Daily Archives: April 2, 2022

Image: Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1115423

Ill just focus on F1 tracks, the worst just based on historic tracks that look SUPER boring would be AVUS (Germany, 1959) and Zeltweg Airfield (Austria, 1964), looks like LONG straights and a couple of corners.

Indianapolis (USA) and Nurburging (original track, Germany) rank as the two deadliest (7 and 5 deaths, respectively).

For tracks on this years calendar, Ill go with Jeddah, Monaco and Zandvoort. Jeddah was kinda fun to watch this year, but with the high speed, close walls and limited visibility its just a matter of time before someone has a crash that makes Mick Schumachers wreck stand out as the warning it should be.

Zandvoort just looks like someone made a really big go-kart track in the sand and decided to put full size race cars on it, in certain sections of that circuit, the cars look almost comically out of place.

I love the Monaco GP, but lets be honest, its pretty much a really, really fast parade. So Monaco fits right in the middle of Jeddah and Zandvoort because it combines whats wrong with both tracks. F1 cars have grown to accommodate safety improvements but you cant just move parts of a city to make the street wider for better run off areas and to get more room for passing. This usually results in the race being a procession where no one can pass and cars are removed from various places in the procession due to driver error (clipping a wall, or pushing another driver into a barrier), equipment failure (blown motor, flat tire, etc.) or when a team decides to just throw away a win and calls their driver in for tires and everyone has their thumb firmly planted up their ass (like when Red Bull screwed Danny Ric quite hard without a nice kiss or even a little lube a few years ago).

AVUS claims four whole corners, three of which combine like Voltron to form a facsimile of Lime Rock Parks Big Bend. When plotting an ideal line, it ends up being two straights linked by two hairpins the exact track layout that NASCAR haters claim makes for boring racing. Ovals, by the way, are more interesting than this.

(Editors note from Elizabeth Blackstock: HAVE YALL SEEN AVUS BANKING??????????????????? BRO. BRO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Submitted by: NegativeEd

See the rest here:

These Are The Worst Race Tracks In History - Jalopnik

Magazine

The saga of Nicaragua-Taiwan relations and their eventual end in December 2021 stretches back to the Cold War heyday of Taipeis anti-communist obsession.

Taiwans President Tsai Ing-wen (right) and Nicaraguas President Daniel Ortega engage in bilateral talks, Jan. 10, 2017.

We touched down in Managua, Nicaragua, shortly before 7:50 p.m. on July 18, 2014. The tickets were originally booked for a cheaper flight the following day, but Pablo Morales was having none of it.

Its Liberation Day, he said. You have to be here. It will be special.

He greeted me with a clasp befitting his ursine physique and insisted on carrying my luggage a solitary battered backpack to the car. Whispering in from the Pacific, the evening breeze had taken the heat down a notch from oppressive to somewhere just above sultry.

The previous afternoon, on a tour of Panama Citys old Chinatown with a local historian, I had mentioned my plans to attend the celebrations in Managua. My guide raised a startled eyebrow. Be careful with those Sandinistas, he said. Theyll try to convert you for sure.

Get briefed on the story of the week, and developing stories to watch across the Asia-Pacific.

Perhaps Morales discerned a ripple of that warning in my furrowed brow as he navigated the downtown traffic enroute to his home in the suburbs. First thing to know, he said. Im a Sandinista, but I wont try to make you one.

Pablo Morales (a pseudonym) was as good as his word, but his word wasnt the problem.

Propaganda is everywhere in Nicaragua; the cult of President Daniel Ortega and his Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) is pervasive. Spray-painted images of El Comandante, fist clenched as he hollers a clarion call to the masses; constant updates from the presidents office running as banners at the bottom of the screen during daytime lifestyle programs on state TV channels; the utopian spin on almost every action or event in which the government plays a hand; and Stalinesque accusations of sabotage carried out by nebulous malefactors when things are not quite up to scratch.

