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Jimmy returned for the first time exactly one year after the accident. I was home alone. Dad was at the bar and Mom was dead. We’d crammed her into a pine box and shipped her off to the incinerator months ago.
I’d been sitting on the couch watching a plump cockroach scuttle across the coffee table, sipping whiskey that I’d liberated the previous night after Dad passed out. I wasn’t quite drunk yet. At eleven years old, my tolerance to alcohol was comparable to most local stumblebum drunks.
A knock came to the door, the gentle tap of brittle knuckles upon rotted wood. I paused with the rim of the bottle resting against my lips. Even the cockroach cocked its long antennae curiously toward the door.
The local trick-or-treaters knew better than to come here seeking candy. Our ramshackle abode was always one DHS visit away from being condemned, and the cobwebs and sundry creepy-crawlies in our front windows certainly weren’t decorative.
I reflexively choked out a sob when I opened the door and saw his ghostly form. The sheet draped over him was stained brown and soaked with stinking river water.
“Jimmy?” I asked, my voice croaking in disbelief.
As if to answer me, his jaw fell slack and I heard the tiniest groan emerge from under that sheet, like a whining door hinge in a quiet house. He raised his hand to me and I shrank back in fear, expecting him to thrust an accusatory finger and damn me as a liar and murderer. Instead, I realized that he was holding his hand open, expecting something. A dry, throaty sound whistled up from his slackened jaw and I suddenly understood what he wanted.
My little brother had come back for his favorite holiday.
I rushed up to my bedroom, reached under my bed, and grabbed Jimmy’s pumpkin-shaped Halloween bucket. I flicked off the roaches and shook out mouse shit then ran back to the front steps, where my little brother was waiting.
As Jimmy snatched his candy bucket from me, I saw them, watching us from the corner. It was the same group of older bullies that harassed us last year, on the night of the accident. Last time, they’d been wearing clown masks. They chose the Power Rangers this year.
Despite their masks, I could tell that those bullies didn’t quite believe what they were seeing. Jimmy had been presumed dead for a year, yet here he was, wearing the very same costume they’d seen him wearing on the night he went missing.
I’d had a growth spurt since that night. Rage and self-hatred did wonders for a growing boy’s physique.
Fueled by whiskey and a desperate urge to blame anyone other than myself for Jimmy’s death, I charged them. Outnumbered four-to-one, I took some shots, no doubt, but I routed them regardless, and I left one of them bleeding on the sidewalk, beaten nearly half-to-death.
Then I returned to Jimmy, smiling, and hooked my pinky around his before we set off to celebrate Halloween.
#
I sat on my couch, eyes trained on the flickering candle on my coffee table. The power had been out for a month and I hadn’t seen any good reason to turn it back on; I’d only be cutting into my meager booze budget and, besides, the city was kicking me out in a few days. The house had been bought and paid for by some long-dead relative then passed down to my parents as an act of pity. When Dad finally kicked the bucket, he left the house to me, but I was never quite able to stay ahead of the property taxes.
I wasn’t going to miss the place. It wasn’t exactly full of fond memories.
At this time of night, I’d normally be blackout drunk, but tonight was Halloween and I didn’t want to miss Jimmy. My entire life might have amounted to a hill of shit, but I’ve promised to never let my little brother down again.
I checked the time. Eight o’clock on the dot. I grabbed Jimmy’s Halloween bucket and headed out front.
Jimmy never did tell me why Halloween was his favorite holiday. He’d been a gentle kid, small for his age, fair-skinned and wispy. You wouldn’t have known it to look at him, but he preferred the schlock and gore of October grindhouse horror movie marathons to kiddie fare more appropriate to his age. He never flinched at the scary parts, when the reanimated undead wreaked havoc or dream demons emerged to slash open teenage throats.
I’d never attributed his love of Halloween to something so cliché as donning a mask to pretend to be someone else, though I wouldn’t have blamed him. No, I’d always suspected that Jimmy loved this time of year specifically because it was when the world went dim and happily embraced the horrific. Vampires and possessed dolls and werewolves made more sense than the more abstract horrors we faced at home.
Or, shit, maybe the kid just really liked candy.
I stepped outside and the riverwards were alive with grinning jack-o-lanterns, windows glowing orange and framed with fake spider webs, and scores of yuppie parents leading their kids door-to-door. I spotted him walking slowly toward the house. I swore, he got smaller every year.
I waved to him. He didn’t wave back, but he did cock his head slightly, as if he was struggling to remember who I was. As always, he was wearing the filthy sheet, soaked in river water. I felt a passing wave of revulsion and guilt when I glimpsed the faded bloodstains where the fabric hugged Jimmy’s misshapen occipital.
I smiled and offered him the bucket. Jimmy snatched it from my hand. Though there was only darkness within those crooked eye holes I’d cut into the sheet twenty-five years ago, somehow I knew that if he still had eyes, they’d have been gleaming.
I reached down to his hand, hooked my pinky around his, and I took my little brother trick-or-treating, like I’d done every year since he first returned.
This wasn’t our neighborhood anymore. Sure, the names of the streets were the same, but that was about it. The yuppie influx, with the ensuing rent increases and property tax hikes, had squashed out most of the old guard. The newbies didn’t care for the sturdy, century-old houses forged with brick and mortar. One by one, those stout homes were being flattened to make way for flimsier, but more stylish facades. Soon, our childhood home was going to suffer the same fate.
Jimmy must have sensed that something was amiss because he tightened his pinky around mine. Though I haven’t heard his voice since that night by the river, his pinky squeeze said enough.
It said, I’ve got you.
That was our private show of reassurance that helped sustain us through our childhood. When Mom wept at the dinner table as we split a dried hunk of welfare cheese for dinner, I’d give Jimmy a squeeze. When Dad staggered home drunk and started laying into Mom, I’d join Jimmy on his small twin mattress. We’d squeeze pinkies, eyes shut tight, with pillows over our ears so we wouldn’t have to hear Dad’s fist knocking against Mom’s head.
I’ve got you.
Tonight, we stopped at every house that still had its lights on. Our new neighbors smiled awkwardly, genuinely troubled by the sight of the neighborhood drunk escorting a child in a raggedy ghost costume. I didn’t give a shit what they thought as long as they tossed a few bite-sized Snickers bars into Jimmy’s bucket.
Soon, the streets began to empty and the trick-or-treaters went home. One by one, those grinning jack-o-lanterns went dark, those orange window lights dimmed, and it was just Jimmy and I wandering the lonely streets.
We headed back toward the house. This was where we would normally part ways, with Jimmy heading back on his own. Tonight, though, I remained at his side.
He cocked his head again, curious.
I squeezed his pinky.
#
Though I loved Jimmy, he was still my little brother and, often, I treated him as such. Just because I hated the neighborhood bullies didn’t mean I didn’t glean some pointers from their abuse. Sometimes, I’d slap Jimmy around or steal his toys because he’d annoyed me somehow. Other times, I just wanted to feel stronger than someone else.
The day of his death, Jimmy had put me in a particularly foul mood. Using the five-fingered discount, I’d gotten comic books from the drug store on York Street and I was looking forward to thumbing through them. Jimmy came rushing into our bedroom, crying because the rats had gotten to his hand-me-down Jason Voorhees costume. The critters had gnawed through the plastic hockey mask and left the (fake) blood-splattered overalls stinking like rat turds.
I told him to take it up with Mom and Dad, but he said Mom was passed out and Dad was at the bar, as usual.
My mood instantly turned black, not necessarily because of Jimmy, but because, once again, I’d have to pick up the slack for our parents. I cooked most of Jimmy’s meals. I scrubbed the stink off his clothes and got him ready for school every morning while Mom and Dad were off, drunk and doped. All I’d wanted was a night to myself, curled up in bed with some stolen comic books, but they couldn’t stay sober long enough to even give me that much.
Somehow, I kept my temper in check. I got him to stop sobbing by yanking the sheet off his bed, cutting out those mismatched eye holes, and draping it over him. “There,” I said. “You’re a ghost now.”
His green eyes were visible through the holes in the sheet. His cheeks perked up under the sheet and I could tell he was smiling.
“Can you take me trick-or-treating?” he asked.
No, I didn’t want to, but I also didn’t want him crying again and Mom would have beaten the shit out of me if I let Jimmy wander the neighborhood alone.
So we set out into the streets, amongst a legion of Ninja Turtles and Ghostbusters and Barbie dolls brought to life. Though it was simple, he enjoyed his makeshift costume. I was just hoping to get through the night without bumping into our enemies.
That was certainly naïve of me. It didn’t take long for them to zero in on us. There were four of them, all older boys. Even the smallest one towered over me.
They were wearing clown masks, thin plastic smiling red-nosed clowns that filled my stomach with dread. None of the parents milling about with their kids noticed the brewing confrontation, not with the dozens of trick-or-treaters clogging the sidewalk.
Jimmy clutched his candy bucket to his chest. One of the bullies reached for it, and that was when I snapped. I couldn’t help it. I might have been pissed off at him for dragging me out here, but this was Jimmy’s favorite night of the year. I couldn’t watch some assholes ruin it for him.
I swung, hard. My fist connected with the bully’s face and I heard a loud crunch right before blood trickled down from behind the clown’s visage.
I grabbed Jimmy by the wrist and we took off into the throngs of costumed kids. We rounded the next corner and disappeared into an alley.
We hid there, holding our breath as the bullies sped past. There was no way they were going to let this go. Two of them would likely roam the neighborhood looking for us, while the other two would lay in wait near our house.
“What are we going to do?” Jimmy asked, voice quivering in fear.
Every night, right before I blackout, I think about how I should have just squeezed his pinky.
But I didn’t. Instead, I blamed him. We wouldn’t have been in this trouble if he hadn’t been such a crybaby back home. That was why, of the dozens of places we could have gone to hide, I chose the river, because I knew he was terrified of the river.
#
Today, the Delaware riverfront was as gentrified as the rest of the neighborhood. A casino and towering condominiums loomed large and quaint pedestrian walkways were infested with pop-up beer gardens.
In our youth, the riverfront had been an industrial graveyard, dominated by long-shuttered factories with stretches of wilderness between them. Stinking sumac trees swayed overhead and plump river rats darted through the bushes.
This wasn’t the first time we had to hide back here. Jimmy always hated it. Although the neighborhood lay only a quarter-mile to the west, Jimmy thought the riverfront was too isolated. He feared that if our bullies ever caught us here, they could kill us and no one would ever know.
My mood hadn’t improved when we finally reached one of the piers, big gray concrete blocks jutting out fifty feet into the sloshing water, supported by a number of wood pilings underneath.
Jimmy remained a few feet behind me, still in his costume, nervously gripping his Halloween bucket. The tide was coming in and he jumped every time he felt a wave hit the pilings beneath us, as if the pier might collapse.
But what scared Jimmy the most was the possibility of falling into the water, that those rough green-brown waves might trap him under the pier, where he’d come up for air and smash his face against unyielding concrete instead.
“Can we just please try to go home?” he whined.
“No,” I snapped back. “Not unless you want those assholes to knock your teeth out.”
He lowered his head. “But I don’t like it back here.”
Looking at my whimpering little brother, I lost all sense of empathy. After running scared from our bullies, I was eager to assert myself as an alpha. I yanked him toward the edge of the pier.
“I’m so tired of you acting like a wimp,” I snarled. I shoved him closer to the edge, where the water sloshed violently ten feet below us. “There’s nothing to be afraid of back here.”
“I just want to go home,” he cried, the eye holes in the sheet now rimmed with tears.
“Stop being such a pussy!” I shouted then instinctively gave him a stiff right hook to the shoulder.
What happened next occurred within seconds, yet in my memory, it seems to play out for an eternity.
I’d hit him harder than I meant to. Jimmy dropped his candy bucket then staggered as his shoes got caught in the pool of fabric underfoot. I watched in muted disbelief as he flopped over the pier, arms waving, right before the back of his head cracked against the concrete edge.
There was a splash ten feet beneath me and my brother was gone, leaving behind nothing more than a red patch on the concrete and white bubbles breaking the water’s surface.
#
Pinkies locked, we maneuvered through condominium parking lots and empty beer garden stalls until we reached that old pier.
For a moment, my memories blended with the present and I saw myself, cold and shivering and soaked with river water, trudging back toward the neighborhood alone, clutching Jimmy’s candy bucket.
I remembered how cold and dark the river was when I dove in, fighting the waves, trying in vain to find my brother before finally giving up. I never told anyone what happened. That night, when I got home, Mom was still passed out and Dad hadn’t come back from the bar yet.
I hid my wet clothes then, later, told them that Jimmy had simply run away from me. I was terrified of what would happen if they knew the truth. There was a police search that amounted to nothing. Dad didn’t seem to care very much. Months later, Mom swallowed forty sleeping pills and never woke up.
I took to stealing swigs of Dad’s half-empty liquor bottles to soothe my guilt, a habit that had served me ever since. But even that relief has proved fleeting. As Jimmy and I walked along the pier, I tightened my pinky around his, content to die sober.
We stood at the edge of the pier. Though I couldn’t see his face, I could tell that he was no less afraid of the river now than he had been twenty-five years ago.
Jimmy stepped off the pier and disappeared into the water below. I wondered, once this pier was inevitably torn asunder to make way for a condo or another casino, would Jimmy still resurface on Halloween? If he did, and he ventured into the neighborhood, would he even recognize that the shiny new studio apartments were standing on the grave of our old house?
Either way, I was going to make sure that he didn’t go through it alone.
I stepped off the pier, just like Jimmy had that night. I cracked the base of my skull against that concrete lip. A lightning flash of pain shot across the world and I crashed hard into the water, pushed at once by the tide under the pier. A wave slammed me against one of the pilings and I felt something snap in my back and, when I tried to scream, filthy river water filled my mouth.
Yet, as I was thrashed about under the dock, my consciousness slowly fading, I felt Jimmy’s tiny pinky finger squeezing around my own.
I’ve got you.
#
That happened almost one year ago, last Halloween. Though I wanted nothing more than to slip into a watery slumber with my little brother, he must have felt otherwise. I woke up, weeks later, in a hospital. They removed patches of my skull to relieve the pressure from the brain bleed, courtesy of cracking my head on that concrete lip. My ribs had been shattered to splinters from the paramedics’ vigorous chest compressions.
They found me on the road, which meant Jimmy dragged me from the water, across the industrial wilderness, then out to the waiting blacktop. I asked the medics if there’d been a boy in a ratty ghost costume with me when they arrived. They said they hadn’t seen one.
Anyway, I’m writing this on the computer at the public library right off Girard Avenue, but I better finish up. The librarian is a real asshole. Doesn’t like it when street bums like me stink up the joint. It’s almost Halloween once again. Jimmy might not want me down in the water with him, but I’m going back to join him, regardless.
I’ve got his candy bucket, so we can hit the neighborhood one last time. I’ve also got a box cutter with the sharpest goddamn razors I could find. Once Jimmy slips back into the water, I’m going to open myself up – both wrists, then my carotid artery – and I’m jumping into that green-blue Delaware shitwater right along with him, because I’m Jimmy’s big brother, god damn it.
I won’t let him swim alone.

