Category Archives: Immortality

The Castro conference.13-06-2020YouTube

Since 1993, the Kick it Out campaign has challenged discrimination in football. Yet, despite the continued racism, football just carries on. Former FIFA president, Sepp Blatter, sparked controversy in 2011 for saying that racist abuse on the pitch could be settled with a handshake. But even if his comments lead to every player going on strike; for fans to boycott stadiums and every club to go bankrupt, the sport- in which a round ball is kicked about until one team sticks it in the back of the net- would still live on in our minds and hearts. Kill all the institutions you like but the beautiful game will never die.

Only Im not here to talk about football. Im here to talk about the much younger, less well-defined sport of CrossFit. You might have never heard of the self-proclaimed sport of fitness, but an insensitive comment made by its owner and founder, Greg Glassman, has me questioning its immortality.

On June 7th, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation tweeted that Racism is a public health issue, with the words printed in bold upper case on a black background. Glassman, who founded CrossFit in 2000 as a tonic for the obesity epidemic, felt the need to weigh in on the IHMEs stance. Its FLOYD-19, he commented, a direct reference to the recent COVID-19 pandemic.

Fans, sponsors, affiliates and athletes found his comment short and distasteful. Reebok, CrossFits official sponsor, immediately cut ties with the brand. Among other athletes, last years runner up, Noah Olsen, announced that he would not compete in this years CrossFit Games.

Glassman immediately issued an apology, stating, I, CrossFit HQ, and the CrossFit community will not stand for racism. I made a mistake by the words I chose yesterday. My heart is deeply saddened by the pain it has caused. It was a mistake, not racist but a mistake.

That might have been the end of it, but two days later the news website BuzzFeed.com released audio recordings of Glassman on a private Zoom call. In the conversation- that happened just over an hour before his incendiary tweet- Glassman talked to gym owners and staff about conspiracy theories regarding COVID-19 and the death of George Floyd. Glassman says in the audio clips: I was asked by the Italians, what would you do, coach? And I said: I would agree to any restrictions put on me by the health authorities, and I would open my gym, and then 10 minutes later I would do whatever the fuck I wanted. Thats what I would do. He went on to say that Were not mourning for George Floyd I dont think me or any of my staff are.

Before Glassmans comments, CrossFit Inc. had over 15,000 affiliate gyms around the world, in 150 countries. Each pays a $3,000 annual affiliation fee. Now many are cutting ties with the company. According to Morning Chalkup- a CrossFit newsletter- hundreds of gyms have already cancelled their affiliation and over 1000 have stated their intention to end their relationship with CrossFit.

In an attempt to steady the ship, Glassman resigned as CEO of the company on June 10th, replaced by long-serving director of the CrossFit Games, Dave Castro. Many Twitter followers were unsatisfied with the change in leadership, complaining that Glassman still retains a 100 per cent stake in the company. Apart from a CEO title, not much has changed in the company hierarchy.

There are other warning signs that appointing Castro might not quell the storm. At a CrossFit Games press conference last year, a reporter asked Castro about plans for increasing diversity in the sport. Sitting next to a row of Caucasian athletes, Castro held the microphone to his face, smiled awkwardly at the reporter for about ten seconds, and then seemingly changed the subject. At least, that is how it is currently being reported.

What he actually said, after the question on diversity was posed, was that the first event for the competitors would be a water event. Was he changing the subject? Or was Castro making a subtle remark about black athletes and their natural handicap in the water? (The lack of competitive black swimmers is well documented. This isnt an issue of racial discrimination, but to do with differences in fat storage between Blacks and Caucasians and the associated buoyancy.) I might be reading too much into it, but Castro is known for being a cunning character, releasing cryptic photos on his social media that serve as clues for upcoming workouts and events. Such a sly riposte is not beyond him.

So, what happens if Dave Castro was not the leader-in-waiting that can appease the public? What if the dominoes continue to fall and CrossFit Inc. ceases to operate? Will the sport of fitness fade into a noughties fad like aerobics in the 80s? Or can it live on, independent of its institutional roots?

I think so. I see parallels between the sport of fitness and obstacle course racing. Many have complained about the arbitrary nature of CrossFit events, with this subjectivity preventing CrossFit from ever being a clearly defined sport.

But just as Dave Castro chooses which events comprise every CrossFit Games, Spartan Race Inc. (the global leader in the sport of OCR) organisers have carte blanche over which obstacles challenge competitors in their races. And, despite the arbitrary nature of the sport, obstacle course racing is scaling its way to inclusion in the Olympic Games.

Until now, the sport of fitness and its founding company have been inextricably tied. But if OCR can be considered a sport independent of institutions like Spartan Race Inc., then I have faith that the sport of fitness can survive the death of CrossFit Incorporated. After his careless remarks, Glassman might have to accept that the sport he spawned is finally fleeing the withering nest.

