The Way It Iz

Last week, in a move that has been building for over a decade, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has finally allowed its student athletes to benefit from their likenesses. To be clear, they are not allowing players to be paid by the colleges they represent, but this will potentially allow college players to sign endorsement deals, get paid for autograph sessions, and even get a cut of video game sales that portray the players.

In “honor” of the one-year anniversary of the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court confirmation, this week, the New York Times reported on what it’s like a year after the trial as it relates to all parties involved – Brett Kavanaugh, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, and the #MeToo movement as a whole. In the reporting, they bring up the events leading up to Dr. Ford’s ultimate public appearance and testimony. They go through her decision making – the pros and cons to coming forward with the allegations, what it would mean for her family, her career, her psyche, her future, and her safety. She even spoke with Ricki Seidman, a former political adviser who, notably, worked on the Clarence Thomas confirmation when Anita Hill leveled similar accusations against him. Seidman, who had previously encouraged Hill to come forward against Thomas, warned Ford against coming forward considering she at the time was the only allegation, and it’s likely to not produce any positive results. We all know how the rest plays out by now. Dr. Ford comes forward anyway, more allegations surface, hearings and chaos ensues, Kavanaugh ends up on the bench, and Dr. Ford returns to a much more public life than before.

Elizabeth Warren has an honesty problem. Now before we dig into this, I want to make a distinction between dishonesty and lies. Being dishonest is any time one is not straightforward with the truth, whereas a lie is a statement made that knowingly contradicts a truth. Every lie is therefore dishonest. However, by simply omitting the truth, one can be untruthful. Ergo, all lies are dishonest, but not all dishonesties are lies.

So just when President Trump was out of the woods on impeachment, he gives Democrats another reason to bring it up. And I mean he didn’t wait long. Robert Mueller testified in front of the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees on July 24. That testimony basically quashed any hope of impeachment from the Democrats. Trump waited exactly one day to step in it again. On July 25, the president participated in the ill-fated phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. In the call, Trump is alleged to have asked for Ukraine’s assistance in the prosecution of Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

“Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong.” With these words, Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey began the biggest international economic catastrophe an American sports league has ever faced. According to some estimates, this now-deleted tweet has the potential to cost the NBA $1 billion in Chinese revenue. And the fun only starts there.

Another week has gone by and another scandal has rocked a public figure. And like all scandals revolving around public figures seem to be these days, this one is not a current event, rather something dug up from one’s past. This time it was revealed that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had worn black or brown face to imitate minorities on at least two occasions. This incident is extremely eye-opening, as Trudeau constantly pats himself on his back for his “wokeness.”