The next Detroit: The catastrophic collapse of Atlantic City

With the closure of almost half of Atlantic City's casinos, Newark set to vote on gambling and casinos or racinos in almost every state, it seems as if the reasons for the very existence of Atlantic City are in serious jeopardy.
Israel Joffe
Atlantic City, once a major vacation spot during the roaring 20s and 1930s, as seen on HBOs Boardwalk Empire, collapsed when cheap air fare became the norm and people had no reason to head to the many beach town resorts on the East Coast. Within a few decades, the city, known for being an ‘oasis of sin’ during the prohibition era, fell into serious decline and dilapidation.
New Jersey officials felt the only way to bring Atlantic City back from the brink of disaster would be to legalize gambling. Atlantic City’s first casino, Resorts, first opened its doors in 1978. People stood shoulder to shoulder, packed into the hotel as gambling officially made its way to the East Coast. Folks in the East Coast didn't have to make a special trip all the way to Vegas in order to enjoy some craps, slots, roulette and more.
As time wore on, Atlantic City became the premier gambling spots in the country.
While detractors felt that the area still remained poor and dilapidated, officials were quick to point out that the casinos didn't bring the mass gentrification to Atlantic City as much as they hoped but the billions of dollars in revenue and thousands of jobs for the surrounding communities was well worth it.
Atlantic City developed a reputation as more of a short-stay ‘day-cation’ type of place, yet managed to stand firm against the 'adult playground' and 'entertainment capital of the world' Las Vegas.
Through-out the 1980s, Atlantic City would become an integral part of American pop culture as a place for east coast residents to gamble, watch boxing, wrestling, concerts and other sporting events.
However in the late 1980s, a landmark ruling considered Native-American reservations to be sovereign entities not bound by state law. It was the first potential threat to the iron grip Atlantic City and Vegas had on the gambling and entertainment industry.
Huge 'mega casinos' were built on reservations that rivaled Atlantic City and Vegas. In turn, Vegas built even more impressive casinos.
Atlantic City, in an attempt to make the city more appealing to the ‘big whale’ millionaire and billionaire gamblers, and in effort to move away from its ‘seedy’ reputation, built the luxurious Borgata casino in 2003. Harrah’s created a billion dollar extension and other casinos in the area went through serious renovations and re-branded themselves.
It seemed as if the bite that the Native American casinos took out of AC and Vegas’ profits was negligible and that the dominance of those two cities in the world of gambling would remain unchallenged.
Then Macau, formally a colony of Portugal, was handed back to the Chinese in 1999. The gambling industry there had been operated under a government-issued monopoly license by Stanley Ho's Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau. The monopoly was ended in 2002 and several casino owners from Las Vegas attempted to enter the market.
Under the one country, two systems policy, the territory remained virtually unchanged aside from mega casinos popping up everywhere. All the rich ‘whales’ from the far east had no reason anymore to go to the United States to spend their money.
Then came the biggest threat.
As revenue from dog and horse racing tracks around the United States dried up, government officials needed a way to bring back jobs and revitalize the surrounding communities. Slot machines in race tracks started in Iowa in 1994 but took off in 2004 when Pennsylvania introduced ‘Racinos’ in an effort to reduce property taxes for the state and to help depressed areas bounce back.
As of 2013, racinos were legal in ten states: Delaware, Louisiana, Maine, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and West Virginia with more expected in 2015.
Tracks like Delaware Park and West Virginia's Mountaineer Park, once considered places where local degenerates bet on broken-down nags in claiming races, are now among the wealthiest tracks around, with the best races.
The famous Aqueduct race track in Queens, NY, once facing an uncertain future, now possesses the most profitable casino in the United States.
From June 2012 to June 2013, Aqueduct matched a quarter of Atlantic City's total gaming revenue from its dozen casinos: $729.2 million compared with A.C.'s $2.9 billion. It has taken an estimated 15 percent hit on New Jersey casino revenue and climbing.
And it isn't just Aqueduct that's taking business away from them. Atlantic City's closest major city, Philadelphia, only 35-40 minutes away, and one of the largest cities in America, now has a casino that has contributed heavily to the decline in gamers visiting the area.
New Jersey is the third state in the U.S. to have authorized internet gambling. However, these online casinos are owned and controlled by Atlantic City casinos in an effort to boost profits in the face of fierce competition.
California, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Pennsylvania and Texas are hoping to join Delaware, Nevada, New Jersey and the U.S. Virgin Islands in offering online gambling to their residents.
With this in mind, it seems the very niche that Atlantic City once offered as a gambling and entertainment hub for east coast residents is heading toward the dustbin of history.
Time will tell if this city will end up like Detroit. However, the fact that they are losing their biggest industry to major competition, much like Detroit did, with depressed housing, casinos bankrupting/closing and businesses fleeing , it all makes Atlantic City’s fate seem eerily similar.

[Lost in the Sauce] Trump admin hides Paycheck Protection program details; lawmakers benefit from loans

Welcome to Lost in the Sauce, keeping you caught up on political and legal news that often gets buried in distractions and theater… or a global health crisis.
Title refers to: The Trump admin is blocking IGs from getting info on over $1 trillion in relief spending, including corporation bailouts. The admin is also withholding PPP info from Congress, meaning we don't know if Trump or his family took taxpayer money. Additionally, we learned that at least 4 members of Congress have benefited from PPP money, but aren't required to disclose it.
Housekeeping:

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Coronavirus

Inspectors general warned Congress last week that the Trump administration is blocking scrutiny of more than $1 trillion in spending related to the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the previously undisclosed letter, Department of Treasury attorneys concluded that the administration is not required to provide the watchdogs with information about the beneficiaries of programs like the $500 billion in loans for corporations.
Treasury Secretary Mnuchin refused to provide Congress with the names of recipients of the taxpayer-funded coronavirus business loans. After criticism, Mnuchin began to walk back his denial, saying he will talk to lawmakers on a bipartisan basis “to strike the appropriate balance for proper oversight” of PPP loans “and appropriate protection of small business information.”
At least 4 lawmakers have benefited in some way from the Paycheck Protection program they helped create. Politico has been told there are almost certainly more -- but there are zero disclosure rules, even for members of Congress.

Republicans on the list include Rep. Roger Williams of Texas, a wealthy businessman who owns auto dealerships, body shops and car washes, and Rep. Vicky Hartzler of Missouri, whose family owns multiple farms and equipment suppliers across the Midwest. The Democrats count Rep. Susie Lee of Nevada, whose husband is CEO of a regional casino developer, and Rep. Debbie Mucarsel Powell of Florida, whose husband is a senior executive at a restaurant chain that has since returned the loan.

Mick Mulvaney dumped as much as $550,000 in stocks the same day Trump assured the public the US economy was 'doing fantastically' amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Mulvaney unloaded his holdings in three different mutual funds, each of which is primarily made up of US stocks. The next day, the value of the mutual funds tanked.

Cases rising in many states

Good summary: There was supposed to be a peak. But the stark turning point, when the number of daily COVID-19 cases in the U.S. finally crested and began descending sharply, never happened. Instead, America spent much of April on a disquieting plateau, with every day bringing about 30,000 new cases and about 2,000 new deaths. This pattern exists because different states have experienced the coronavirus pandemic in very different ways…The U.S. is dealing with a patchwork pandemic.
As of Friday, coronavirus cases were significantly climbing in 16 states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Washington.
Oklahoma is experiencing a massive increase in coronavirus cases just days before Trump’s planned rally in Tulsa. In Tulsa county itself, 1 in roughly 390 people have tested positive. Yet Trump plans on cramming 20,000 people in an event with voluntary face mask policy and no social distancing. Attendees must sign a waiver that absolves the president’s campaign of any liability from virus-related illnesses.

On Monday, Pence lied saying that Oklahoma has “flattened the curve.” As you can see at any of the resources immediately below, this is not even close to true. Over the past 14 days, the state has seen a 124% increase in cases and reports 65% of ICU beds are in use.
Tulsa World Editorial Board: This is the wrong time and Tulsa is the wrong place for the Trump rally. "We don't know why he chose Tulsa, but we can’t see any way that his visit will be good for the city...Again, Tulsa will be largely alone in dealing with what happens at a time when the city’s budget resources have already been stretched thin."
Earlier in the day, Trump tweeted that he is a victim of double standards when it comes to perception of his decision to resume campaign rallies in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, declaring that attempts to “covid shame” his campaign “won’t work!”

Resources to track increases: There are many different sites with various methods of visualizing the spread of coronavirus. Here are some that may be particularly useful this summer… Topos COVID-19 compiler homepage and graphs of each state since re-opening. How we reopen Safely has stats on each state’s progress towards meeting benchmarks to reopen safely (hint: almost none have reached all the checkpoints). WaPo has a weekly national map of cases/deaths; the largest regional clusters are in the southeast.
On Monday, Trump twice said that “if we stop testing right now, we’d have very few cases, if any,” (video). Aside from the fact that cases exist even if we don’t test for them, we cannot explain the rising number of cases by increased testing capacity: In at least 14 states, the positive case rate is increasing faster than the increase in the average number of tests.

Reminder: In March Trump told Fox News that he didn't want infected patients from a cruise ship to disembark because it would increase the number of reported cases in the US. "I like the numbers being where they are," Trump said at the time. "I don't need to have the numbers double because of one ship that wasn't our fault."

Fired scientist Rebekah Jones builds coronavirus dashboard to rival Florida’s… Her site shows thousands more people with the coronavirus, and hundreds of thousands fewer who have been tested, than the site run by the Florida Health Department.

Equipment and supplies

More studies prove wearing masks limits transmission and spread of coronavirus… One study from Britain found that routine face mask use by 50% or more of the population reduced COVID-19 spread to an R of less than 1.0. The R value measures the average number of people that one infected person will pass the disease on to. An R value above 1 can lead to exponential growth. The study found that if people wear masks whenever they are in public it is twice as effective at reducing the R value than if masks are only worn after symptoms appear.
Meanwhile, Trump officials refuse to wear masks and Trump supporters copy his behavior… VP Mike Pence, leader of the coronavirus task force, published a tweet showing himself in a room full of Trump staffers, none wearing masks or practicing social distancing. Pence deleted the tweet shortly after criticism. A poll last week showed that 66% of likely-Biden-voters “always wear a mask,” while 83% of likely-Trump-voters “neverarely wear a mask.”