The Liberation Day 2014 celebrations were a perfect example. Id been led to believe that it was Nicaraguas independence day, which its not, and that it was an event joyously celebrated by all Nicaraguans, which it isnt. The distinctly underwhelming attendance at Plaza de la Revolucin, formerly Plaza de la Repblica further demonstrating how the FSLN has bound the countrys identity to the party was explained away by the revelation that a bus from the Sandinista Youth wing had been attacked by right-wing terrorists.

Several Sandinistas insisted this was a regular occurrence, and indeed, there were two more reports of attacks against party supporters in the next few days. One of these I caught over breakfast in the Morales family home. Coincidentally considering I had come to Nicaragua to probe the countrys relations with Taiwan the banner announcing the news ran along the bottom of the screen during a segment about a Taiwanese woman who ran a KTV in Managua.

Elsewhere, other Nicaraguans poured scorn on the claims. Any time things dont turn out the way they want, its a right-wing plot, said a contact with ties to opposition groups.

Yet if Ortega and his followers saw enemies everywhere, it was not completely without reason. The causes of this paranoia lie at the heart of my decision to make that trip in 2014. I was not investigating the present-day claims of conspiracy, but skulduggery that dated back decades. Eventually, I found that the two coincided in the unlikeliest of manners.

More here:

The Cold War History Behind Nicaragua's Break With Taiwan - The Diplomat

(WBNG) -- The Southern Tier has a rich history of paranormal activity that one local author and professor detailed in her book, Haunted Southern Tier.

Distinguished Service Professor of English at Binghamton University Elizabeth Tucker also teaches local folklore classes at the university.

This is important because its a very long tradition of belief and storytelling and it has been meaningful for people in many ways, Tucker told 12 News.

One of these locations is Christ Episcopal Church in Binghamton. Tucker said that the church welcomes the ghost stories as part of their spirituality.

One of the church historians Susan Sarzynsky told 12 News that the church sits on land sold by Joshua Whitney.

Sarzynsky said Whitney was charged by William Bingham to help develop the area of binghamton. Whitney was asked to start churches.

Some believe that Whitneys spirit still lingers within the church after a disagreement. It is believed that Whitney asked for larger pews due to his size and was denied.

Sarzynsky said stories like these are a gateway into local history.

I guess thats because it is an old church with an old history there are things that happened that are unexplained, she told 12 News.

Tucker welcomes anyone who would like to discuss their own stories with her. Her email is ltucker@binghamton.edu

Follow this link:

Binghamton University professor recounts haunted history in the Southern Tier - WBNG

SALT LAKE CITY The history of lynching in Utah came into focus after President Biden signed the Emmet Till Anti-Lynching Act into law this week.

Till was a 14-year-old Black teenager who was beaten and lynched by two white men in 1955, allegedly for flirting with a white woman days before he was killed.

A University of Utah historian says there are stories similar to Emmit Tills that took place when Utah was a territory. He said these are examples of violence against those who did not conform to the social standard.

The violence included forms of intimidation, including death by lynching.

I think we have three [examples of race-related violent deaths] in Utah that we can pinpoint, said Paul Reeve, a Simmons Chair of Mormon Studies at the University of Utah. Robert Marshall, Sam Joe Harvey and Thomas Coleman were all African-American men.

According to Reeve, Coleman was a former slave who was a member of The Church of Jesus of Christ of Latter-day Saints. An 1886 newspaper clipping from The Daily Union Vedette said Coleman was killed for courting a white woman. Somebody slit his throat.

His body was dumped on the ground of (the) current state capitol, Reeve said. A placard was placed on Coleman that read, NOTICE TO ALL N******! TAKE WARNING! LEAVE WHITE WOMEN ALONE!!!

Sam Joe Harvey was accused of killing Salt Lake City Marshal Andrew H. Burt. Officials arrested and then released Harvey. Later, a mob lynched him according to an article on the Utah Department of Heritage and Arts website. His skeletal remains were found outside a cemetery in Salt Lake City.

Officials accused coal worker Robert Marshall of killing a guard in Carbon County, Utah. A mob later hanged him, and eleven men were arrested. However, they were released after the grand jury said they found no evidence to convict them.

These were not the only acts of violence toward people who did not fit the white Anglo-Saxon Protestant ideal in Utah, according to Reeve.