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How racism revealed the fragility of an entire sport - Majorca Daily Bulletin

Countdown 1945

Countdown 1945

Photo: Avid Reader, Handout

Countdown 1945

Countdown 1945

Book World: Those who built the bomb, those who used it and those who survived it

Countdown 1945

By Chris Wallace with Mitch Weiss

Avid Reader. 312 pp. $30

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In the 75 years since President Harry Truman ordered atomic bombs to be dropped on two Japanese cities, American attitudes toward that decision have gradually shifted. Immediately after the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, polls showed that 85% of people in the United States approved of Truman's action. However, by 2005, on the 60th anniversary of the bombings, support for the decision had fallen to 57%, while 38% of Americans believed it either wrong or unnecessary.

Approaching the commemoration of the bombings this summer, two veteran journalists have tried to put that decision in context. The book by Fox News anchor Chris Wallace, written with the Associated Press's Mitch Weiss, focuses on the 116 days between Truman's sudden ascent to the presidency, after Franklin Roosevelt's death in mid-April 1945, and the use of the first bomb, on Hiroshima, in early August. "Countdown 1945" contains no surprises and will quell no controversies. But it is a compelling and highly readable account of one of the most fateful decisions in American history.

Like John Hersey in his book "Hiroshima," Wallace and Weiss humanize events too often reduced to technical or diplomatic arcana by telling their story through the lives of individuals. Truman is, of course, a major player, but so is Paul Tibbets, pilot of the Enola Gay, the B-29 that bombed Hiroshima, and his crew. Also profiled are the scientists at Los Alamos, like Robert Oppenheimer and Don Hornig, who built the weapons dropped on Japan. Ruth Sisson, one of the "Calutron Girls" at Oak Ridge, Tenn., ran a machine enriching the uranium used in Little Boy, the Hiroshima bomb. A Navy demolitions expert, Draper Kauffman, would have been among the first to land on the beaches of Kyushu had an invasion of Japan's home islands been deemed necessary. One of the book's most affecting stories is that of Hideko Tamura, a 10-year-old girl who was in Hiroshima on the day the bomb fell. Hideko survived the attack; her mother, Kimiko, did not.

Presented as a countdown to the final event, the book moves along at a rapid clip, with colorful anecdotes enlivening the narrative. Navy frogmen like Kauffman are described as "half fish and half nuts." Sisson and her cohort were not told that the machines they operated were producing bomb-grade uranium, prompting a joke: "My job is so secret, even I don't know what I'm doing." The bleakness of the desert bombing range at Wendover, Utah, where Tibbets and his crew practiced for the Hiroshima mission, inspired one disgusted airman to observe: "If the United States ever needed an enema, this is where they would insert the tube."

The authors' breakneck prose sometimes breezes past moments in history deserving of a more thorough treatment. For example, a "demonstration" of the bomb as an alternative to its military use - an idea promoted by several of the atomic scientists - receives bare mention. Wallace and Weiss pay proper attention, however, to an option that, in retrospect, seems the best - and possibly the only - course of action that might have brought an end to the war without either the atomic bomb or a horribly costly seaborne invasion: a conditional surrender by Japan.

From intercepted and decrypted Japanese messages, the United States knew, by late July 1945, that Tokyo was seeking an end to the war and was even hopeful that Moscow might serve as an intermediary with Washington. The one nonnegotiable Japanese demand, however, was that Emperor Hirohito - who had divine status in that country - not be removed from the throne and treated as a war criminal in any postwar, Nuremberg-style trial.

Truman was made aware of these facts while he was meeting with Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill at Potsdam in defeated Germany. Two of the president's close advisers even urged him to accept this sole condition and offer Japan a quick end to the war. Fatefully, however, only four days after becoming president, Truman, in his first address to Congress, had emphatically declared: "Our demand has been and it remains unconditional surrender" - pounding the lectern with his fists to emphasize each syllable of the last two words. Believing that he had inherited both the mantle and the policies of FDR, his much-admired predecessor, Truman concluded there was no way he could go back on that promise.

At the end, Wallace and Weiss offer no argument as to the ultimate morality or immortality of the atomic bomb decision. But it is hard to disagree with their conclusion that "it is unrealistic to think Harry Truman would make any other choice."

Perhaps unintentionally, "Countdown" also underscores just how much this country has changed in the past 75 years. Only two weeks after he became an "accidental president," Truman was briefed on the atomic bomb by Army Gen.Leslie Groves, head of the Manhattan Project. Handed a 24-page report, Truman balked, telling Groves, "I don't like to read papers." But the general stuck to his guns. "We can't tell you this in any more concise language. This is a big project," Groves insisted. For the next 45 minutes, the president listened as Groves talked about the bomb, its likely effects and the fact that Soviet spies had, for the past two years, been trying to steal America's atomic secrets. It was probably the first that Truman, the country's inaugural Cold War president, learned of Stalin's treachery.