Trump’s opposition to face masks hasn’t stopped him from selling them to his supporters, though. The online Trump Store is selling $20 cotton American flag-themed face masks.
Yesterday, we learned that South Carolina Republican Rep. Tom Rice and family have tested positive for the coronavirus. Just two weeks ago, Rice was on the House floor and halls of the Capitol without wearing a mask.

Internal FEMA data show that the government’s supply of surgical gowns has not meaningfully increased since March… The slides show FEMA’s plan to ramp up supply into June and July hinges on the reusing of N95 masks and surgical gowns, increasing the risk of contamination. Those are supposed to be disposed of after one use.
Nursing homes with urgent needs for personal protective equipment say they’re receiving defective equipment as part of Trump administration supply initiative. Officials say FEMA is sending them gowns that look more like large tarps -- with no holes for hands -- and surgical masks that are paper-thin.
More than 1,300 Chinese medical-device companies that registered to sell PPE in the U.S. during the coronavirus pandemic used bogus registration data… These companies listed as their American representative a purported Delaware entity that uses a false address and nonworking phone number.
Florida is sitting on more than 980,000 unused doses of hydroxychloroquine, but hospitals don’t want it… Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered a million doses of the drug to show support for Trump, but very few hospitals have requested it.

Native American communities struggle

The CARES Act money for Native American tribes, meant to assist people during the pandemic, came with restrictions that are impeding efforts to limit the transmission of the virus. For instance, the funds can only be used to cover expenses that are "incurred due to the public health emergency." On the Navajo Nation, the public health emergency is inherently related to some basic infrastructure problems. 30% of Navajo don’t have running water to wash their hands, but the money can’t be used to build water lines.
Federal and state health agencies are refusing to give Native American tribes and organizations representing them access to data showing how the coronavirus is spreading around their lands, potentially widening health disparities and frustrating tribal leaders already ill-equipped to contain the pandemic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has turned down tribal epidemiologists’ requests for data that it’s making freely available to states.
A Hospital’s Secret Coronavirus Policy Separated Native American Mothers From Their Newborns… Pregnant Native American women were singled out for COVID-19 testing based on their race and ZIP code, clinicians say. While awaiting results, some mothers were separated from their newborns, depriving them of the immediate contact doctors recommend. New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced that state officials would investigate the allegations.

Personnel & appointees

Former IG Steve Linick told Congress he was conducting five investigations into Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the State Department before he was fired. In addition to investigating Pompeo's potential misuse of taxpayer funds and reviewing his decision to expedite an $8 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia, Linick’s office was conducting an audit of Special Immigrant Visas, a review of the International Women of Courage Award, and another review "involving individuals in the Office of the Protocol."

Pompeo confidant emerges as enforcer in fight over watchdog’s firing: Linick testified that Undersecretary of State for Management Brian Bulatao, a decades-old friend of Pompeo’s, “tried to bully [him]” out of investigating Pompeo.

Trump has empowered John McEntee, director of the Presidential Personnel Office, to make significant staffing changes inside top federal agencies without the consent — and, in at least one case, without even the knowledge — of the agency head. Many senior officials in Trump's government are sounding alarms about the loss of expertise and institutional knowledge.
Trump’s nominee for under secretary of defense for policy, retired Army Brig. Gen. Anthony Tata, has a history of making Islamophobic and inflammatory remarks against prominent Democratic politicians, including falsely calling former President Barack Obama a Muslim.
Amid racial justice marches, GOP advances Trump court pick hostile to civil rights. Cory Wilson, up for a lifetime seat on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, has denied that restrictive voting laws lead to voter suppression and called same-sex marriage “a pander to liberal interest groups.”
Interior Secretary David Bernhardt has indefinitely extended the terms of the acting directors of the Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service, sidestepping the typical Senate confirmation process for those posts and violating the Federal Vacancies Reform Act,

Courts and DOJ

The Supreme Court declined on Monday to take a closer look at qualified immunity, the legal doctrine that shields law enforcement and government officials from lawsuits over their conduct. Developed in recent decades by the high court, the qualified immunity doctrine, as applied to police, initially asks two questions: Did police use excessive force, and if they did, should they have known that their conduct was illegal because it violated a "clearly established" prior court ruling that barred such conduct? In practice, however, lower courts have most often dismissed police misconduct lawsuits on grounds that there is no prior court decision with nearly identical facts.
The Supreme Court ruled that federal anti-discrimination laws protect gay and transgender employees. Justice Neil M. Gorsuch and Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. joined the court’s liberals in the 6 to 3 ruling. They said Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination “because of sex,” includes LGBTQ employees.

Alito, writing more than 100 pages in dissent for himself and Thomas, accused the court's majority of writing legislation, not law. Kavanaugh wrote separately: "We are judges, not members of Congress...Under the Constitution and laws of the United States, this court is the wrong body to change American law in that way."
Just days before the SCOTUS opinion was released, the Trump administration finalized a rule that would remove nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people when it comes to health care and health insurance. The SCOTUS ruling may make it easier to challenge the changes made by Trump.

The Supreme Court also declined to take up California’s “sanctuary” law, denying the Trump administration’s appeal. This means that the lower court opinion upholding one of California's sanctuary laws is valid, limiting cooperation between law enforcement and federal immigration authorities. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, two of the Court's conservative members, supported taking up the case.
A federal appeals court appeared unlikely Friday to stop a judge from examining why the Justice Department sought to walk away from its prosecution of Michael Flynn. "I don't see why we don't observe regular order," said Judge Karen Henderson. "Why not hold this in abeyance and see what happens?" Judge Robert Wilkins told Flynn's lawyer that if Sullivan doesn't let the government drop the case, "then you can come back here on appeal."

Other

Good read: Fiona Hill on being mistaken as a secretary by Trump, her efforts to make sure he was not left alone with Putin, and what the US, UK and Russia have in common. “It’s spitting in Merkel’s face,” said Vladimir Frolov, a former Russian diplomat who’s now a foreign-policy analyst. “But it’s in our interests.”

Russia’s Foreign Ministry welcomed Trump’s plan to withdraw more than a quarter of U.S. troops from Germany.
Op-Ed: Why cutting American forces in Germany will harm this alliance

According to a new book, the Secret Service had to seek more funding to cover the cost of protecting Melania Trump while she stayed in NYC to renegotiate her prenup - taxpayers paid tens of millions of dollars to allow her to get better terms. Additionally, NYPD estimated its own costs conservatively at $125,000 a day.
Georgia election 'catastrophe' in largely minority areas sparks investigation. Long lines, lack of voting machines, and shortages of primary ballots plagued voters. As of Monday night, there were still over 200,000 uncounted votes.
Fox News runs digitally altered images in coverage of Seattle’s protests, Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone
Fox News Mocked After Mistaking Monty Python Joke for Seattle Protest Infighting
In addition to holding a rally on the day after Juneteenth (originally scheduled the day of), Trump will be accepting the GOP nomination in Jacksonville on the 60th anniversary of “Ax Handle Saturday,” a KKK attack on African Americans.
Environmental news:

Ruling against environmentalists, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that the federal government has the authority to allow a proposed $7.5 billion natural gas pipeline to cross under the popular Appalachian Trail in rural Virginia.
Trump administration has issued a new rule blocking tribes from protecting their waters from projects like pipelines, dams, and coal terminals.
The EPA published a proposal in the Federal Register that critics described as an assault on minority communities coping with the public health legacy of structural racism. The rule would bar EPA from giving special consideration to individual communities that bear the brunt of environmental risks — frequently populations of color.
The Trump administration is preparing to drill off Florida’s coast, but says it will wait until after the November election to avoid any backlash from Florida state leaders.

Immigration news

U.S. Customs and Border Protection used emergency funding meant for migrant families and children to pay for dirt bikes, canine supplies, computer equipment and other enforcement related-expenditures… The money was meant to be spent on “consumables and medical care” for migrants at the border.
ACLU files lawsuit against stringent border restrictions related to coronavirus that largely bar migrants from entering the United States.
Under Trump’s leadership, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has mismanaged its finances so badly that it has sought an emergency $1.2 billion infusion from taxpayers. When Trump took office, USCIS inherited a budget surplus. A large amount of funding is drained by its deliberate creation of more busy work for immigrants and their lawyers — as well as thousands of USCIS employees. These changes are designed to make it harder for people to apply for, receive or retain lawful immigration status.
Asylum-seeking migrants locked up inside an Arizona ICE detention center with one of the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases say they were forced to clean the facility and are 'begging' for protection from the virus
ICE plans to spend $18 million on thousands of new tasers and the training to use them

