labor vs. Conservative if you hold the age the same.

          Roughly speaking it's:
          38% leave -- 18-39, all parties
          64% leave -- 70+, all parties

          23% leave -- 18-39, Labor
          50% leave -- 18-39, Conservative

          I think older people (in both the UK and the US and probably the EU in general) were hit hard by the recession and have real problems, but unfortunately I am quite skeptical that exiting the EU solves any of those problems and if they do follow through on the referendum, leaving the EU could make some of their problems worse.

      2. I think the job title is "expert." I'm always reading about what "experts" at international relations/foreign policy think tanks have to say. Thing is, they never seem to agree. I wonder if it says "expert" on their business cards & email signatures?

        1. That's true, I didn't mean to ignore her.

          What I meant was in reply to your friend's concerns about NI. I know that an overwhelming majority of people, on both sides, want to maintain the peace. But there are some chuckle heads who will use this for a united Ireland, and they're not above shooting a cop or bombing a police station.

          1. Oh, for sure. I wasn't trying to imply that you were being callous, and I agree about the chuckle heads. Four years ago those same idiots tried to fire bomb the office of a rep in Bangor and misread the address and bombed my former apartment. The real IRA doesn't attract the brightest bulbs on the string.

            1. Aye, nor does the Continuity IRA or the Provos, and whatever branch they're up to now.

                1. Yeah, a NI vote to leave the UK to rejoin the EU would definitely bring them out. I just hope nothing comes to that. My greatest hope for my research is that someday people will read it and think "I can't believe this is the way things once were." And not "ah, so this isn't our first go -round"

    2. they voted to exit the EU. It's gonna be a two-year process, at least, to actually get out.

      1. And it still has to go to parliament, right? The talking heads on Nightly Business Report suggested that even if the referendum passed, there's still a good chance it doesn't happen.

        1. The way markets are reacting, I think, gives Parliament enough cover to reject the referendum if they so choose. From what I've read, a majority of MPs favor Remain. It would be a politically brave thing to do, IMHO, which is why I have serious doubts it will happen.

        1. That seemed to be underplayed in the casual American media.
          Hey! They get to vote again soon! (or do they?) Time for a new Prime Minister!

    3. Mrs. Hayes was saying she has several friends in the UK who are upset, particularly the Scottish one. She said she's having trouble processing the idea of leaving – I'm paraphrasing, but something to the effect that "leaving seems abnormal," as though it's natural for states to join together but not to break apart.

      I can understand that as a normative response from a modern, Western place of experience. I don't mean to diminish her perspective, but maybe one of the reasons I'm finding it difficult to be too quick to fret about Brexit is that it seems like it is being made to seem overly exceptional. Perhaps, given the period of national stability we have enjoyed, we forget that the composition of states frequently changed in former times. That this change was frequently made following war or civil unrest in former times does not necessarily mean violence will result in this case. The Velvet Divorce presents one recent example of a nonviolent change in the composition of a state. Even the break-up of the Soviet Union was relatively peaceful. The economic effects of Brexit may be turbulent until the shock wears off and details begin to be hashed out.

      Of course, the anti-immigrant currents that have buoyed elements of the Brexit movement disturb me, particularly given the implications they may present for similar sentiments on the Continent, especially in countries with higher refugee populations or pressures. But as for the UK's opinion of the EU project as a whole, my opinion is more reserved. Paradigms shift.

      1. I had similar thoughts as your middle paragraph during the Scottish independence vote. Wish I could expand more but on the phone and have a three year old assisting with the input.

        1. I honestly find myself more interested in the implications for the UK itself. The Scottish First Secretary and the new Mayor of London have already said some interesting things about their desire to remain in the EU, with implications for remaining in the UK itself seeming to follow.

          1. I had forgotten about the weird situation with the City of London. Now that would be interesting if it split.

        2. re the Scottish, I'm certain we'll witness another vote in the not too distant future.

      2. Cosign. It isn't like the EU is all that old, and membership has been changing throughout, and the Brits were still independent monetarily. I hope cooler heads prevail, transitions are smooth, and tolerance grows.

  2. In NBA news, I look forward to Philly fans screaming "That's another Furkan threeeeeeeee!"

  3. all respect to spooky's family situation (hope everything goes as well as it can), i like that the name of this CoC is "Holding On", but the discussion is about letting go.

      1. The press conference last night made me feel better about Rubio's odds of remaining a Timberwolf, but who knows how much of that was posturing.

        1. I didn't catch it, so that's good to hear. I saw a lot of conflicting reports about who offered what and who turned down who. I just have a hard time believing that Thibs would offer Rubio to Chicago but balk when they asked for Lavine instead.