Since he had been on his way to Europe when the atomic bomb was tested in the New Mexico desert, Truman can perhaps be excused for not appreciating the revolutionary - and indiscriminate - nature of the new weapon. In his personal diary at Potsdam, the president wrote that the bomb would be used "so that military objectives and soldiers and sailors are the target and not women and children." In fact, the aiming point for the Hiroshima bomb was neither the city's port facilities nor the headquarters of Japan's Second General Army but a distinctive T-shaped bridge spanning the Ota River, near the urban center. "It's the most perfect AP [aiming point] I've seen in this whole damn war," exulted Tibbets's bombardier. Hiroshima was chosen as a primary target in part because of "adjacent hills which are likely to produce a focusing effect which would considerably increase the blast damage."

But subsequent events, not covered in the book, show that Truman grew in his understanding of the bomb. At a Cabinet meeting on Aug. 10 - the day after the bombing of Nagasaki, and as casualty reports from Hiroshima had begun to come in - Truman announced, according to Commerce Secretary Henry Wallace, that "he had given orders to stop atomic bombing. He said the thought of wiping out another 100,000 people was too horrible. He didn't like the idea of killing, as he said, 'all those kids.'"

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Herken is an emeritus professor of American diplomatic history at the University of California and the author of "Brotherhood of the Bomb: The Tangled Lives and Loyalties of Robert Oppenheimer, Ernest Lawrence, and Edward Teller."

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Book World: Those who built the bomb, those who used it and those who survived it - Alton Telegraph

Former Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr.

MANILA, Philippines Former Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. has died at the age of 73, his wife confirmed Friday.

My husband, my partner, my best friend left us today at 7:26 a.m., Cecile Yasay said in a Facebook post.

Yasay died of pneumonia due to the recurrence of his cancer, not novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), his wife said.

Jun Yasay, you are loved. We will miss you lots, she added.

Current Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin, Jr. also confirmed the news on his Twitter account.

Jun Yasay has donned the garment of immortality, the text said. More important it makes him finally impervious to pain, Locsin said.

The DFA chief also revealed that Yasay played a role in him getting a job in the United Nations.

He recommended me for my UN job. He hurt no one and helped everyone he could. He did what many fighting tyranny had to: shield themselves with US law, he added.

Yasay served was President Rodrigo Dutertes first foreign affairs chief when he came to power in 2016. He served until March 2017 after the Commission on Appointments refused to confirm his designation due to citizenship issues.

He also served as Securities and Exchange Commission chairman.

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Bahrain king pardons 16 jailed OFWs; 11 deported to PH - UNTV News - UNTV News

In a sea of bad movies, Tommy Wiseau's 2003 romantic drama The Room stands apart as something unique. Widely considered the Citizen Kane of so-bad-they're-good movies, The Room has acquired cult status and pop culture immortality on the strength of its awfulness, even spawning the Oscar-nominated film The Disaster Artist. But its widespread notoriety was not enough to tempt Netflix into a streaming deal. The creator of the film, Tommy Wiseau, revealed this fact on Twitter in response to a fan asking if The Room could become available on Netflix someday.

The Room is the story of Johnny, a good-natured investment banker played by Tommy Wiseau, his duplicitous fiancee Lisa, and best friend Mark, and the love triangle that develops between the three over the course of the film. But really, the movie could have been about lion tamers trying to figure out how to fix a leaky faucet for all the difference the plot made to the film's reception.

What The Room is really known for is the bad acting of the cast members, the many technical and narrative flaws, and a bizarre screenplay, also written by Wiseau, featuring such gems as the staple amongst internet memes, "You're tearing me apart, Lisa!"

It says much about the film's quality that it was found wanting by Netflix's standards, a site which has frequently featured movies with a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It might also have something to do with the movie's borderline pornographic sex scenes.

But then, the fact that The Room is considered so very terrible is what allowed for it to become popular in the first place. If it had been a run-of-the-mill bad movie, it would have long been forgotten. Instead, fascinated audiences watched the film again and again, and James Franco was so moved by Wiseau's work as the writer, director, producer, and star of The Room that he played him in The Disaster Artist.

Even if it is not on Netflix, The Room did make Wiseau a star of sorts, even if for the opposite reason that what he had hoped for when he first started out making the film. But Wiseau has embraced the notoriety that The Room gained him. He was a part of The Disaster Artist in a small cameo, and he was right there on the stage along with James Franco and the rest of the film's team receiving awards.

While The Room may not feature on Netflix any time soon, unless fans want to start a 'Release the Wiseau cut' campaign for Netflix, you can buy the film on Blu-ray and DVD through Wiseau's website, Amazon, and other outlets. Or you can play The Room Tribute, an unofficial video game adaption of the movie. Meanwhile, Wiseau has plans to make the broadway adaptation of The Room, and is currently working on Big Shark, a film that was supposed to release last year before filming got delayed.