The KKK burns a cross on the lawn of a Greek man who married a white woman, he said. Theyre enforcing white Anglo-Saxon Protestantism, right? Those from southern and eastern Europe are Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, or Jewish, and they dont fit the KKKs understanding of what it means to be an American.

Despite their violent nature, Reeve said reflecting on these instances can bring about a change of perspective for people today.

If we understand history, it can help us to stand in places of empathy, to perhaps take a step back [and] recognize the lessons that history has for us to learn that can inform the present, he said.

Reeve is part of a group that is commemorating the lynching of Sam Joe Harvey and Thomas Coleman through the Equal Justice Initiatives Soil Collection Project. The idea is to gather the soil from places where racial lynchings took place.

There is an ongoing effort at trying to make sure that Utah lynching victims are remembered in the National Lynching Memorial, Reeve said.

View post:

Historian reflects on Utahs history with lynching and prejudice - KSL NewsRadio

Toby Makoyawo just smashed the Terrier record for 100 meters as a freshman. Whats next for him?

In the video above, Toby Makoyawo (CAS25) demonstrates some of his training methods and talks about workouts that have helped him become an elite sprinter and set the BU 100-meter record. Photo by Jackie Ricciardi

Here are three words you dont expect to hear from the mouth of the 19-year-old freshman who just became the fastest runner in the history of Boston University: I hate walking.

But thats what Toby Makoyawo (CAS25) says with a big smile, just before hopping his lean, six-foot-one frame onto a Hiboy scooter and zipping off in his black tracksuit and gray knit BU Track & Field hat. Watching him disappear down Comm Ave must have been the same feeling experienced by other sprinters at the recent Texas Relays in Austin, where his competitors mostly saw only the back of his red BU shirt as he raced into the Terrier record books with shocking, world-class speed.

In his preliminary 100-meter race on March 25, Makoyawo ran 10.12 seconds, finishing second in his heat while smashing the BU record of 10.45 set by Justin Flynn (CGS16, Questrom18) in 2018. Then in the next days final, he stunned the field of runners, and even himself, by winning with a blazing 9.90 time (a tailwind, however, prevented that time from being an official record). He let out a yell of excitement after finishing and then bounded around with elation.

I knew he had the race won at 40 meters. His race model came together on that day.

It was a short race. But those 10 seconds were the culmination of a long journey for Makoyawoone that started in his parents homeland of Nigeria, moved to his birthplace in Florida, took him across the Atlantic to a childhood in London, and finally landed him in a dorm room at BU. On campus, hes just another first-year student who is managing a full schedule of introductory classes, enjoys shooting photos as a hobby, gets around on his motorized scooter, and holds down a part-time job at a fintech start-up.

But once he steps on the track, and his arms start swinging and his long legs start flying, there is no blending into the crowd.

Soccer was Makoyawos favorite sport growing up in England. All his friends played, and even when he ran away from the pack in a short sprint in primary school (the countrys elementary school equivalent), it never occurred to him that his future might be on the track rather than the soccer field. I didnt realize how fast I was, he says.

It was at Saint Joan of Arc Catholic School in South Ruislip, England (west of London), where he started competing in track meets against other schools and quickly realized something: I would win every race, he says.

He was still thinking about soccer until he was 17. He had started running with a club track team in London, and he ran the indoor 60 meters so fast that he was the fastest in the United Kingdom under 20 and number three overall. I was just shocked, he says of his sprint times. His speed earned him the chance to run the 60 meters with the senior club team, instead of the junior teamand at an international race in Austria he blazed to a victory in 6.68 seconds.

I blew people away, he remembersand all of a sudden it clicked for him. Track was his future.

There was just one problem with his success. As fast as he was at 60 meters, thats an indoor sprint distance. Makoyawo was convinced his best race was actually the outdoor equivalent: the 100 meters, and even the 200 meters. The reason? His size.