Trucker's Guide to When Every State is Reopening

[IDEA] Fallout: Pathfinder

Hi All,
This idea for a Fallout Game has been burrowing a hole in my head for the past few weeks and if I don't share it I feel I'm going to burst.
The Setting
Two of the most requested cities for a future Fallout game (on the East coast at least) are Philadelphia and New York City... but what if we could have both? In Fallout: Pathfinder, the game takes place in the space between these two metropolises - New Jersey, with Philadelphia and New York taking up the lower-left and top-right corners of the map.
The game takes place between the events of Fallout 3 and Fallout 4, in 2283, and charts the events that occur between the two games. Like Fallout 76 (clearly everyone's favorite Fallout game! /s), the map will also be split into biomes that will represent the diversity of landscape present in the state. These areas will be:
- The Gap: Following the mountainous area along the Delaware river on New Jersey's western border, this isolated and forested area will be the starting location for the player. Some major cities will include Hackettstown, home of Galaxy Confectionary HQ (producers of Big Pop's Bubblegum, Sugar Bombs, and other sugary goodness), and Morristown, the first major locale the player visits.
- The College: In the huge suburban sprawl between Rutgers University and Princeton University, this area will feature callbacks to the intense rivalry between the two schools, and will be where the player encounters the first main story beats. It is also where the first major post war settlement will be located.
- The Shore: Along the shoreline of New Jersey, this area will encompass the entire bottom right side of the map, full of high level ghouls due to the invention of the Rad-Bed, a tanning bed that used intense-but-short bursts of radiation to provide tanning, this area culminates in Atlantic City, a perverse reflection of New Vegas, where raider gangs roam the streets, and automated casinos provide these gambling-addicted raiders a fast way to dispose of their caps.
- The Barrens: The bottom middle map features a ghostly and misty expanse of pinewood and brambles. Very few locations here, but designed to give players an uneasy feeling when traversing. While not as plentiful as Far Harbor and the Mire, a few Anglers can be spotted in the marshy areas of the Barrens, as well as tales of one of the Game's few cryptids. Legend says the Jersey Devil stalks the woods.
- The Corridor: North of the College lies the corridor, an interminable series of Ghost towns that lead into New York City. Picked dry by prospectors and other entrepreneurial citizens of the College, the Corridor is one of the few relatively safe avenues for trade between the College and the warring gangs of lower Manhattan, flanked by the water on the right and the wilder sections of the Gap to its North and West.
- Manhattan: In the Great War, a bomb struck New York city in the heart of Central Park, levelling most of the city (but not all) above Midtown. And yet, in the remaining lower section of the Island, gangs of raiders fight over the spoils of a post-nuclear New York. These gangs include the 54s, who have occupied the northernmost section of what remains of the city, the Villagers who inhabit the area in and around Washington Square Park, and the Bulls who occupy the southernmost point of the island. While they stand divided now, a united coalition could cast a wide shadow over the surrounding area.
- Philadelphia: Inhabited by Enclave Reformers, these survivors (more below) seek to change and move past the legacy of war and genocide of their fathers, towards a different future, and they seek that future in the ruins of America's first capital, where it all began. Many in senior leadership however view the warring gangs of Manhattan as a threat that may have to be dealt with sooner rather than later. Will the wasteland cause their good intentions to die out?
- Staten Island: This island will be for "post-game" content. Isolated from the rest of the area, the creatures here have been forged in a crucible of violence and are significantly stronger than anywhere else in the area. Are you ready for the challenge?
The Factions
- The Enclave Remnants: In the aftermath of the fall of Adams Airforce Base and the collapse of their senior leadership, the shattered and broken remnants of the Enclave on the East Coast make their way North-East, braving the swamps of Delaware and losing many in the process, but finally making their way to the ruins of Philadelphia, America's first Capital, where the new generation is attempting to shrug off the warlike tendencies and mistakes of their fathers. They are hoping to reinvent what the Enclave stands for going forward. Will this new generation move past the ghosts of their past?
- The Brotherhood of Steel Recon Squad Artemis: Arthur Maxson has just taken control on the East Coast chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel and is beginning to chart a path to the Commonwealth. In order to do so, Recon Squads are being sent north to clear the way for the Prydwen. Led by Paladin Brandis, this squad has landed on the outskirts of the College, where rumors of the Enclave in Philadelphia are just beginning to reach them. Will they continue with their mission, or will they stamp out the Enclave the only way they know how? Violently.
- The College: The central point between the two urban sprawls, the College rose up as first a major trading post, then as a true post-war settlement, the shanty town echoes the sibling rivalry of the two universities upon which it stands: extreme factionalism divides the town between those who would side with their new southern neighbors, and those who remain skeptical and look to the north for answers, and beyond these both, a new faction that would see the College capitalize its position to the fullest and remain strong, proud, and most importantly, independent.
- The Manhattan Gangs: While these groups have been fighting for decades, to call them raiders would be reductive: each features their own distinct culture, identity and way of life in the shadow of the ruined husks of the city. A grand alliance between these factions could radically reshape the landscape of the Northeast. But, with the riches of the world's biggest city between them, will the ever-fighting gangs be able to forge a new path? And if they do, will the city that never sleeps awaken once more?
- The Shore Raiders: Headquartered in Atlantic City, the Shore Raiders spend their day gambling, slaving, raiding, and drinking. And that's how they like it. With the right leadership and organization, the Shore Raiders could come to dominate the Garden State and burn it to the ground.
The Story
As with all mainline Fallout games, the main character begins life in a Vault. Vault 110, located near Hackettstown, the player character is the child of the Vault's overseer. Vault 110's experiment, made in conjunction with the Galaxy Confectionary Company, was to see what the long term effects of consuming pre-packaged candy and chocolate would be in the presence of a limited diet. When the Vault door closed, Vault residents discovered that they had been the manufacturing ability to create a nearly limitless amount of Sugar Bombs, Big Pop's Bubblegum, Galaxy Chocolate Bars and more, but no simple way to grow vegetables and no reliable source of protein.
In order to solve this issue, the second Overseer of Vault 110, seeing his vault dwellers become hopelessly malnourished in spite of their high caloric intake, made some secret modifications to the manufacturing equipment that would reprocess the organic matter from dead vault dwellers and slowly redistribute those nutrients into the candy the Vault was eating. Each overseer vowed to keep this confectionarized cannibalism a secret from the rest of the Vault in order to avoid armed retaliation and/or an opening of the Vault Doors. On their nineteenth birthday, the player character discovers the ghastly truth, and confronting their father, they are exiled from the vault never to be seen again.
Exiting the vault and descending into Hackettstown, the main character, henceforth "the Exile", encounters a group of peaceful prospectors in the ruins. These prospectors belong to a faction called "The Pathfinders" who are seeking a safe path through the Gap in order to find trade routes in Eastern Pennsylvania and beyond. The Pathfinders point the Exile towards their nearby camp in Morristown, telling the Exile that they are not the first Vault 110 dweller to have left the Vault. In Morristown, the Exile finds the Pathfinder camp under assault by Shore Raiders. After successfully fighting them off, the leader of the Pathfinders, a woman named Isa Gonzalez, notes that the Shore Raiders must be getting desperate to attack settlements so far north, and points you in the direction of the College, down the old Interstate 278. When asking about the previous Vault 110 dweller, Isa hands you a holotape she found in the ruins of Morristown, the voice matches that of your grandfather, who had gone missing ten years ago, when your father took over the overseer position. You resolve to go searching for him.
Once at the College, the game opens up as you get involved in both the internal politics of the settlement and the broader game of factions, however the bread crumb trail of holotapes and stories from other Jersey residents lead the Exile down the Shore region until they reach Atlantic City, home of the Shore Raiders. Here you learn that the Exile's grandparent was one of the founders of the Shore Raiders faction and oversaw their transition from chem junkies and gambling addicts to organized slaving and raiding faction. Your grandfather, now the leader of the faction, justifies this by saying that in the Vault, you lived in a society dominated by rules, and that if you followed those rules to the letter you would be rewarded, but those rules were sick, they misled people, and the societies outside the vault have the same problem. Only by eliminating the rules, can the Wasteland be free. You are then given the choice: Join the Shore Raiders or leave and never return.
Themes
Each and every Fallout game has a recurring theme that informs the entire narrative. In Fallout: Pathfinder, that theme is legacy. In particular: how do we move past the legacy of our parents, of our forefathers? For the player character, this is quite central to their character, as the questionable moral decisionmaking of their father, and all previous overseers, is part of the character arc. In addition, each major faction (with the exception of the Shore Raiders) is grappling with the past in some way, and dealing with the legacy of their faction or their settlement.
Ultimately the moral of the story is that you get to define what your faction is and what their legacy will be going forward.
__________________
I'm still fleshing out many of these ideas, but I'd love some feedback and if any modauthors/Fudgemuppeteers are reading this, let's talk!

Firefly 2017 Lineup Confirmation/Speculation Megathread

OFFICIAL LINEUP ANNOUNCEMENT on Friday, January 27th at 10am ET!
Note: Before posting a comment with an artist(s) for speculation, please ctrl+F and look to see if it hasn't already been added or suggested. Thanks!
Similar to Bonnaroo's 2017 speculation thread...
Here's the breakdown:

Confirmed (Artist confirmations or Firefly confirmations via official announcement or press release)
Semi-confirmed (Talking with an artist at a show, mutual friends)
Rumored (rumors from artist / record label / band managers / Firefly social media)
Possible (Tour dates with gaps during June 15-18, in the US in late-May/early-June, playing other US festivals before/afteduring Firefly dates)
Logical/Plausible (Plausible speculations with no hard evidence, 2016/2017 album release with expected 2017 tour plans, planned tour with no dates or early/mid 2017 dates)
Unlikely (Tour dates that conflict with Firefly but not impossible, or gaps during June 15-18 but already played Firefly 2016)
Out (No dates open during Firefly, at other festivals or abroad)

Confirmed

Artist	Source
Phantogram	playing Firefly 2017 First Look show in Baltimore, Jan 16
Busta Rhymes	"Blink-182, Earth Wind & Fire, Busta Rhymes – each of these were booked solely because you told us that you wanted them.", 12/6: DelawareOnline article - Busta Rhymes, Phantogram to play Firefly
The White Panda	confirmed at their concert
Misterwives	Firefly Zoom reveal #1 - Dover (tweet)
Lil Dicky	Firefly Zoom reveal #2 - Philadelphia (tweet)
Glass Animals	Firefly Zoom reveal #3 - Baltimore (tweet); touring Europe/Australia/South America early 2017, playing Bonnaroo
Galantis	Firefly Zoom reveal #4 - DC (tweet)
Capital Cities	Firefly Zoom reveal #5 - Wilmington (tweet)

Semi-confirmed

Artist	Source
Illenium	sobermusic: "Take it for what you will but illenium is a mutual friend and last I spoke to him he said he was booked for firefly."
Rainbow Kitten Surprise	Gabrielx23: "Just spoke with RKS (Rainbow Kitten Surprise) and I spoke to both the drummer and the rhythm guitarist and they both confirmed that they will 100% be at Firefly."
Judah and the Lion	confirmed by the band on FB
Stick Figure	Mother___Superior: "Reggae/Rock band Stick Figure will be there. Friends with a couple of the band members"
Astro 8000	kshucker's DJ friend
Carverton	FF appears on songkick page (screencap)
Short Sleeve Heart	Confirmed via Tweet (screencap)
Quinn XCII	Confirmed via Twitter DM

Rumored

Artist	Source
Muse	Matt Bellamy: “We’re going to do some festivals in the US maybe, because we kind of missed that out last summer. If we feel like it we might record a new song or two but I don’t think we’ll do a new album.”, FestiveOwl: "Muse was mentioned originally. Not much else beyond that."
Paramore	appeared on Firefly website in early 2016
ZHU	appeared on Firefly website in early 2016
Childish Gambino	Firefly hint tweet: "A trait we possess at times", scout's honor, new album release Awaken, My Love! on December 2nd
BØRNS	Brand Ambassador Mike G on Firefly forums: "Ya never know…. 😉"
Foreign Air	playing with Phantogram at Firefly Presents show in Baltimore, no official festival confirmation by Firefly yet, playing Shaky Knees
Colony House	ColonyHouseBand: "Okay. -SCOTT"

Possible

Artist	Source
Twenty One Pilots	playing Hangout Fest (May 19-21)
ODESZA	playing Electric Forest (June 22-25, June 29-July 2)
Beyonce	headlining Coachella 2017
Kendrick Lamar	headlining Coachella 2017
DJ Snake	Coachella, Hangout, Electric Forest
The Weeknd	tour dates end June 9th in the US, no Philadelphia/Baltimore dates yet; playing Bonnaroo
Giraffage	Electric Forest, Forecastle
Snakehips	Okeechobee, Hangout, Electric Forest, Panorama
Francis and the Lights	Coachella, Boston Calling, Gov Ball, Bonnaroo, Electric Forest
Tom Petty	Mountain Jam in NY on June 16th, no tour dates on June 15th and June 18th
Gary Clark Jr	Mountain Jam in NY, June 16-18
Steve Miller Band	Mountain Jam
Red Hot Chili Peppers	touring in Canada on June 18 and beyond, possibly playing Bonnaroo, playing Gov Ball
Metallica	playing Rock on the Range May 19-21
Soundgarden	playing Rock on the Range May 19-21
MGMT	Hangout, Sasquatch, Panorama
Weezer	Hangout, Boston Calling, Forecastle
The Head and the Heart	Coachella, Hangout, Sasquatch, Gov Ball, Bonnaroo
Band of Horses	Hangout, BottleRock
Local Natives	Coachella, Hangout, Gov Ball
Warpaint	Shaky Knees, Hangout, Gov Ball; although playing Roskilde in Denmark on June 28
Mac DeMarco	Treefort (March), Okeechobee (March), Coachella, Hangout, Gov Ball
Rae Sremmurd	Okeechobee, Gov Ball
The Offspring	playing Rock on the Range
Sum 41	playing Rock on the Range; although playing Download Festival in England June 9-11
Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness	playing Hangout, early 2017 US tour
Young The Giant	2017 tour, Okeechobee, Hangout
Lewis Del Mar	Shaky Knees, Hangout; touring with Young the Giant
Bassnectar	Electric Forest
The Orwells	touring early/mid 2017 ending on June 6, playing Bonnaroo
My Morning Jacket	Electric Forest
The Strumbellas	Mountain Jam, Gov Ball, Bonnaroo; early 2017 tour
The Revivalists	Mountain Jam; early 2017 tour
Ween	High Sierra late June
Con Brio	Shaky Knees, BottleRock, Electric Forest, High Sierra
Franz Ferdinand	Hangout, Governors Ball
The Avalanches	Coachella and Gov Ball; although playing Glastonbury June 21-25
Banks	Gov Ball
Phoenix	Shaky Knees, Gov Ball
Chance The Rapper	Gov Ball, Bonnaroo; last played Firefly in 2014
Beach House	Gov Ball
Lorde	Coachella, Gov Ball, Bonnaroo
Air	Gov Ball
A$AP Ferg	Gov Ball
Schoolboy Q	Gov Ball
Logic	Gov Ball
Michael Kiwanuka	Gov Ball, Bonnaroo; although inMusic Festival in Croatia June 20th
Wiz Khalifa	Gov Ball
Charli XCX	Gov Ball
Wu-Tang Clan	Gov Ball
Bleachers	Okeechobee, Shaky Knees, Sasquatch, Gov Ball
U2	Bonnaroo, no tour dates June 15-17, playing Philadelphia June 18
The Lumineers	international tour dates in April and July, no tour dates June 15-17, playing Philadelphia June 18
Bishop Briggs	Coachella, Shaky Knees, Hangout, Panorama
Cage The Elephant	Shaky Knees, Boston Calling, Gov Ball, Bonnaroo, Forecastle
Charles Bradley and His Extraordinares	BottleRock, Gov Ball, Forecastle
Future Islands	Coachella, Bonnaroo, Panorama
BADBADNOTGOOD	Bonnaroo
The Front Bottoms	Bonnaroo
Car Seat Headrest	Coachella, Shaky Knees, Sasquatch, Boston Calling, Gov Ball, Bonnaroo
Barns Courtney	Hangout, Gov Ball
Third Eye Blind	June 18th TBD Baltimore/DC area
Silversun Pickups	June 18th TBD Baltimore/DC area
Alison Wonderland	Shaky Knees, Electric Forest
Jon Bellion	Bunbury, Bonnaroo
Cold War Kids	Okeechobee Festival in March, Bonnaroo
Lucy Dacus	Boston Calling, Bonnaroo, Forecastle
Mondo Cozmo	Shaky Knees, Hangout, Boston Calling, Sasquatch, Gov Ball, Bonnaroo, Forecastle
Tkay Maidza	Hangout, Boston Calling, Gov Ball
Ganja White Night	Shaky Beats, Summer Camp, Bonnaroo, Electric Forest
Rezz	Shaky Beats, Bonnaroo, Electric Forest