Topics: The Room, Netflix

Neeraj Chand

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Netflix Said No to Streaming Tommy Wiseau's The Room - MovieWeb

Beyond the usual travel essentials, any keepsakes, charms and totems we take with us on our journeys say a lot about our inner worlds. The faithful may carry a crucifix, a rosary or the Quran; superstitious sailors still carry amulets to ensure a smooth voyage; soldiers treasure pictures of their sweethearts. Before photography they would carry a lock of their loved ones hair.

When the two crew members of the SpaceX Falcon 9 set off on their historic space journey last week, their totem was a toy dinosaur, taken on the behest of their sons.During the Apollo missions to the moon, the personal items astronauts could take were restricted: each had just a small personal allowance pouch.

Unsurprisingly, many chose to take family photographs, though uniquely, on the Apollo 16 mission in 1972, Charles Duke opted to leave his snaps behind on the moons surface with a handwritten message for posterity, unaware that solar radiation would eventually bleach him and his family out of existence.

When Apollo 11s Eagle lunar module landed on the moon on 20 July 1969, devout Christian Buzz Aldrin had with him a miniature chalice, wine and bread. Shortly before Neil Armstrong stepped out on to the lunar landscape and unreported by Nasa Aldrin requested a moments silence and read from the book of John. The first time liquid was poured on the moon was in an act of communion.

On the Apollo 14 mission in 1971, Alan Shepard managed to persuade Nasa to let him take a golf club and balls. While he fluffed the first shot, the second may well have been the longest drive in history, thanks to the reduced gravity.

Most surprising, perhaps, is a tiny ceramic wafer (2cm by 1.3cm) containing six pieces of art transported illicitly on Apollo 12s lunar module. The work, called Moon Museum, was created by a New York artist, Forrest Myers, who bribed an engineer friend to secrete the item inside one of the lunar modules legs. It included work by himself and five others including Andy Warhol, whose image was a neatly doodled penis. As the module remained on the surface, so too does the moons first art gallery.

When Voyager 1 and 2 set off on their respective journeys deep into the cosmos in 1977, carefully chosen sounds, music and images were left inside. The objects, images and recordings on these twin spacecraft may one day inform other life forms about the ecology, history and culture of our planet.

While the totemic objects taken to the moon were deeply personal, their symbolism remains universal, speaking of our need for love, family, art, sex and faith and our drive for immortality. As for the golf club and dick doodle? Well, they were just men after all.

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Dinosaur toys and golf clubs: the strange things astronauts take to the moon - The Guardian

The one-year postponement of the Copa America gives Argentina time they must use wisely to avoid squandering probably the most precious asset ever granted to any international team in football history.

A yawning gap remains in Lionel Messi's glittering collection of honours. At club level, the Barcelona superstar has won it all, won it again and won it some more just for good measure. For Argentina, he is yet to lift a major honour.

A sixth Ballon d'Or and a host of typically imperious performances this season show Messi is going nowhere just yet, but he turns 33 this month. His own 'Last Dance' is nearing.

Realistically, the rearranged 2021 Copa America that they will co-host with Colombiaand the 2022 World Cup in Qatar represent his final shots at glory for La Albiceleste, with the nagging sense his best chance to emulate the likes of Pele and Diego Maradona with a defining triumph at the highest level might already have passed him by.

THE GOLDEN GENERATION

Over recent years, Messi has frequently appeared wearied as a man carrying the weight of his team on his shoulders for club and country.

Of course, this was not always the case. At Barcelona he was the shimmering jewel in Pep Guardiola's slick and sublime masterpiece before starring as part of Luis Enrique's turbo-charged MSN forward line.

Argentina's more forlorn efforts of late make it easy to forget what a defining generation of talent Messi once spearheaded.

Any heavyweight football nation collecting back-to-back Olympic gold medals, as Argentina did in 2004 and 2008, would reasonably expect the senior honours to follow with or without arguably the greatest of all time at their disposal.

Names from those podiums in Athens and Beijing trip off the tongue. Javier Mascherano, Carlos Tevez, Javier Saviola, Pablo Zabaleta, Fernando Gago, Ever Banega, Ezequiel Lavezzi, Angel Di Maria and Sergio Aguero are all Olympic champions.

At the 2010 World Cup, the fairytale combination of Messi and the Messiah Maradona inimitably entertaining but evidently ill-cast as head coach fell to Germany in the quarter-finals.

Die Mannschaft also beat them in 2014 this time as Mario Gotze scored the only goal in the final during extra time. Alejandro Sabella's steadying hand brought them to the brink of sporting immortality and Messi was named player of the tournament, despite some underwhelming showings by his own standards.

NEAR MISSES, RETIREMENT AND SHAMBLES

Gerardo Martino managed not to win a major trophy when he led Barcelona in 2013-14 and, unfortunately for Messi, history repeated during his tenure with the national team.