Tall sprinterslike Makoyawos idol, the worlds fastest man, Jamaicas Usain Bolt, who is six-foot-fiveexcel in the 100 and 200 more often than the 60, because their legs need a few more strides to hit top speed. So, while shorter, quicker runners might be faster at the shorter 60-meter distance, the long stride of the taller runner uses the final 40 meters in the longer race to reach top speed. (In case youre curious about how fast Makoyawo is running at his top speed, its between 20 and 22 miles per hour.)

He was just getting ready to prove that the 100 meters was his best event when the coronavirus pandemic ground the world to a stop in early 2020. Instead of getting frustrated, Makoyawo says, he found a hill behind his house, started training on it, and built up his strength. I found it therapeutic, he says of those days. I was a late bloomer to track.

Even COVID-19 could not stop the word of his sprint times from spreading, and soon Makoyawo began hearing from colleges in America, including Purdue, the University of Florida, Harvard, and BU. The clincher in his decision was Gabe Sanders.

Sanders had been an assistant track coach at BU from 2008 to 2015, working closely with the sprinters. Under his leadership, the Terriers broke 15 school records and BU sprinters and hurdlers combined for 16 Patriot League titles and 28 America East crowns. He left BU to become assistant track coach at Stanford, where the sprint relay teams shined. There, he directly coached 14 NCAA First-Team All-Americans, 3 Second-Team All-Americans, and 17 NCAA finalists. During his tenure, 11 Stanford school records were broken and Stanford qualified three relay teams to the NCAA Championships, including both the mens 4100 and 4400, for the first time in Cardinal history. And then in 2019, Sanders returned to BU as director of track and field and cross country, and again, Terrier records started to fall. Makoyawo wanted to be a part of that.

Coach Sanders was a big draw, Makoyawo says. I wanted to work hard and be competitive. Coach shaped a program that wasnt just for all sprinters, it was for me.

Sanders knows that individualizing training programs is critical for young runners.

Working with athletes in general, its about physiology, biomechanics, psychology, and understanding that its not just knowing what to do, but how to make it accessible to the student, he says of his approach. People respond to different training methodologies in different ways.

With Makoyawo, Sanders says he looked for clues through race footage and racing patterns, and what he saw was unlimited potential. I said, holy cow, why am I the only one seeing this? I saw an insanely talented young man. His 60-meter dash was world-class compared to his 100 and 200. But if you look at the footage and break down his racing, it told me this young man has very, very strong profound top speed characteristics and qualities.

While other schools may have shied away from Makoyawo based solely on his lacking a great 100-meter time, Sanders says he believed he was just raw, physically underdeveloped, and needed time in the weight room to get stronger. Speed doesnt lie. You just have to figure out what works for individualized training.

Even before he arrived at BU, Makoyawo continued to break records. In July 2021, he won the 100 meters at the 2021 European Athletics Under 20 Championships in 10.25 seconds, a European record for runners under 20. And once he got to BU a month later, he didnt slow down. In his first indoor season as a Terrier, Makoyawo saw an immediate impact, as his time in the 200 meters dropped from 21.05 to 20.73.

The Texas Relays have been his biggest stage in the United States so far. Dating back nearly 100 years, its the second-largest relay meet in the country, after only the Penn Relays, drawing roughly 1,000 teams and 7,000 athletes.

Before he ran his individual sprint, Makoyawo anchored the BU 4100 relay teama team impressively comprising two other freshmen, Matt Spicer (CAS25) and Leon Christian (CAS25), and sophomore Uchenna Nwosu (CGS22)that ran a school-record time of 39.89.

Makoyawo says that running and walking around on the track a few hours later, he felt poised for a great individual 100. I felt quick, he says.

And he was.

Sanders says that entering the meet, their goal for Makoyawo was to make the 100-meter final and to finish in the top three. In the preliminary heat to qualify for the 100-meter final, Makoyawos 10.12 time was the third fastest in all of the heats and easily advanced him to the final. His time also set a new Patriot League record, and according to BU Athletics: It is believed to be the second-fastest 100-meter time by an athlete at a Northeast region school, trailing only the 10.09 by Syracuses Mike Morris in 1985.

In the final, Makoyawo had a good start, which is not always his strength, and once he took the lead, there was no catching him. I was ecstatic, Makoyawo says. Just so happy. It was a shock, and it wasnt a shock. I had visualized it for so long.