Logical / Plausible

Artist	Source
The Shins	new album release March 10th, ~~possibly playing Coachella~~, playing Shaky Knees, Bunbury, in Brooklyn NY on June 15th
Hodgy Beats	new album out December 9th
Kid Cudi	new album out December 16th
Dropkick Murphys	playing Red Frog's Shamrock Fest in March, new album release Jan 6
Sohn	new album out Jan 13
The Flaming Lips	new album release Jan 13, touring early 2017
The xx	new album out Jan 13, 2017 tour, US festivals: Coachella, Shaky Knees, Boston Calling, Bonnaroo
Foxygen	new album out Jan 20
Tycho	in Europe late May and early June; playing Buku, Coachella; new album out Jan 20
Cloud Nothings	new album out Jan 27
Ty Segall	new album out Jan 27
Temples	Shaky Knees; new album out Mar 3
Hippo Campus	new album out Feb 24, tour dates end April 8th
Magic City Hippies	Fall 2016 album release, on tour with Hippo Campus until April 8th
Stevie Nicks	touring late 2016 and early 2017
Bon Jovi	touring early 2017, plausible but not likely
Joseph	touring early 2017
STRFKR	touring early 2017
The Growlers	touring Feb/March, playing Primavera Sound in Barcelona on June 2nd
Devendra Banhart	touring US early 2017
Wilco	possible but they organize Solid Sound Festival happening 1 week after Firefly
Xiu Xiu	touring early 2017,
Deerhoof	playing Big Ears Festival (TN) in March
The Magnetic Fields	touring early/mid 2017
Mother Mother	new album release Feb 10
Blonde Redhead	touring early 2017
Jens Lekman	touring 2017
Eric Clapton	playing a few shows in 2017, plausible but not likely
Galactic	early 2017 tour
Lake Street Dive	early 2017 tour
George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic	early 2017 tour
Parquet Courts	early 2017 tour, playing Gov Ball
Alesso	playing a couple US festivals early 2017
Kurt Vile	early 2017 tour
Run The Jewels	playing US festivals Summer Camp, Boston Calling and Forecastle; however playing NorthSide Festival in Denmark June 9-11
Marshmello	early 2017 tour, Coachella, Hangout, Bonnaroo
Oliver Heldens	early/mid 2017 tour, Electric Forest
The Motet	playing Electric Forest both weekends, early 2017 tour
Lotus	playing Electric Forest both weekends, early 2017 tour
Miike Snow	plausible but speculative: released an album in mid 2016, played numerous US festivals in 2016 but not Firefly, no plans for tour at the moment
Sleigh Bells	playing a couple US festivals in March, March 2017 tour dates
Flume	late 2016/early 2017 festival tour dates
Dinosaur Jr.	early 2017 tour, summer 2016 album release
At The Drive-In	March 2017 tour dates announced
Sigur Ros	mid 2017 tour dates end on June 17, only available/non-scheduled date is June 18th
P.O.S	early 2017 (Jan through March) tour dates, January 2017 album release
Animal Collective	May 2017 tour dates
Hot Chip	plausible speculation, no plans for tour, came up in Firefly survey
Portugal. The Man	new album release, playing Bonnaroo
The Avett Brothers	2017 tour
Dawes	2017 tour
Kiiara	playing Goldenvoice festivals: Coachella, Panorama
Dr. Dog	playing Shaky Knees
Sylvan Esso	playing Shaky Knees
FIDLAR	playing Shaky Knees
Prinze George	playing BottleRock
Travis Scott	playing Bonnaroo, although playing TinderBox in Denmark June 24th
Wolf Parade	2017 tour, Shaky Knees, Boston Calling
Frightened Rabbit	2017 tour, BottleRock, Boston Calling
PUP	Boston Calling
Flatbush Zombies	Boston Calling
Billy Joel	2017 tour, gap between June 6 and July 14
Major Lazer	new album expected, although played Firefly 2016
Incubus	new album expected
Gramatik	open dates June 15, 16, 18; playing Red Rocks Sat June 17
Modest Mouse	playing BottleRock
Zac Brown Band	2017 tour with gap during Firefly weekend, possible but unlikely (given FF's lack of history booking country acts)
A Tribe Called Quest	Panorama Festival in July
Ed Sheeran	North America tour ends in Mexico on June 14
Queen & Adam Lambert	plausible but unlikely; US tour starts June 23rd in Arizona
Pearl Jam	mainly speculation; no tour dates scheduled and no planned tour for 2017
Joey Bada$$	playing Rolling Loud in May
Father John Misty	new album
Mutemath	Shaky Beats, Hangout
Pretty Lights	Okeechobee, Euphoria, Bunbury
Towkio	Hangout, Panorama
Slowdive	2017 tour
Pixies	2017 tour

Unlikely

Artist	Source
Frank Ocean	to headline multiple festivals in 2017 incl. Hangout and Sasquatch, however will be in Europe May-July, NorthSide Festival in Denmark June 9-11
Bastille	NorthSide Festival in Denmark June 9-11, Isle of Wight Festival in UK June 8-11
Jai Wolf	playing Electric Forest, but already played Firefly 2016
Vince Staples	Electric Forest, but already played Firefly 2016
Bon Iver	Justin Vernon hosts Eaux Claires June 16+17
Grouplove	tour dates end April 13 in the US, but already played Firefly 2016
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds	possible but not likely: gaps in US tour dates on June 15th and June 17th
Aphex Twin	playing Europe festivals late May / early June
Jagwar Ma	playing Roskilde June 24-July 1
Dead and Company	touring early 2017, gap in tour dates on June 16th, plausible but not likely
deadmau5	touring early 2017, just played Firefly 2016
Fleet Foxes	plans for 2017-18 world tour, no plans/not booked for June
Alt-J	multiple European festivals in June/July, inMusic Festival in Croatia June 20th, Hurricane/Southside in Germany June 23-25
Imagine Dragons	Hurricane/Southside in Germany June 23-25
Die Antwoord	TinderBox in Denmark June 22nd, Hurricane/Southside in Germany June 23-25
Martin Garrix	somewhat plausible but unlikely: in Norway June 7th, in Italy June 18th, in Denmark June 24th
Solange	in Europe for Primavera Sound and Roskilde
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis	in Europe early June
Rufus Du Sol	Gov Ball, but already played Firefly 2016
Saint Motel	Gov Ball, but already played Firefly 2016
Catfish & The Bottlemen	playing Shaky Knees, but already played Firefly 2016
The Killers	TinderBox in Denmark June 22nd
Gogol Bordello	TinderBox in Denmark June 22nd
Interpol	currently only have plans for Europe/UK tour starting August 2017
Big Gigantic	playing Sonic Bloom in Colorado June 15th; other festivals: Electric Forest, Bonnaroo
Claude VonStroke	playing Sonic Bloom in Colorado June 15-18
Haywyre	playing Sonic Bloom in Colorado June 15-18

Out

Artist	Source
Arcade Fire	European festivals June 17, 19
Coldplay	June-July tour in Europe
Radiohead	in Europe
Prophets of Rage	Europe tour (Rage Against the Machine, Public Enemy, Cypress Hill)
Green Day	Europe tour
Flogging Molly	Europe
Kraftwerk	Europe
Daft Punk	not touring in 2017
Guns N' Roses	Europe
Bouncing Souls	Hellfest in France June 16-18
Neutral Milk Hotel	spring 2015: last tour for the foreseeable future
Frank Turner	London in May 12-15, Hurricane/Southside in Germany June 23-25
Linkin Park	Europe
Rancid	Europe
Foo Fighters	Secret Solstice in Iceland June 16, playing Rock The Beach in Finland June 19th
Knife Party	Europe
Liam Gallagher / Oasis	Europe
Tove Lo	BergenFest in Norway June 16th, Denmark June 22nd; playing Gov Ball, Bonnaroo
Passenger	BergenFest in Norway June 14-17
Cass McCombs	BergenFest in Norway June 14-17
Whitney	Europe during FF weekend (BergenFest)
Moderat	Europe
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard	Maifield Derby in Germany June 16-18; new album release Flying Microtonal Banana on Feb 24
American Football / Owen	Maifield Derby in Germany June 16-18
Dave Matthews Band	tour dates conflict with FF
The 1975	already played FF 2016, in Europe
Matt & Kim	confirmed not playing via Twitter DM
Justice	Sónar in Barcelona June 16-18, Roskilde June 24-July 1
Cashmere Cat	Sónar in Barcelona, Spain June 16-18, Roskilde June 24-July 1
Clams Casino	Sónar June 16-18
Jarreau Vandal	Sónar June 16-18
De La Soul	Sónar June 16-18
Caribou	Sónar June 16-18 (performing as Daphni), came up in Firefly survey
DJ Shadow	Sónar June 16-18
Little Dragon	Sónar June 16-18
Roosevelt	Sónar June 16-18; playing Gov Ball
Anderson .Paak	Sónar June 16-18
James Blake	in Italy June 16
The Kills	Rock The Beach in Finland June 19th
J. Cole	supposedly not touring in 2017

Social media clues/hints

Source	Info
Twitter: @LiveAtFirefly	A trait we all possess at times.

Other festival lineups for reference/cross-check/comparison

If there is no link it means it hasn't been announced yet.

Festival	Location	Dates
Shaky Knees	Atlanta, GA	May 12-14
Hangout	Gulf Shores, AL	May 19-21
Rock on the Range	Columbus, OH	May 19-21
Sasquatch	George, WA	May 26-28
BottleRock	Napa Valley, CA	May 26-28
Boston Calling	Boston, MA	May 26-28
Primavera Sound	Barcelona, Spain	May 31-June 4
Bunbury	Cincinnati, OH	June 2-4
Governors Ball	NYC	June 2-4
Bonnaroo	Manchester, TN	June 8-11
Eaux Claires	Eau Claire, WI	June 16+17
Mountain Jam	Hunter, NY	June 16-18
Electric Forest	Rothbury, MI	June 22-25, June 29-July 2
Solid Sound	North Adams, MA	June 23-25
Forecastle	Louisville, KY	July 14-17