Gonzalo Higuain missed a glorious chance in the World Cup final and he and Banega erred from the spot as Chile won the 2015 Copa America in a penalty shoot-out.

Against the same opponents at the Copa America Centenario 12 months later, Messi himself failed amid further heartache from 12 yards.

As emotions ran high in the aftermath, the number 10 announced his retirement from international football, with rumours other stars would follow suit due to disaffection with the Argentine Football Association.

By the time Messi returned for a 3-0 World Cup qualifying defeat to Brazil that November, Edgardo Bauza's tenure as head coach was already on the rocks.

Jorge Sampaoli replaced him and Argentina needed an utterly majestic hat-trick from their talisman away to Ecuador to snatch a place at Russia 2018.

Perhaps they shouldn't have bothered.

Having brought Argentina to their knees while in charge of Chile, Sampaoli inadvertently did the same again during a shambling turn ended by eventual champions France in the last 16. There was a near revolt after a group-stage thrashing from Croatia and the coach left with his reputation in tatters.

LIONEL, LIONEL AND LAUTARO

Star names such as Martino and Sampaoli not working out probably help the cause of the unheralded Lionel Scaloni, who emerged from the rubble of Russia to take temporary and then full charge.

The 2019 Copa America got off to a similarly inauspicious start, but they scrambled out of the group and were arguably a little unlucky to lose 2-0 to hosts and eventual winners Brazil in the semis.

A feisty third-place match against Chile was won 2-1 thanks to goals form Aguero and Paulo Dybala, despite Messi bizarrely getting sent for being repeatedly butted by Gary Medel.

Story continues

An indignant post-match interview brought a four-game ban, although a more vocal Messi leading through words as well as deeds is a pleasing development. In his absence, 4-0 and 6-1 wins over Mexico and Ecuador suggested brighter times ahead with a younger core even if a diet of friendlies this season makes progress a little hard to judge.

At centre-forward, where Argentina's surplus of riches makes their lack of reward so embarrassing, Lautaro Martinez looks to have established himself as the new number one ahead of Messi's great friend Aguero.

Since Scaloni took charge, the Inter star has nine goals in 13 starts averaging one every 109.6 minutes and outstripping his expected goals (xG) figure of 6.4. Messi has five goals at 160.4 per minute from an xG of 6.3 over the same period.

European club form coming back home to the national team has not always been a given during the Messi years, so it is encouraging to see Martinez scoring at a faster rate under Scaloni than he has during an acclaimed campaign at San Siro (11 Serie A goals at one every 152 minutes). Aguero's 16 Manchester City goals have arrived every 87.6 Premier League minutes in 2019-20, but his strikes come every 201.7 minutes in the Scaloni era.

THE NEW GENERATION

Aguero still looks highly likely to have some role to play in trying to right a journey of heartache he has charted alongside Messi in blue and white. Others have not been spared as Scaloni quietly shapes a team in his own image. Moulding the ramshackle embarrassment of two years into a compact and hard-working unit necessitated high-profile casualties

Angel Di Maria has not added to his 102 caps since being dropped to the bench during the Copa. Argentina's all-action midfield creator is now Rodrigo de Paul.

One of Scaloni's dependable in a new-look engine room alongside Di Maria's Paris Saint-Germain colleague Leandro Paredes, De Paul's 81 dribbles completed for Udinese were the second most in Serie A last season and his eight assists put him joint fifth alongside Cristiano Ronaldo.

Staying in Serie A, German Pezzella's 60 interceptions, 155 clearances, 96 headed clearances and 30 blocks all see the Fiorentina man rank highly. A late bloomer on the international stage, the 28-year-old was named captain against Ecuador alongside Ajax's left-back dynamo Nicolas Tagliafico and he might have just enough about him to offset Nicolas Otamendi's frequent reversions to slapstick.

Scaloni still looks light on quality and cover behind an all-star attack, where Lucas Ocampos and Angel Correa are also thrillingly part of the equation. This is where the 12-month delay could really come in handy.

Paredes, De Paul and Pezzella will all be better with another year of their primes under their belts, while Giovani Lo Celso's development under Jose Mourinho at Tottenham will be watched with interest.

Leonardo Balerdi and Exequiel Palacios are each 21 and early in their Bundesliga careers at Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen two clubs with exceptional records when it comes to developing young talents.

If this more unheralded generation continue to grow in stature, Scaloni might just have a team to let Argentina dream again. After all, their captain isn't bad either.