Sanders says that everything just clicked for his young sprinter in those 10 seconds.

I knew he had the race won at 40 meters, says the coach, who was watching from the stands and could be heard screaming on the ESPN broadcast of the race. His race model came together on that day. Hes much stronger in his core, he accelerated deep into the race and reached his top speed later. The only question in my mind was how fast was it gonna be.

The race clock initially said 9.96 seconds, but it was quickly adjusted to 9.90. (For perspective, the gold medalwinning time at the 2020 Olympics was 9.80.)

I was like a damn fool, Sanders says of his reaction. In front of 20,000 people you can hear me yelling, going, Yeah! Lets go! It was pure, raw emotion. All of these positive, joyous emotions you could have all came out.

He says that for any competitive sprinter, breaking 10 seconds is the ultimate accomplishment, vaulting a runner into world-class territory (the world record for the 100 meters is 9.58, set by Jamaicas Bolt in 2009).

Every 100-meter sprinter dreams of that race when they break 10 seconds, Sanders says. I was so happy for Toby. And so happy for our program.

He hopes that the success of the team, highlighted by Makoyawos record, will help BU erase the idea that the best sprinters have to go to schools in the West or South, not the Northeast.

No, you need an environment and culture supportive of the student-athlete, Sanders says, then take care of their needs, and the rest will be history.

Read more from the original source:

Meet the Fastest Human in BU History. He's Only 19 - Boston University

TikTok is testing a new watch history feature with some users to allow them to find videos that appeared on their For You page that they didnt have a chance to save. Given the constant stream of content on TikTok, accidentally refreshing your For You page and losing a video before youve had a chance to like it is a common problem for users. It seems that TikTok is looking to solve this problem with the addition of this possible feature.

When asked if the company plans to expand the test and roll out the feature to more users, TikTok told TechCrunch in an email that it doesnt have more to share on the test at this time.

Were always thinking about new ways to bring value to our community and enrich the TikTok experience, a TikTok spokesperson told TechCrunch, when reached for comment.

Twitter user Hammod Oh, who often uncovers features that are currently being tested by social media platforms, first spotted the feature, which was then highlighted by social media consultant Matt Navarra. Screenshots posted by Hammod Oh and other users indicate that a TikTok users watch history will be accessible in the content and activity section in the apps settings.

The test comes as some TikTok users have found workarounds to help find lost videos. Earlier this year, TikTok user rachforaday posted a video that walks users through the process of uncovering a lost video on the platform. The video instructs users to go to the Discover page, click search, enter an asterisk, go to the search filters tab and toggle the watched videos button. Once you click apply, youll get a list of videos youve seen in the past seven days. The video has since gained immense traction and has been viewed more than 32 million times and has more than 5.5 million likes.

This method isnt the only way that users have uncovered lost TikTok videos. Another workaround walks users through the process of downloading their entire data from the app to access a zip file that shows their video browsing history.

TikToks watch history feature should make the process of finding lost videos a lot simpler and get rid of the need for these workarounds.

Read more here:

TikTok is testing a watch history feature to make it easier to uncover lost videos - TechCrunch

You remember when Eduardo Villacis pitched for the KC Royals, right?

And you recall his 2004 season, dont you, with the one game he pitched to help the club out in a pinch and the three days he spent in the majors?

Its forgivable if his career has slipped your mind, but lets refresh your memory of the righthanded pitcher from Venezuela.

Villacis was signed in 1998 as an amateur free agent by Colorado. After he didnt advance above A-ball in the Rockies system, they dealt him to Kansas City in May 2002 for veteran Bryan Rekar, who had made two starts with the Royals and posted a 15.43 ERA. Rekar, who started his career with the Rockies, didnt make another big league appearance and was out of baseball after that season.

Villacis was assigned to Class A Wilmington and posted a 2.25 ERA before being sidelined with a shoulder injury in July.

Back with Wilmington in 2003, Villacis made four starts among his 42 appearances and posted a 2.82 ERA.