July 10th, 1982

If you are ever in Arizona and find yourself on the Interstate-17, pay attention when traveling through a town called Black Canyon City. With a population just over 2,000, and nothing to recommend it to highway travelers but a small gas station, most people will blow right by this little community without a second glance. But if you slow down and look to the West of the highway, you may see a dilapidated, crumbling building with the simple words "DOG (C)RACK" written on the side in faded, orange lettering.
You have found the Black Canyon City Dog Track, the site of one of the worst massacres in Arizona history. The property has remained derelict and neglected since the 80's, slowly rotting away on the hilltop where it was once a thriving den of debauchery.
If you were to exit the highway and park on the corner of Maggie Mine Rd and Coldwater Canyon you could walk to the abandoned building and explore the stale, decaying ruins of a once popular greyhound track.
If you approach the side of the building with the fading orange letters you will see a silver gate standing open. If you venture through you will come to an unlocked door into the building. If, by chance, you are on the north side of the building, you will instead find a smaller doorway, this one with the door torn off the hinges. Graffiti to the left of this door reads "Why didn't you kill yourself today?"
If you then venture inside, you will find yourself in a cavernous, crumbling lobby. You will find a booth for reservations, a wall of betting windows and even a bar. Beyond that, you can explore the kennels, the private offices of the management, and even the overgrown dog track below.
Of course, one of the first things you'll see are the grandstands; rows and rows of red and yellow plastic seats, many of them still attached, while others have been torn up and thrown in an unceremonious pile nearby. This part of the building has an unsettling feeling as thousands of seats, all eerily expectant, face an empty field of weeds and a small mountain range beyond through large, broken panoramic windows. A large, metal sign hanging above tells you that the red seats cost 50 cents while the yellow seats cost 75.
If you continue to wander, you will find more graffiti such as "Who watches the Watchmen?" and "His name was Robert Paulsen". You will no doubt finish your tour feeling unsettled and ill, and with good reason.
The story of this dog track is mysterious and difficult to find, having been all but erased from history. After doing over a years worth of research, I believe I have learned enough to warrant writing this article.
Our story begins with a citrus farmer named David K. Funk. In 1942, tired of his Phoenix farm, Funk opened a successful race track in Tijuana called "Caliente Race Track", which was the first combination horse/dog track in North America.
It was enormously successful and with his new found wealth, Funk moved his wife and four young children - Albert, Charlotte, Richard and David Jr. - back to Arizona and opened several more thriving greyhound tracks.
The Funk children grew and while Albert and David Jr. followed in the family business, Charlotte and Richard showed little interest and went off on their own paths. Charlotte married a young entrepreneur named Monte Kobey and Richard became a university professor.
David Jr. and Albert moved around the country opening tracks in Florida, Oregon and Colorado. David Sr., impressed by his son's excellent work ethic, named David Jr Vice President of the Arizona race tracks, of which there were five.
David Jr., an aggressive but inexperienced businessman, decided in 1965 to open a new greyhound track in central Arizona. He choose a sleepy, rural town called Black Canyon City, less than an hour north of Phoenix.
When his father wouldn't approve the funds to build this track, David Jr. found funding through a Delaware company called Western Racing Inc., a well known mob-run enterprise on the east coast.
With their help, Black Canyon City Dog Track was opened in 1967, much to the chagrin of the locals, a devoutly religious group, who were horrified to find their pious town host to such a sinful sport.
David Jr. brought his sister and her husband to live in Black Canyon City and oversee the track's management. Charlotte's husband Monte was interested in greyhound racing and so Charlotte found herself once again enslaved to the family business. She noted in her diary that year how much she hated dog racing and how much she resented her family for forcing this life on her.
The track was an enormous success despite local protests and harassment by the town's small police force. Gamblers from Phoenix would drive up on the weekends to get out of the heat and spend time drinking and betting at the greyhound track.
In 1973 David Jr left Arizona to open a new property in Las Vegas, leaving Monte and Charlotte behind to run the Black Canyon track. Charlotte strongly objected to being "abandoned in the middle of nowhere" but Monte was excited about the chance to run the business alone.
David Jr. didn't return to Black Canyon City until early in 1982, when Charlotte called him to complain about the increased tensions between locals and track management. In the years he had been gone, the protests had turned to vandalism, death threats and finally violence after a flaming bag weighted with a brick was thrown through his pregnant sister's window.
Monte and Charlotte argued to shut the track down, citing violence and poor profit margins. David Jr. would not agree to it. He was by this time deeply in debt to Western Racing and they were no longer asking nicely for their money. The threats had grown so violent that David Jr. showed up in Arizona with his humerus broken in three places.
When her brother refused to release the Kobey's from their obligations, Charlotte begged David Jr. permission to leave, telling him about a local man who was harassing her named Brad Davidson. She said she didn't know him and had no idea why, but that he followed her when she was alone and came to the track everyday to try and speak with her. He was an alcoholic and a gambler, she said. In April, a man accosted David Jr. in the street claiming to be Brad Davidson, and pleaded with him for help, claiming he was the real father of Charlotte's baby.
In May of 1982, Monte and David Jr. got into a violent fist fight in the management offices when the latter went through the track's accounting. David Jr. accused Monte of running the track into the ground due to gross financial mismanagement. David Jr. was so angry that he told Monte about his conversation with Brad Davidson. Monte broke the cast off his brother-in-law's arm.
David Jr. was taken to the hospital to have his arm reset but the local ER staff refused to help him because he was the man who had “brought the very devil himself" to their town. Police were called and they escorted David Jr. off hospital property, roughing him up a bit. They told him that crime in their community had gone up ten fold since he had "invited all the sinners" down upon them.
The following month, David Jr. received another convincing threat from Western Racing to ruin him and decided on one last ditch effort to revive the track. Attendance had dwindled to almost nothing due to patrons being harassed and assaulted by locals as they came and left the dog track.
David Jr. bought adspace in Phoenix and Tucson and advertised the "comeback of the century" for the failing business. On July 10th of that year, all patrons of the track would not only receive $10 in betting credit but also drink for free between 11am and 1pm. Much to Charlotte and Monte's disappointment, the response was overwhelming.
When the day arrived, David Jr. and Monte had to open the track early. Though the races weren't scheduled to begin until 10am, hundreds of people showed up at the track just after 8 in the morning. Phoenix locals had organized their own buses to transport them in mass.
At 9am Monte and the general manager shared an opening-day drink down on the track, which David Jr. declined.
The morning of July 10th, 1982 was a scorcher and the decision to allow people to drink for free quickly became an expensive one. Monte opened the bar early, at 10am and by 10:30 the line for the bar wrapped twice around the lobby.
David Jr., Charlotte and another barman opened two more makeshift bars - one next to the outside grandstands and one on the other side of the lobby - to deal with the demand.
Every seat in the inside grandstand was taken and people fought for the outside seats as well. Around 150 people stood mingling around the lobby, watching the races from above and sticking close to the bar. They won money, they lost it, they laughed and cried and drank. By noon, the party was in full swing and everyone was in a boisterous and rollicking good mood.
The first sign something was wrong was around 11:45am when the lines for the bathrooms grew as long as the lines for the bar.
At around 12:20pm people in the lobby started to get sick. Only a handful at first. but within an hour people were vomiting where they stood - this quickly spread to the grandstands.
The general manager of the track, who was stuck behind the reservations desk, informed concerned patrons that it was simply a bad batch of liquor and that it would pass. When several people in the lobby began to seizure, David Jr. closed the betting counter to stop people from asking for their money back.
By 1:30pm, the first person was dead.
He was followed in quick succession by others - death spread like wildfire. Some were found to have dropped dead in the bathrooms, others simply never raised themselves out of their seats and died where they sat and yet others keeled over in the lobby, screaming in pain.
Local emergency services, who had finally been called after the first death, were slow to respond and by 4:30pm 618 people were dead and a thousand more were hospitalized. Tents were set up in the dirt parking lot and medical staff were called in from every town within a 200 mile radius. Of those that were hospitalized, another 381 people died just outside the dog track. The 999 deaths were ruled as poisonings.
David Jr., Charlotte and Monte all survived.
David Jr., the first to cast an accusation, wrote a letter to his father the following day which included a timeline of events on the day of the murders and a paragraph detailing why he couldn't help but be suspicious of his sister. Charlotte had appeared unfazed as so many people died violent deaths next to her bar, and had also gone to considerable lengths to ensure that the man called Brad Davidson was served several free drinks.
Charlotte, in turn, openly accused her husband of the murders, after every bottle of liquor in the building tested positive for Arsenic. She stated that on that day she had twice raised a glass of bourbon to her lips, only to have Monte slap it away. Peculiar, she mused, that he had suddenly become so concerned for her pregnancy when he never had before. Monte disagreed that this ever occurred.
David Jr., a seasoned drinker, was also suspected of the murders due to his refusal of an opening day drink with his manager, a tradition that David Jr. had always taken part in. In fact, no one had ever seen David Jr. turn down a drink in his life.
Monte, for his part, quietly accused Western Racing Inc., as he had started to receive threats from the east coast company the week before.
David Sr. wrote in correspondence to a business partner later that year that he believed the towns religious zealots had organized the poisonings since they were the only ones to gain from it.
The governor of Arizona at the time ordered a hasty investigation and a purging of all mentions of the tragedy from the local media, thereby ensuring it wouldn't get picked up nationally.
Most of the families of the victims (those gamblers who even had families) were purportedly bought off and the FBI closed the investigation on July 16th. The governor was in the throes of his own scandal at the time (accusations of handing out Indian casino licenses in return for campaign donations) and didn't want more bad press for his state.
In the end, no charges were filed. The track was closed that day and abandoned until the mid-80's when Albert Funk tried to revive the property as a swap meet venue. He abandoned this venture two years later after it failed to draw vendors.
David Jr. and his brother-in-law Monte gave up race tracks and opened a successful string of portrait studios throughout the southwest. David Jr died in 2005 and Monte in 2007. Charlotte and Richard are the only Funk children still alive today. No one has ever admitted to the murders.
Perhaps one of the more confusing aspects of this case is the fact that Black Canyon City's well water was also found to be contaminated with high levels of arsenic in 1985. Today, residents of the town and local businesses are served by a private water company due to the toxicity of their ground water.
Sadly, the culprit in this case may never be known due both to the local authorities refusal to investigate the massacre and the federal government's disinterest in it. And even if someone did decide to reopen the 30 year old cold case, most of the evidence has probably decayed and been destroyed by time.
Of course, as you know, Black Canyon City Dog Track still stands today and you can even visit the bar where almost 1,000 people met their deaths. If you do decide to visit, take your time walking the grounds. You may even stumble on betting tickets with the date "July 10th, 1982" printed on them, as I did the last time I was there.
Even the bar still stands, though it is hidden beneath a pile of detritus. If you do manage to dig it out you may even find an unopened bottle of gin. But I won’t tell you not to drink it. I’ve always thought 999 was an unsatisfactory number.
View from the Road
Gate Inside
Why didn't you kill yourself today?
Reservations
First floor Lobby
Betting Counter
Offices
Bathroom
Bar area
Kennels
Grandstands
View of the Track
Racetrack 1
Racetrack 2
Loading Dock
Outdoor Grandstands
No Admittance
Who Watches the Watchmen?
His name was Robert Paulsen
C. W.

[WEEKEND RECAP] Miguel Vazquez vs Denis Shafikov, Zou Shiming vs Yokthong Kokietgym, Tommy Coyle vs Daniel Brizuela, Daniel Geale vs Garth Wood + more

Monday February 17th

From Salinas Storm House, Salinas, CA

Manuel Avila defeated Enrique Quevedo by UD

Paul Mendez defeated Raul Casarez by KO3

Wednesday February 19th

From Horden Pavilion, Moore Park, New South Wales, Australia

Daniel Geale stopped Garth Wood in the 6th round

I mentioned in the preview that Wood was overmatched and Geale should have very little trouble with Wood who’s only solid win came on a hail mary type punch on Anthony Mundine. From the opening bell, Geale just destroyed Wood. A UK referee would have wisely stopped the fight in the 1st round. In the post-fight interview, Geale called out and asked for a Golovkin fight. Geale looked good, but not that good.

Thursday February 20

From Centro de Convenciones Figali, Panama

Luis Concepcion won a technical decision over Carlos Fontes over 9 rounds

Concepcion keeps on winning.

Friday February 21

From Dover Downs Hotel & Casino, Dover, Delaware

Ray Robinson defeated Aslanbek Kozaev by 12 round unanimous decision

What did you expect from Ray “The New Ray Robinson” Robinson?
From Edgewater Hotel & Casino, Laughlin, Nevada

Chris Rudd defeated Yakubu Amidu by unanimous decision

This featured the rarely seen extra tie-breaker, sudden death round. I thought Amidu would be go far in this tournament, but I was mistaken. Rudd dug deep and pulled out the win.

Petr Petrov defeated Fedor Papazov by unanimous decision

Miguel Gonzalez defeated Miguel Angel Mendoza by split decision

Fernanco Carcamo defeated Samuel Kotey Neequaye by 2nd round TKO

Neequaye was my pick to win this damn thing. I went 2 and 2 in my predictions for the tournament thus far.

Saturday February 22nd

From Cotai Arena, Venetian Resort, Macao, China

Zou Shiming knocked out Yokthong Kokietgym in the 7th round

There’s something I love watching in Zou Shiming. It’s similar to the way I love watching Pacquiao fight. It might be the way he flows offensively where he’s set and ready to throw punches at any point in the fight or maybe the fact that he just looks like he loves fighting and he’s enjoying what’s going on in the ring. Whatever it was, this was an entertaining fight. Shiming was obviously gunning for a KO and it must have felt good to finally get one. Shiming showed a ton of excellent technical things, the way he slipped punches, used his feet to escape, and a few little veteran things like using his forearms and shoulders to create more offense… and then there were the lapses where he was clipped by telegraphed punches that he should have avoided. It made for captivating TV and while Shiming doesn’t appear to have what it takes to beat any of the elite flyweights in the world, he will remain to be must watch TV for me.

Miguel Vazquez retained his IBF lightweight title over 12 rounds against Denis Shafikov

The internet seemed convinced that this was the end of the line for Vazquez. That the jig was up against an action Russian fighter who’s spent time at Freddie Roach’s Wild Card gym. I disagreed. How would a guy with a 5 inch height advantage whose jab is his bread and butter lose against a guy who comes forward and looks to be aggressive? Especially when the bigger man has some of the best footwork in boxing. Vazquez delivered a thorough performance that solidified him (in my eyes) as the top lightweight in the world.

Mavin Sonsona knocked out Akifumi Shimoda in the 3rd round

Marvelous Marvin Sonsona’s downfall will be his inability to keep his hands up. But so long as he lands his thunderous left on anyone’s chin, this kid will be a fast rising star. He’s 23, a southpaw, and Filipino. I’m not kidding when I saw that this was one of the most brutal KO’s I’ve seen in a while. If you haven’t seen it, look it up. A deadly left uppercut that put Shimoda to sleep the moment it landed.

Rex Tso stopped Mako Matsuyama in the 7th round

My boy Rex Tso stops yet another opponent. I think Tso has reached a point where he needs to step up his competition. Shiming and Luke Campbell are in the same boat. There's really no point for them to be taking these easy "journeymen" type fights. Their skill has, in my opinion, prompted a higher caliber of opponent to give them an opportunity to grow and evolve rather than continue refining what has worked in the past. I like to see fighters add new wrinkles to their game.