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Copa America: Will 12-month delay enhance Messi and Argentina's chances of glory? - Yahoo! Voices

The COVID-19 pandemic has turned our lives topsy-turvy, and amid the fear of catching the virus, we are also left depressed because we arent able to do the things we have been doing normally. As the lockdown is done away with in most parts of the country, we will be getting back to normal slowly but surely. And with so many changes happening in a short period of time, we all need a bit of inspiration like the quotes below of Swami Vivekananda. Also Read - Solar Eclipse 2020: All About The Annular Solar Eclipse That Will Take Place in June

Swami Vivekananda, who was a Hindu monk and the chief disciple of the 19th-century Indian mystic Ramakrishna, was inclined towards spirituality though born into an aristocratic Bengali Kayastha family of Calcutta. He is said to have been a key figure in the introduction of the Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world. He is also credited with having raised awareness about interfaith and bringing Hinduism to the status of a major world religion during the late 19th century. Also Read - World Elder Abuse Awareness Day 2020: Why Spreading Awareness About This Day is Important

1. Arise! Awake! and stop not until the goal is reached. Also Read - World Blood Donor Day 2020: Know All About The Day And Why it is Important

2. If faith in ourselves had been more extensively taught and practised, I am sure a very large portion of the evils and miseries that we have would have vanished.

3. All differences in this world are of degree, and not of kind, because oneness is the secret of everything.

4. The world is the great gymnasium where we come to make ourselves strong.

5. Our duty is to encourage every one in his struggle to live up to his own highest idea, and strive at the same time to make the ideal as near as possible to the truth.

6. The Vedanta recognizes no sin, it only recognizes error. And the greatest error, says the Vedanta is to say that you are weak, you are a sinner, a miserable creature, who has no power and who can do nothing.

7. A man has attained immortality when he is no longer disturbed by anything material.

8. We are what our thoughts have made us; so take care about what you think. Words are secondary. Thoughts live; they travel far.

9. All the powers in the universe are already ours. It is we who have put our hands before our eyes and cry that it is dark.

10. Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success.

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10 Inspirational Quotes by Swami Vivekananda For a Life of Freedom And Tranquility - India.com

With the Infinity Stones, Thanos can do just about anything, but what happens when he doesn't have them? Turns out, he's still pretty powerful.

InAvengers: Infinity War,Thanos accomplished what no villain had done before - he defeated the Avengers. This feat was largely achievable through the incredible power of the infinity gauntlet, which allowed Thanos to control space, time, and even reality itself, but does Thanos have any powers without the stones? In the movies, not really, but in the comics, absolutely.

While Thanos's backstory is not very deeply explored in the MCU, we at least know he comes from a world called Titan. This much is true in the comics as well, where it is also explained that Thanosis the son of Alars and Sui-San, who belong to a race called the Eternals. The Eternals - who are set to have their own MCU movie in 2021 - possess a variety of powers, including super strength, invulnerability, and near-immortality. However, Thanos also carries the genes of the Deviants, the counterparts of the Eternals who have monstrous appearances. This is why Thanos looks the way he does, while the rest of the Eternals are stereotypically gorgeous.

Related: Thanos 'Punishing' Ronan Got Weirdly Sexual in The Comics

Thanos was something of an outcast amongst the Eternals, but he shared many of their abilities. Like the Eternals, he is super-strong, resistant to injuries, immune to most poisons and diseases, and seemingly cannot die of old-age. Thanos also has a genius-level intellect, which he used to enhance his abilities even further, and is skilled in hand-to-hand combat and warfare tactics.

But The Mad Titans powers dont stop there - in fact, they get even crazier. In the comics, Thanos is also capable of energy manipulation and projection (basically, he can shoot and absorb lasers) and has been shown to have both telekinetic and telepathic abilities, making him resistant to psychic attacks. Perhaps the most surprising, however, is that Thanos is also skilled in magic and the mystic arts. In Deadpool: Funeral for a Freak, Part 4, Thanos curses Deadpool with immortality so he cannot be with Death, whom Thanos has a serious crush on.

Its not terribly surprising that most of Thanoss abilities were scrapped for the MCU version. All those powers plus the infinity stones would have made him basically unstoppable. His super-strength alone was enough to take on Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America all at once in Avengers: Endgame.Still, with the possibility of young Thanos appearing in the upcomingEternalsmovie, more of his backstory and abilities may yet be explained. Perhaps we will finally get to see what made The Mad Titan so mad in the first place.

More: MCU: 10 Things We Never Understood About Thanos

How Superman Actually Cuts His Invincible Hair & Beard

Eddie is a recent graduate of Skidmore College. He has written for publications such as Silverpen Productions, PreLaw Land, and Clifton Park Neighbors Magazine. Now, he is very excited to be writing for Screen Rant. His hobbies include creative writing, reading, gaming, and constantly re-watching the Marvel movies.

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Does Thanos Have Superpowers (WITHOUT Infinity Stones)? - Screen Rant

In this two-part series, we look at the Hall of Fame chances of the current Chiefs roster and coaching staff. In Part 1, we went over the Locks (Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid) and Good Bets (Travis Kelce, Tyreek Hill, and Chris Jones). Here, in Part 2, we look at Even Money and Outside Chances.