The 2004 season appeared to be the year Villacis would start moving up the ladder when he started the season with Double-A Wichita. He pitched well enough early in the early season that when the Royals needed an emergency starter in May against the Yankees in New York, they called him up. (The Yankees won 101 games and the American League East that season, but lost the American League Championship Series despite leading Boston three games to none).

A Juan Gonzalez RBI groundout gave Kansas City a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning at Yankee Stadium. Gonzalez is one of several players who were stars with other teams and had brief stints with the Royals.

The bottom of the inning started with singles by Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez to put runners at first and second with one out. In a sign of things to come, Villacis had Jeter picked off at second base with Jason Giambi at the plate, but his own throwing error sent Jeter to third. Giambi worked a walk to load the bases and an infield single by Gary Sheffield and a force-out by Hideki Matsui put the home team ahead 2-0 before Villacis settled down and escaped the inning despite surrendering another walk.

Despite a single by Jeter, Villacis was able to hold the Yankees scoreless in the second, but the Royals went down in order that inning and again in the third against New York starter Jon Lieber.

Wildness got the best of Villacis in the Yankee third. Giambi walked to lead off the inning before he was forced out on a grounder by Sheffield. A wild pitch moved Sheffield to second and Matsui followed with a walk. Ruben Sierra made Villacis pay with a home run that put the Yankees ahead 5-1 before a fly ball and a groundout ended the inning.

The Royals went down quietly in the fourth and Villacis came out to start the bottom of the inning. He retired Jeter on a fly to deep right, but after a single by Bernie Williams, Villacis was done for the day. Reliever Shawn Camp retired the Yankees in the fourth with no more damage. Villacis ended his big league debut with 3.1 innings, giving up five runs on six hits and four walks. He didnt get any strikeouts and threw 66 pitches to 20 hitters. (The bullpen didnt fare much better as Camp gave up two runs and Curtis Leskanic allowed five more. The Royals fell 12-4).

Two days later, Villacis was sent back to Wichita. He compiled a2-0 record with a 2.67 ERA in 30.1 innings with 21 strikeouts and just six walks into May. Nevertheless, Kansas City placed him on waivers and the Chicago White Sox claimed him late in the month. The Sox assigned him to Double-A Birmingham, where he went 6-4 with a 3.28 ERA.

Splitting time between Birmingham and Triple-A Charlotte, Villacis went 3-7 with a 7.96 ERA in 2005 before the White Sox organization released him in late July. After a year of independent ball, Villacis was out of baseball for good with a major league career spanning three days and one memorable start at Yankee Stadium.

Eduardo Villacis had a short but interesting career with the Royals.

Read the rest here:

KC Royals History: The short career of Eduardo Villacis - Kings of Kauffman

FESTOONED WITH patches, the varsity jacket has, for decades, announced its wearers as members of a team. But the nature of that team has changed over time. Elite male athletes at Ivy League schools wore early versions in the 1920s, said Deirdre Clemente, a fashion historian and the author of Dress Casual: How College Students Redefined American Style. The wool jacketsa love child of English rowing blazers and letterman sweatershad snap buttons, leather sleeves and patches and pins denoting your college and team. They conferred status and swagger and said Im a big man on campus quicker than a privileged glare.

Fifties and 60s high-school jocks turned varsities into emblems of youth culture, but the 80s brought a twist: Michael Jackson donned a red-and-gold one in his Thriller video, and hip-hop stars like Run-DMC wore versions of the arguably elitist jackets with bravado and a wink. These musicians instilled squeaky collegiate style with cool.

Link:

The History of the Varsity Jacket, From Harvard to Hip-Hop - The Wall Street Journal

A 19th century U.S. Supreme Court case involving a railroad strike still has ripple effects today on federal power and the courts, Professor Aditya Bamzai says on Common Law, a podcast of the University of Virginia School of Law.

The case, In re Debs, concerned the 1894 Pullman strike led by Eugene V. Debs, president of the American Railway Union and later a leader of the Socialist Party. A federal injunction ordered the strikers to resume work, but Debs refused to end the protest. After being held in contempt of court, Debs appealed the decision all the way to the Supreme Court. He lost unanimously, with justices ruling that the U.S. government had a sovereign interest in regulating interstate commerce and ensuring Postal Service operations.