Ryota Murata stopped Carlos Nascimento in the 4th round

Story time. I woke up at 3am to watch this card (pacific time) so that I could see it live. I should have written down everything I was seeing or thinking because it’s all a blur and I fell asleep during the Vazquez fight. (No surprise there.) Murata looked good. He was accurate and the uppercut is becoming his signature blow.

Egor Mekhontsev stopped Atthaporn Jaritram in the 2nd round

Jaritram had no business fighting at light heavyweight and Mekhotsev made him pay. Jaritram was beaten from corner to corner and received the first loss of his career. If I have any criticism of Mekhontsev, it’s that he was squaring up a little too much, but his jab was brilliant. Obviously you can’t look at a fight like this and make any real decisions about a guy, but from what I can see, Mekhontsev could make real noise at light heavyweight if his chin is solid and he can avoid squaring up so often.
From York Hall, Bethnal Green, London, UK

Tony Conquest defeated Daniel Ammann by unanimous decision

I didn’t watch this card too closely, but I will say that York Hall has to be one of my least favorite venues to watch boxing on TV.

Chris Eubank Jr defeated Alistair Warren by 3rd round stoppage

Eubank Jr looked very impressive and remains undefeated.
From Ice Arena, Hull, Yorkshire, UK

Tommy Coyle stopped Daniel Brizuela in the 12th round

I don’t often do this, but I’m going to for this one. Just go watch it. Right now, for my money, this is the fight of the year.

Gavin McDonnell stopped Leigh Wood in the 6th round

This fight went on far too long. McDonnell had Wood out in the 6th round and the referee continued to let McDonnell batter Wood.

Curtis Woodhouse won a split decision over Darren Hamilton

And after the fight promptly retired.

Luke Campbell stopped Scott Moises in the 8th and final round

Campbell looked really good against an awkward opponent who seemed to love getting hit. Moises fought the entire fight with a smile and was encouraging Campbell more than his corner was to pour on the attack. Campbell broke his man down with very nice body shots and an accurate jab and straight to the head.
From Celebrity Theater, Phoenix, Arizona

Alexis Santiago defeated Hanzel Martinez by unanimous decision

Martinez was dropped early and showed a ton of heart finishing the fight. Santiago won a wide decision in what was an entertaining fight.

Siarhei Liakhovich defeated Chad Davis by unanimous decision

The story here is that Liakhovich was booed loudly during the post-fight interview and walked off. Welcome back to the win column!

[Table] IAmA: We are THE BURIED LIFE. Torri was born without a hand and we surprised her with new bionic arm. She's here. AMA!

Verified? (This bot cannot verify AMAs just yet)
Date: 2014-05-08
Link to submission (Has self-text)