EVEN MONEY

Tyrann Mathieu, Defensive Back

In Part 1, we tabbed one coach, three offensive players, and one defensive player as likely future Hall of Famers. In Part 2, youre going to see more defensive players. Its not that defensive players have a harder time making it into Canton its just that their cases are a little bit more subjective, a little less concrete. You cant simply compare a defensive backs interception totals or a linebackers total tackles to another player at the same position and get a sense of which player is better. Unlike receiving yards, touchdowns or completion percentage, defensive statistics are less tangible. The best cornerback, for example, does his job so well that the opposing team never even gives him a chance to make a play on the ball. A tackle can be a positive play, but it can also result from a blown coverage or an initial miss.

Tyrann Mathieus Hall of Fame case isnt going to be built on raw numbers. If he gets the call to Canton, it will be because of his reputation among sportswriters, fans, and fellow players. Everyone knows the Honey Badger or, as hes now known, The Landlord. Mathieus play speaks loudly, and his swagger speaks even louder. As a two-time All-Pro, hes on his way to earning the accolades a defensive back needs to find his way into the Hall. Still just 28, Mathieu enjoyed his finest NFL season in 2019, and the connection with Steve Spagnuolo is real. Theres no better way for a defensive player like Mathieu to build a Hall of Fame resume than by serving as the defensive face and voice of a team that is poised to win a lot over the next few years.

So what might keep him out? Health. Mathieu has torn his ACL twice, and with his physical play style and relatively small stature, one wonders how long hell be able to maintain his elite level of play. Assuming he stays healthy, though, hes got a chance.

Mitchell Schwartz, Right Tackle

Mitchell Schwartz, incredibly, has never made the Pro Bowl. In a different era, that fact alone mightve cost him a shot at Canton. Prior to the emergence of outlets like Pro Football Focus and the increased use of player tracking data and analytics, the evaluation of offensive lineman was inherently more subjective than it is now. The traditional football box score, after all, does not even have statistics for offensive linemen. But its 2020, and anyone paying attention knows that Schwartz has been one of the best if not the best right tackles in the NFL for several years running.

Hall of Fame voters, typically, are older, more established members of the sports media. Its possible that the voting bloc is still old school enough that Schwartzs zero Pro Bowls and lone AP First-Team All-Pro selection will hurt him. Pro Football References HOF Monitor metric, which estimates a players chances for election, currently has Schwartz with a score of 41.43 less than half the average score for a HOF tackle (93.69). Still, Schwartz likely has several seasons left in him, and, like every other player on this list, should benefit from sharing the spotlight with Patrick Mahomes. If he continues to keep his future Hall of Fame quarterback clean, he has a chance.

OUTSIDE CHANCE

Frank Clark, Defensive End

If one could make the Hall of Fame on talk alone, Frank Clark would be elected on the first ballot. His legendary post-game interviews will be replayed for decades in Chiefs Kingdom. But while Canton is full of famous trash talkers, it takes more than verbal victories to get in. Clark is a somewhat polarizing player Pro Football Focus gave him a grade of just 63.0 this season, for example but while many Chiefs fans seem content with his current level of play, hell need to elevate his game to have a shot at immortality. A monster sack season or two, combined with consistent play for several more seasons, would likely get him there, but Clarks current career-high of 13 sacks isnt going to impress voters in an era where a star pass-rusher might hit 18-20 sacks in a season.

Clark will be 27 this season, so he still has plenty of time to make his mark. Theres no questioning his drive, and hes hinted in interviews that he still has personal goals to accomplish in his career election to the Hall perhaps among them. Considering that Clark played hurt for much of the early 2019 season, lost 20 pounds to a late-season illness, and then played his best football in the postseason, its not unreasonable to think that his best days are ahead of him.

Harrison Butker, Kicker

There is currently one kicker in the Pro Football Hall of Fame: former Chief Morten Andersen, who played an astonishing 25 years in the NFL, retiring in 2007 at the age of 47. Andersen was a seven-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro, but its clear his election was something of a lifetime achievement award. Hell likely be joined by current Colt and former Patriot Adam Vinatieri, and perhaps Ravens kicker Justin Tucker, but its a long shot for any kicker to get into Canton.

Butker, after three seasons, stands as the second-most accurate kicker of all time, making 89.72% of his field goal attempts (Tucker is first at 90.75%). This is a little bit misleading, because the overall quality of field goal kicking in the NFL has dramatically improved over time the top nine most accurate kickers in league history are currently active, and every single kicker in the top 30 has played the majority of his career after the turn of the millennium. (Andersen, who debuted in 1982, is 62nd, just ahead of another former Chief, Pete Stoyanovich.)