As Bamzai explains to hosts Risa Goluboff and John C. Harrison, the variety of arguments the federal government used to assert its sovereign interest remain relevant today, as recently seen in U.S. Texas, which came to the Supreme Court on certiorari to the Fifth Circuit. In that case, the justices considered whether the federal government could stop the implementation of a Texas law making abortions illegal as early as six weeks into pregnancy. In December, the court dismissed the writ of certiorari as improvidently granted, and so ultimately did not review the Fifth Circuits decision on the merits.

The Texas law is enforced through civil lawsuits rather than by state or local officials, making it difficult for opponents to sue, which prompted the federal government to step in and file suit.

Bamzai, who teaches and writes about civil procedure, administrative law and federal courts, explores In re Debs in a new paper with Samuel L. Bray of Notre Dame Law School, Debs and the Federal Equity Power.

On the episode, Bamzai and the hosts also discuss Bamzais oral argument before the Supreme Court as an independent amicus in 2018, in Ortiz v. U.S.

This season, called Co-Counsel features a rotating set of co-hosts: Harrison, Danielle K. Citron, Cathy Hwang and Gregory Mitchell. Each is joining Goluboff to discuss cutting-edge research on law topics of their choice.

Common Law is available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, YouTube, Spotify and other popular places you can listen to podcasts. The show is produced by Emily Richardson-Lorente.

Past seasons have focused on The Future of Law, When Law Changed the World and Law and Equity.

You can follow the show on the websiteCommonLawPodcast.comor Twitter at@CommonLawUVA.

Link:

'Common Law': The Railroad Strike Case That Made History on Federal Injunctions - UVA Law

History, rise in popularity and World Cup connection of FIFA originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington

Whats the first thing that comes to mind when you think of soccer? FIFA and the World Cup, right?

Established over a century ago, FIFA is and has always been a universal sports phenomenon engrossed across television screens despite its crooked reputation.

The World Cup, which showcased its inaugural year back in 1930, averaged 517 million live audience viewers and 1.1 billion viewers throughout the 90-minute contest in 2018 when France took on Croatia. Just imagine the audience the 2022 competition will receive.

But before we consider the future, lets take a look back at the history of the football association when it was created, who is part of it and how it relates to the World Cup.

FIFA stands for Fdration Internationale de Football Association in French; or International Federation of Association Football in English.

The association was founded on May 21, 1904 in Paris, France and is made up of 211 members. FIFAs intent was to create a sports governance that would oversee international competition among the national associations of Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

The headquarters lie in Zrich, Switzerland and have a council of 37 individuals.

At the start of the 20th century, demand for international soccer games skyrocketed. Soccer leaders in Europe decided to create and diversify an organized and collaborative system to expand competition.

FIFA is composed of 211 national associations. This year Russia has been suspended for the 2022 season, therefore 210 national associations will be involved. Thirty-wo of these national associations compete in the final competition the World Cup.

These national associations also have to belong to one of the six regional confederations that divide the world including Africa, Asia, Europe, North & Central America and the Caribbean, Oceania and South America.

French journalist Robert Guerin was the first president of FIFA from 1904 to 1906.

The longest running FIFA president was Jules Rimet, who served from 1921 to 1954. The World Cup trophy is actually named after Rimet.

The current president is Gianni Infantino, who was elected in 2016 and re-elected in 2019.

FIFA introduced the World Cup in 1930 and invited every country to participate, but only 13 chose to make the journey to Uruguay. Now featuring 32 teams, the World Cup is known as the worlds largest sporting event, broadcasted in more than 200 countries and viewed by billions of fans across the globe. The event is quadrennial, meaning it occurs every four years, and it involves 32 teams total.

This will be the U.S. mens national teams first time competing in the World Cup since 2014. All eyes are on the screen and anticipating this fall faceoff.

Originally posted here:

All About FIFA: History, Rise in Popularity and World Cup Connection - NBC4 Washington