Questions	Answers
Was Barack dirty on the b-ball court?	They had sniper rifles trained on us the whole time so it was kinda hard to push too hard, lol. -jonnie.
	He's pretty smooth and he's a lefty. tip for when you play him: he's got a low release, if u want to block the prez. - ben.
Duncan, Did you ever get that date with Taylor Swift? If so how was it? Did you get any songs written about you? Do you guys keep in touch? Take it easy guys! Get back on tv soon!	Yes, I did end up going on a date with T. She's a very sweet, nice gal. I donno about songs I haven't read enough lyrics but yes we stayed in touch. Thx. - Duncan.
Thats awesome man! If you guys are ever in NC and need anything let me know dude!	Duncan, can I have Taylor Swift's #? - ben.
When will you guys be back on TV? I loved the show.	Hopefully soon! Thank you very much. - Duncan
I know I'm late to the party but I just want you to know that the Buried Life is one of the greatest shows I've ever seen. So glad to hear that it's not over. You guys are great! Thanks for the laughs and feels.	Cheers jbird, appreciate it. -ben.
Is Dave still married?	No. they got it annulled the day afterwards and then dated for 6 months. they do still see each other time to time though. she is a good friend of ours now. (backstory: Dave got married in Vegas to a girl he'd know for 24 hours. it was #91 on the list: Link to www.facebook.com -jonnie.
Was the plan to get it annulled right after from the beginning?	No, we left it up to dave, it's his life. his mom wasn't too happy about it.
	Also, good to see you again giraffe boner. -ben.
Funny thing is I was in that episode and you two were talking right behind me at the pool. I must of been pretty hungover because I had no clue we were being filmed.	I must have been hungover too, i don't remember being in that episode either. -ben.
What do you look forward to crossing off your list? And has it been harder to accomplish these tasks without MTV's help?	MTV actually never helped us cross anything off, that was part of our deal with them. We wanted it to be like we'd been doing it the 3 years prior, 4 regular dudes. Cause what's the point if MTV's making all that stuff happen... we wanted it to be real. - ben.
What has been the strangest request for help that you've received?	Someone wanted to have a 3some while skydiving. - Dp.
	Also, a guy wanted to start a real Jurassic Park.
Is that going to be on the next episode?	Haha. Yes. We're partnering with Icy Mike.
Has there ever been a situation where you weren't able to help someone? Or something went wrong in the process?	We met a old man who wanted to reconnect with his long lost love, a woman named Joyce Hook, they lost touch in their 20s. We searched for 2 years but couldn't find any trace of her. - Duncan
ACTIVATE REDDIT SEARCH POWERS.	Sadly, Bob, the elderly man who searched for her, has since past. He never gave up though. If you find the one, #takethechance -jonnie.
What's your favorite thing you have done so far that has helped someone?	I'd say it's different for all of us. For me (jonnie) it was helping Lucas in DC who wanted to get a home for his dad, who became homeless after a fractious divorce. He's a good kid.
	For me, it's the first person we ever helped in Kelowna, BC. we helped a guy that used to be homeless get a truck for his new business. i still talk to him on fb 7 yrs later. he's in the first vid we ever made: Link to bit.ly -ben.
I've been a huge fan of you guys since Season 1 and you guys inspired me to start up a fundraiser to purchase Bio-fuel conversion systems for a School/Orphanage in Tanzania, Africa. I've always wondered what inspired you guys to actually break the mold and set off for the adventure?	This is so cool. Thank you for asking. It inspires me to hear that.
	What motivated me to set off when we started in 2006 was a) I wanted to work with my brother b) I couldn't figure out why more people our age weren't protesting and c) I was unhappy with my life. It felt like we had all these problems in the world that weren't being addressed. Things like global warming that were too complex for any single leader to conquer. I thought to myself, how do I help? At the time my brother had lost one of his best friends to a drowning accident in British Columbia and it made me think a lot about death. I realized that mortality is a (maybe, the) most powerful motivator for our species. Then I thought, I wonder what people want to do before they die? Then, what do I want to do before I die? And I decided from there that I wanted to ask people and to learn what they had to say. I thought the soberness of it might help the conversation. It helps put all the bullshit to rest. That's kinda also why we called this The Buried Life. It felt like we get buried by day-to-day stuff that makes us forget what's truly important in life.
	Then we decided to go after our list of 100 things (Link to www.facebook.com and to help a stranger each time we got one done. The name specifically I should add is courtesy of an 1852 poem called The Buried Life by Matthew Arnold. -jonnie.
Torri, your story is incredible, and you obviously have great people in your life. What has been the most positive or unexpected change in your life since receiving your new arm?	Becoming more confident in myself, i feel like i can do anything now -Torri.
What is the list item that will be the hardest to cross off? The one you're scared may never happen?	Grow a moustache.
	#95: Play Basketball with the President. That was tough. #100 Go To Space will be hard too, but we've been having some conversations with people about it.
	The idea of never crossing off #78: Fall in Love used to scare me, but less so as I get older. I'm beginning to realize that love is all around you, you just need to be open to it. I hope that doesn't come off too cheesy. -jonnie.
	Grow a moustache.
Talk to Hanger Clinic. Bionic Moustache.	That's my favorite comment. -ben.
	If the video gets to 2 million views Hanger Clinics will donate a bionic moustache to Torri. Tor, I'm sorry. -jp.
What was the craziest/ most daring thing that you guys have done?	Probably streak a field. We got arrested but it was fun while it lasted. Thanks. - Dp.
	Def streak: Link to vimeo.com
Hey guys! I remember watching one of your shows when you tried to make a million dollars. If you could redo that episode, what would you do differently?	Probably taken our time with it. Gambling was a quick chance to make 1Million but if we really wanted to make it, it would have been better to slowly build. Maybe use the money made on investing and keep slowly building. Thanks. - Duncan.
	Just don't go to the horse tracks. those horses are stupid. -ben.
Hey guys, have you added anything to the list since you made it?	Yes we add and remove things. The list changes and evolves with us. We really want to lower the suicide rate in North America, so we added that to our list last year. - Duncan
Did you ever end up actually getting to play basketball with Obama?	Yes, we were actually surprised on the white house courts by Obama last year. He's got a good 3.
	Here's a pic: Link to bit.ly
When do you guys expect to have your bucket list complete?	Never! No.. people ask us all the time, "What are you going to do when you finish your list of 100 things to do before you die?" Die, we tell them. Die! -jonnie.
THE BURIED LIFE. There's a name i haven't heard in a long time. Glad to see you're still at it with a vengeance. I'm in a band that absolutely loves doing charity work and helping others. Any chance you guys need a theme song?	Cheers. send tracks to [email protected] we're making a lot of different stuff right now and would love to check it out. -ben.
We would love to donate one to your cause. We can't offer much other than our music, but it's yours if you want it.	That'd be great, we're working on a lot of stuff and could use some music. send us an email at [email protected] -ben.
What is your advice to those who are suffering with depression?	Hey johnny. first remember that depression doesn't last forever and everyone goes through things like this, so you're not alone. one thing that may help is to try to do little things that make you happy, take small steps. when i was feeling depressed after high school, even though it was hard, i tried to stay active, force myself to hang out with people that i loved and made me smile, eat things that i liked, etc. sometimes it's good to do things that push u out of your comfort zone, even if you don't feel like it because it brings you out of your head. important thing, as i said before, is to remember that you're not along. a lot of people struggle with this, and you will get through it. a great site to check out is To Write Love On Her Arms: Link to twloha.com stay with it mate.
Do you expect to ever have a TV show again?	We hope to have a show again but only if it makes sense. we were executive producers of our last show and were involved in every aspect of making it so it's important that we have a say in what it looks like. regardless, we'll still be putting out videos like Torri's online and helping people do things they want to do before they die. The Buried Life started in 2006 as a documentary project, long before the tv show, and we're just going to keep doing it. - Ben.
Are there any things you were unable to air that you would like to tell us about?	Yeah we played basketball with Obama, finally, on the white house courts, we weren't allowed to film but we snuck a camera in anyways. We now have footage but aren't allowed to air it. We will one day ;) - Duncan.
Big fan! Can't wait to see more of you guys! How did you feel after loosing so much money as the casino?	Thanks, mik. Like idiots.. haha. In the end though the casino did donate a good portion of it to charity. (Backstory: we lost 250k on one roulette spin while attempting #71: Make a Million Dollars. It's been called 'the biggest roulette spin in vegas history')
	P.s. not sure what music you're into, but this flight facilities decades mix is really good: Link to soundcloud.com
	Not good! Although we did get the record for the single biggest roulette spin in Vegas history which was nice. - Duncan.
	I feel good about it, it was a rip!! -ben.
You guys are honestly the best. What inspired you to start The Buried Life? Also, what's your go-to happy song?	We just had a desire for more from life, we were bored. Buried Life came from wanting to prove to ourselves and our friends that anything was possible. Thx for watching it! - Duncan.
	Go to happy song: Link to www.youtube.com
	Ben.
Did Jonnie ever kiss Ben's sister at the prom? So curious!	Jonnie? - Duncan.
	No. No make out. We're just friends. -jp.
	Damn straight. -ben.
What's the most inspiring story that you guys have heard from someone you've met along your travels?	We met a woman named Trudy who was just diagnosed w breast cancer and was told she had 6 months to live. when we asked if there was anything she wanted to do before she died, she said yes but not for her, she wanted to help kids born w cancer - cause she had had 52 great years of life. we linked up w a group of kids under 12 with different types of cancer and took them on a shopping spree. trudy was one of those woman who had awesome energy, lit up a room when she walked in. she was very cool. here's shot of the kids: Link to farm3.staticflickr.com
	Ben.
This question is 4 TORRI BIDDLE: are u wearing 2 pairs of pants? yes or no? i must know, I MUST KNOW.	Well no i am not sam -Torri
Ok thanks bring two pairs on saturday.	Ok mate peace love applesauce.
I hate giraffes. They think they're all high and mighty with their long necks and such. Who the hell do they think they are?! What's your take on this issue?	I hate them, takes them so long to swallow their pride.
If you weren't doing The Buried Life, what would each of you be doing now?	Dave would be a stuntman, Jonnie would be doing political activism/filmmaking, Duncan would be hiking mountains and Ben would running a wee pie shop deep in the Himalayans named "Mountains of Joy"
Also what unusual advice would you have for a college student today? I know you guys decided to start your adventure around this time in your lives.	Best advice would be if you have an idea or dream you want to go after. Don't think about it as a dream, think about it as project. Dreams have a way of staying dreams but projects get accomplished. And dont ever give up! Delaware and Arkansas are surprisingly beautiful. We toured the country in a big purple bus named Penelope which changed the way I saw places. I'll never forget the part from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance where talks about how seeing cities from a motorcycle means seeing them without a frame around them. You're "in" the city, as opposed to being outside looking in. Being in that bus for years on end has been similar, for me, in a way because we would cruise with the windows open and be able to walk around in it as we drove. It would also attract the attention of the locals wherever we went. It's a 1968 GMC Diesel Pusher, the same model as in the movie Speed (except it can't go over 50miles/hour). I'm off on a tangent. The point is, Delaware and Arkansas took my breath away. They were just so quiet and beautiful and American. EDIT: you said cities. I love Berlin and Montreal. They are places that remind you that anything is possible. You can live in downtown Montreal for $400 a month. That changes the dynamics of a city. It means artists and political thinkers can survive on a basic wage and commit deeply to their craft. In a time when many student's ambitions are being extinguished by debt, it's these cities I think we can turn to for leadership and innovation. There are many cities I haven't visited though. On the debt issue, which came up in another thread, I met with Peter Ludlow, a professor at UCLA, last month and he said the reason college kids don't protest like they did in the 60s is because of student debt. They can't afford to. He said his students run around in fear of one misstep. The way the economy has changed has made it even harder to get a second shot if god forbid you fall off the wagon at any point. To make matters worse, student debt is the only debt in the country that you can't default on. So.. you're hooked. It's a shame. I don't know what the solution is but I do hope it changes.
Do you have any advice as to what I can do to make sure I live life to the fullest and help other people as much as possible?	Yeah, we put a lot of time into writing this article for Tim Ferriss' blog, you should check it out: 6 Steps to Crossing Anything Off Your List: Link to bit.ly
What's the next big thing on the horizon for you guys?	#100: Go to Space and #26: Tell a judge, "You want the truth, you can't handle the truth!"
	To be honest, for me personally, my latest goal has been to direct the first feature length film with a 360 degree camera. I've been into this oculus rift stuff and have been working with a company called Centre Cam (Kickstarter Page: Link to www.kickstarter.com) It's a game changer. VR just opens whole new realms of possibility for story telling. -jonnie.
I am a very big fan! and I love everything you guys do. What was your favorite thing to crossed off your list?	I think it's different for everyone but for me it was probably 'Streaking a Field'. My favourite help story was when we reunited a father with his son after 17 years. Thanks - Duncan
When was/is the deadline for submitting an entry for the #5thmember contest?	We're picking them tomorrow, u can enter as many times as you want.
Finally made a reddit account just for this! You guys are great- can't wait to see more of your accomplishments. Right around the same time as your show began, my friend Matt and I had a similar list with similar goals of traveling the world and doing amazing stuff. At first we were pissed because you beat us to the punch, but after years of seeing your show, we're glad you guys made it and can inspire so many people to be great, ourselves included. What was your first official cross off, or first thing you put on your list?	That's great. Thanks, tvafi. The first one we crossed off was #34: Be a Knight for a Day. We traded beer for a restaurant voucher for a suit of armor rental at a costume shop (it's the only way we could afford to do it). Then we told the press in our town to come see it and kick off our "tour" To our surprise/horror.. they showed up. The next day it was on the front page of the newspaper and that was the 2nd thing off our list. There's a story somewhere out there you can see. +1 point if you can find it. The newspaper was the Times Colonist in Victoria, BC Canada. -jonnie.
What inspired you guys to start looking for a 5th member in Italy?	We partnered with Contiki Tours (who do travel trips for young people across the world). They said they would help us help fans cross off list items in Italy so we came up with @5thmember. You can still sign up: Link to s3.amazonaws.com
Where's Dave?!	He's diving for giant pearls in Afghanistan.
	No I heard he was air ballooning in Mongolia rehabilitating wingless camels. - DP
Hi Torri! Hows life? Also, would you rather fight 1 horse sized duck, or 100 duck sized horses?	Hello and life is great -Torri.
	And i would fight 100 duck sized horses lolz -Torri.
	Me too! We could fight them together Tor. - Duncan.
	I'll be fighting the duck's side guys, can't help you. sorry. -Ben
How did you guys find the courage to stray from "normal life" and follow your dreams? I'm searching for that same type of courage right now.	It helped that we started it with our friends, it's always good to work with people you like. they pick you up when you're down. and honestly, we didn't think about it too much, we just took a road trip and starting crossing off list items and helping people and it grew from there. if you just start doing it, taking small steps, you'll figure it out. good luck and have fun. -ben.
If someone doesn't win the contest, can they still come and cross off something from their bucket list with you guys in Italy? Huge fan.	Are you in Italy? Yeah come meet us why not. ; ) - Duncan.
Are you guys going to start touring Canada again?	We love Canada, we go back a lot. Where are you from? - Duncan.
Waterloo. Awesome, looking forward to it!	Love Waterloo, have friends at school out there. Whats up Canada!?
Yeah, if you guys could come to Edmonton soon, that'd be great...	Duncan and I grew up in Edmonton. Butter Dome!
Not sure about @cwadden, but I'm from Victoria :) Do you head home often? Visiting with your moms this weekend?	Jonnie and I were just back last weekend for our Mom's bday. We love Vic! - Duncan
Hey guys, can I get a shout-out to my sister? She is a huge fan of yours and is currently living her dream of traveling around Europe.	Whats her name? Does she have twitter?
Her name is Kelsey--it's @KelseyHeath14 and I think she has like 10 tweets. I am so getting best sister of the year award for this.	12 tweets actually. We are friends now. - DP.
It looks like it is the same, but does it feel different to have a bionic arm to a normal arm?	I don't really think so it might be heavier than a normal arm but it's not to bad- Torri.
What are you guys currently working on?	We started a production company and have been creating new tv shows, living and working in Venice, CA. we're going to Italy tomorrow and bringing someone with us (Link to bit.ly) we're doing a lot of speaking at colleges, helping ppl and making vids like the one we made with Torri. we're working on #100: Go To Space. i'm working on my biceps, a little bit of tricep work, but mainly biceps. -ben.
	Right now we're about to fly to Italy and are surprising someone who has a dream in Italy, bringing them with us.
	We launched a production company recently and have been developing new concepts for television - some of them related to Buried Life, some of them new.
	We speak at colleges and businesses, encouraging people to go after the things they want to do before they die and talk about our book.
	Ride bikes around venice beach.
	Still going after our list and helping others do the same.
	Ben.
If this video gets 1 million views Hanger Clinics will donate another bionic arm to a deserving teenager: Link to www.youtube.com.	Link to media.giphy.com
Would you guys be down to have a guest (like me) travel with you this summer and help out people in need? I love what you guys do and I would love to be on your team!	Actually yeah we are doing a contest right now to take a #5thMember on the road with us. Come on down bit.ly/1ldV6ue.
Duncan, you planning on getting the new Smash Bros? If so, make your way back to Victoria and we'll have another match. (HSkey) Congrats on all your amazing success.	HSkey, haha. Lets do it! Good to hear from you old boy! Hope things are great for you. - Duncan
I ordered a copy of your book when you said you were signing the preorders but when it showed up it wasn't signed. Who do I call crying to?	Thank you so much, would love to meet.
Any good tips on how to travel in Europe for cheap? I'm from U.S. and have never been. Love the show and love telling people about your adventures!	Yes come to Italy with us and Contiki Tours. We are bringing one person along to cross off list items. Link to s3.amazonaws.com
Any advice for asking t swift out? I've written songs about my exes so I guess I've got that going for me.	Become a fake country music star.
How does the bionic arm feel like, Torri?	At first it was really heavy because i was not use to the weight but now it's fine- Torri.
It can be amazing for hitting around. I suppose. Right?	Haha yes-Torri.
For anyone who doesn't know it, the song is We Dont Eat. His latest album, Post Tropical, came out in January. I like Cavalier, Red Dust, and Gold. Adventure Club did a dubstep remix of We Don't Eat.	All credit to @jaysalbert for the song choice. He helped edit it all together too.
If they made a movie about your life, who would play you (other than yourself)?	Morgan Freeman. - Duncan.
	Jonnie: harry potter duncan: james dean dave: anyone from a Sunny D commercial ben: amy adams
I love you guys so much, and I love what you do and how you're teaching people to live life to the fullest. But what about when you WANT to die? What are your tips for struggling with finding meaning to life?	Emily, thank you for this. There's an article by Camus (a philosopher) who asks if suicide is the only truly serious philosophical problem. You can see the link below. I think the answer to your question is a deeply personal one for each person, but for me the answer may be that you cannot 'find' meaning in life, you have to make it. It is the process of discovering what makes you happy that makes you happy, even if your search begins with humble joys like laughing or enjoying a good meal. If the feelings that you're having disrupt your daily life and prevent you from ever feeling happy, I'd encourage you to check out the help of professionals. But that's up to you. We work with a group called TWLOHA.com.
	Each of us have struggled with depression in our lives (and probably will in some capacity until we die) but it's the process of searching out joy that makes us happy. Starting a life-list can help :) Thanks for sharing. -jonnie.
	Link: Link to thefloatinglibrary.com
	P.s. duncan often says, "happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know." You might just be exceptionally bright :)
Hi Torri. 6 weeks ago our daughter Isla was born with a shortened ulna and a severely under developed hand, but she is absolutely perfect in every way. Do you have any advice for us on how to be the parents she will need us to be?	What my parents did for me that helped the most is that they didn't treat me differently than my brother and sister. Being raised that way it helped a lot, and just be positive! :) -Torri.
What is your favorite joke to tell?	Knock knock...
Hey! I've been a huge fan of the entire concept! You guys inspried me to go to Burning Man this year!	Have fun. burning man may be my favourite place on earth. -ben.
Do you guys think you'll ever come out to Arizona? we have some big mountains you can climb to check of your list (#51).. also Im a huge fan of your work and would love to meet you guy! hope your show comes back on Tv soon!	Nothing better than a solid mountain climb. Also, great name FannyPackBen. Ben loves fanny packs.
Hey Torri, how easy/complicated is your bionic arm to use? I have a similar arm, but it looks like you've better reach. I've been looking into them but they seem odd to me. Proof, I guess: Link to m.imgur.com.	Yeah for me its really not that hard to use with me not having a right hand before but it really depends on the person using each person has a different level of difficulty -Torri.
Hi guys, what do you like on your pizza?	Jonnie- hawaiian Ben- veggie Duncan- pepperoni Dave- whatever the waitress recommends. Dave has put more thought into meals than he has into major life decisions. just the way he is.
What is the hardest thing you had to overcome for the list? I love the show and you've inspired me to do so much, I hope it comes back soon!	#53 Make a TV Show was a doozie. We started TBL in our parents garage and it took 3 years to cross that one off.
Hey! Love you guys! How easy is it to just be in places you have no business in being there? I get it it's for a tv show, but still you have to be a little uncomfortable, right?	Oh god yes. I had to sit in a bathroom stall for 3 hours after sneaking into the premiere of Transformers 2 to try and get Ben a date with Megan Fox (#59 on the list). I would say I was shitting my pants but that wouldn't be necessary. I had the stall.
Can I be the fifth man?	Yes. Link to s3.amazonaws.com
Hey Tony here! I love what you guys do! Any advice for a man with a bucketlist on a budget? I'd love to do a lot of the things you guys have done! How did you guys get enough money to take all of these trips?	Link to s3.amazonaws.com
How many bucket list items do you have left to cross off on your list of 100? Is there an updated list somewhere that shows which ones are left?	We have crossed off around 84 things. Here's our list but it's not completely updated. Link to www.facebook.com
Hey Ben, we talked on the phone after your speech in Indianapolis. I couldnt attend because of the disaster in the Philippines and my line of work. You said "Talk to you soon." How long is soon?!	How bout now? haaayyy - ben.
What was it like sitting in a cake for 6+ hours?	It was hot and I had to piss.
Should I buy a moped?	Yes, for sure. But be careful.
Any plans to do more episodes of the show with MTV? Proud of all you guys are doing... making Canada proud!	Thanks. Yeah would always consider a comeback season!
How soon is now?	NOW.
How many items have you guys managed to scratch off the list at the moment? You guys are incredible.	Around 86.

Last updated: 2014-05-12 16:00 UTC
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is delaware park casino open yet video

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