Postseason heroics are not a requirement for a kicker to get into Canton Andersen appeared in just 11 playoff games in 25 seasons and never won a Super Bowl but they certainly never hurt, as Vinatieris seemingly inevitable induction shows. Butker has already kicked in six playoff games, but has attempted just five field goals, making four. His only miss came in the only game decided by three or fewer points, a 22-21 loss to the Tennessee Titans in 2017. As long as his fortunes are tied to Patrick Mahomes, Butker will continue to get opportunities to kick in big moments (although the majority may be extra-point attempts, not field goals), and if he plays another 20 years, he could get the call to Canton someday.

Eric Fisher, Left Tackle

Eric Fisher has had a fascinating career. He was the No. 1 overall pick in the historically mediocre 2013 Draft Fisher has arguably had the second-best NFL career of any first-round pick from his year, behind DeAndre Hopkins and was a perennial easy target for Chiefs fans for years before emerging as a very solid, if never quite elite, left tackle. Fisher is 29 and has just one Pro Bowl selection, so his candidacy is certainly a longshot, but he has the honor of protecting Patrick Mahomes blindside, and if he were to continue to do that at a high level for another 8-10 seasons, its possible.

Juan Thornhill, Safety; Mecole Hardman, Wide Receiver; Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Running Back

The Chiefs pair of second-round picks in the 2019 NFL Draft, Thornhill and Hardman, have already flashed potential. Both were named to PFFs Top 25 Rookie list: Thornhill at 16, Hardman at 25. Thornhill was elite in pass coverage and Hardman was explosive in the pass game, but each has a long, long way to go for a bust in Canton. For Thornhill, the question isnt ceiling so much as health. If he is able to recover from a torn ACL and continue to perform as well as, or better than, he did as a rookie, hell have a great career. For Hardman, questions remain about his ceiling. Hes obviously extremely fast and explosive, but hasnt yet developed a full route tree or shown much ability to change direction and cut sharply. The Chiefs coaching staff turned the raw talent of Tyreek Hill into a possible future Hall of Famer, and perhaps they can do the same with Hardman.

Clyde Edwards-Helaire hasnt played a snap in the NFL, but as the Chiefs first first-round pick since Patrick Mahomes in 2017, expectations are high. The Chiefs have enjoyed excellence at the running back position for decades now, from Christian Okoye to Priest Holmes to Larry Johnson to Jamaal Charles to (briefly) Kareem Hunt. None are currently enshrined in Canton, however, primarily because they lacked longevity. To carve out a long career at one of the most physical positions in the game of football, a running back needs not just skill in avoiding tackles, but luck in avoiding injuries. Edwards-Helaire seems poised for an extremely productive run with the Chiefs, but hell need to prove it on the field this fall, and maintain it for years to come before hed seriously enter the Canton conversation.

Follow Austin on Twitter at @realbirdlawyer and check out the Its Always Sunny In Chiefs Kingdom Podcast, co-hosted by @taylor_witt, here at Arrowhead Report, on our website, and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Kansas City Chiefs Who Could Be Future Hall of Famers (Part 2) - Chiefs Digest

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MCU is banging and enticing every marvelled with their back to back flashes about and add to the movies. One such phase-4 addition is The Eternals.

One of the Marvel comic adaptation, the Eternals are Celestials beings created by the cosmic powers of the universe. They being immortal, stands for the name Eternals. Just like the Asgardians.

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This

Heres everything we know about The Eternals- the release date, cast, characters, story. This will no doubt be one of the most expansive and offbeat MCU movies to date.

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The Celestial Star-Lords father, Ego, whose appearance can be recognized from Guardians of the Galaxy vol.2.

Accordance with the Marvel Comics, one amongst the Celestial, Nezarr the Calculator made a look in on Earth and granted a few

humanoids the power to enslave cosmic energy that resembles the Infinity Stones.

Eternals gifted with the power the become the succorer their own lives, thus immortal. Using these powers, they can manipulate matter to their unit fragments to almost become useless or do nothing. The characters may interact with specialties, but their immortality ties them into a family.

The official Eternals cast was announced at Marvels SDCC presentation in July 2019, with few additions are as follows :

Angelina Jolie is playing Thena, Salma Hayek playing Ajak, Richard Madden as Ikaris, Lauren Ridloff as Makkari, Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo, Brian Tyree Henry as Phaistos, Don Lee as Gilgamesh, Lia McHugh as Sprite.

Eternals will be released on November 6, 2020. As confirmed by Marvel Studios at SDCC, all the way back in 2019. Following Black Widows release in May 2020, It will be the second MCU movie coming out in 2020.

The production and photography began around the month of July-August 2019, and nd the casting announcements were made for the movie. Initially, the filming on Eternals started at Pinewood Studios in England after that was taken to international locations. One of the cast member Gemma Chan confirmed, the filming being wrapped in February, posting a photo on her Instagram and Twitter handles.

Till then, stay home, stay safe.

For the latest updates keep up with pop- culture times.

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The Eternals When Can We Expect It In Theatres? What Leaks Are Coming And What Are New Updates? - Pop Culture Times