            1. If Sam Mitchell figured it out, I have a real hard time believing the new regime isn't already aware.

              1. What I don't understand is how Thibs hedges on Rubio all the time. He seems like basically the perfect PG for Thibs and this team. Maybe he just doesn't want to over praise him? I don't know. It's weird, though...

                I listened to Layden this morning and everything he talked about that Dunn was good at Ricky is good at... and he's been in the NBA for a number of years already. I just don't know.

                1. What I hope is true is that they are talking up Dunn to up his trade value while saying nothing in particular about Rubio so teams will stop asking about him. I mean, if you ask me, Ricky is perfect for every team.

                  One thing I really don't understand, though, is that having watched a number of games over his career, he's like the ultimate eye-test guy. It's just so painfully obvious that the offense, regardless of scheme, runs incredibly smoother when he's on the floor than when he's off, yet his biggest bathers are the eye-test type of person.

                  1. I assume it's because Ricky's shot is ugly and he doesn't #GetBuckets. Which, I mean, with the people Ricky should be sharing the floor with, I'm cool by that! He doesn't need to be a high usage guy to be effective. It was painful watching Kyrie & LeBron initiate in the offense since they'd both pound the rock until there was like 7 seconds left before they'd initiate the offense. I love watching Ricky orchestrate, and he's just so good at distributing.

                    It's extra difficult because there's a lot more focus on the Wolves with their roster improving. Lots of these people probably haven't watched Wolves games regularly in years.

                    1. I mean yeah, I know it's teh shotz that are the biggest issue for his detractors. But man, maybe I'm a bit too enlightened about the game, or something, so the disconnect between the strib commentor type of opinion and what I swear is obviously apparent is too much for me to handle.

                      Also, I'm aware calling myself enlightened sounds pompous, but the souhan's of the world make me not care at all anymore.

        2. I think we're used to rooting for teams that throw their players under the bus before they trade them for a player to be named later.

      2. I just don't see Rubio being here much longer. They didn't fill any of their needs last night.

      3. It could be a shrewd move, potentially. He has some big headline stats (assists, steals) and is also still young enough to think he might improve. So you have a player that still has value but could also potentially be overrated by the right trade partner.

    1. i like that the name of this CoC is "Holding On", but the discussion is about letting go.

      I'm disappointed that today's video isn't

    1. The Rays, also where the Twins got Delmon Young, Brendan Harris, and Kevin Jepsen. I wonder if they have Ryan on speed dial yet.

  4. For the gamers here, our PS3 bit the dust last week. I've sold off the controllers and some accessories, but am left with the unit itself. I'm trying to figure out how to wipe any personal data from a unit that won't start. im also more than willing to part with the machine if there is a use for spare parts.

    1. You should be able to deactivate your SEN account from any machines on the web. But, it'd still leave your data on there, I suppose. Take out the hard drive perhaps? It should be easy to do.

      1. Take out the hard drive perhaps? It should be easy to do.

        The shell is only plastic, after all.

        1. The hard drive can be removed easily on a PS3. There's a little sliding side door or something like that and you just need to remove one little screw.

    2. Depending on the status of the hard drive, you would pull that out and wipe it. That the system doesn't start indicates the hard drive also doesn't work.

    3. I'm selling my video game collection now. I've already made $1,600 on e-bay just from my Super Nintendo RPGs. God bless nostalgic Gen-Xers

      1. I doubt I have anything of value, but I'm definitely intrigued. I should see what my stuff's worth. Problem I figure is I didn't have anything out of the mainstream, just said like Donkey Kong and Ken Griffey Jr's Winning Run.

        1. You might be surprised how much mainstream Nintendo stuff is worth. I love having old systems but mostly try to use Everdrives to play the games to cut down on the cost of building a game collection. I'm probably going to jettison some of my SNES library pretty soon.

        2. RPGs go for the most, but I just sold Link to the Past for $100, and that was a launch title. Even Super Mario Kart sold for $35 (with box and manual).

          1. Crazy. I bought it at a pawn shop as a poor high school student. I don't know if we got lucky but we also got Chrono Trigger real cheap and, later, FFT almost for free. We may have sold it all at a profit. I know we had other classics but those are the only three that I remember now.

            1. I bought Chrono Trigger and Earthbound on Ebay 17 years ago for a combined $140. Just netted $900 for those two alone.

              I've netted some cheap PC games at thrift stores I've turned into profit, but nothing like just saving old console games

      2. I'm selling my video game collection now. I've already made $1,600 on e-bay just from my Super Nintendo RPGs. God bless nostalgic Gen-Xers

        Shhh! teh IRS is listening.

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