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Michael Jordan feared a certain NFL legend on the basketball court, according to his North Carolina roommate – CBS Sports

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Michael Jordan wasn't easily intimidated on a basketball court. From the time that he was in high school through his final game in the NBA, Jordan never shied away from competition. Instead, he embraced it head on and usually came out on top. While it may have seemed like Jordan wasn't scared of facing off against anyone, that apparently wasn't the case.

According to Buzz Peterson, Jordan's college roommate and teammate at the University of North Carolina, there was one person in particular who injected some fear into M.J. every time he stepped onto the court. However, this wasn't anyone on the Tar Heels' roster, or even an NBA player. Instead, it was NFL All-Pro linebacker Lawrence Taylor, who had attended North Carolina prior to being drafted by the New York Giants in 1981, and apparently made frequent returns to campus.

Here's what Peterson, a member of UNC's 1982 title team, had to say about the dynamic between Jordan and Taylor in an interview with The Athletic:

There is one guy that I always thought, and I know to this day I don't know if Michael won't admit or not, but I swear that he had a little bit of fear of and it wasn't a basketball player. It was a football player by the name of Lawrence Taylor. LT, phenomenal athlete. Could guard east to west, as quick as anybody, could jump, big hands, strong and was a bit crazy. So Michael in the back of his mind said, "Shit, I better be careful with this guy." And LT always wanted to guard him."

Jordan admitting he was intimidated by anyone out on the floor is highly unlikely, but if there was one person who had a feel for Jordan's feelings at that point in time, it would be his teammate and roommate at North Carolina. Jordan, in fact, was even the best man at Peterson's wedding, and Peterson currently serves as the assistant general manager for the Charlotte Hornets, the team owned by Jordan.

Taylor was a freak athletically. During his NFL career, he won two Super Bowls, made 10 Pro Bowls, was named both MVP and Defensive Player of the Year (three times) and he led the league in sacks in 1996. He was also about 6-3 and 240 pounds. Thus, given his sheer size and athletic ability, it's certainly believable that Jordan would have second thoughts any time they matched up on the floor, even if he would never admit it.

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Michael Jordan feared a certain NFL legend on the basketball court, according to his North Carolina roommate - CBS Sports

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April 30th, 2020 at 12:49 pm

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Michael Jordan’s ‘last dance’ at Carolina, through the eyes of his teammates – Winston-Salem Journal

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As we await two more new episodes of the basketball documentary The Last Dance, a couple of Michael Jordans former college teammates reminisced this week about another last dance with the man who is now their boss.

Joe Wolf and Buzz Peterson were at Carolina in 1984 when Jordan and the Tar Heels went on a wild ride that looked for a while like they would go down in history as one of the greatest college basketball teams of all time.

But that dance didnt end the way they dreamed.

Greensboro Swarm head basketball coach Joe Wolf directs his team from the sideline during the game against Westchester in Greensboro, N.C., on Wednesday, November 13, 2019.

We knew we were great, said Wolf, now the coach of the Charlotte Hornets' NBA G League team in Greensboro. We knew we had a chance to win it all. I just remember being in that locker room after it ended just bawling my eyes out.

That NCAA Tournament loss to Indiana was Jordans last college game. It was the end of a great story and the beginning of a fairy-tale career in the NBA.

The story of Jordans rise from his parents driveway in Wilmington to that last season at Carolina is vaguely familiar to most of us. But there are stories we dont know that help explain how he went from a frustrated junior varsity player at Laney High School to maybe the best player in the history of the game.

Buzz Peterson and Michael Jordan entered Carolina together to begin play during the 1981-82 basketball season.

It all started in that driveway, said Peterson, now the assistant general manager for the Hornets, owned by Jordan. He had two older brothers. A lot older. And they would beat the crap out of him everyday. Thats where that competitive drive started. He just wanted to beat his brothers.

Those brothers, by the way, are now on Jordan's staff in Charlotte.

Jordan said in a recent interview he was worried about how he would be portrayed in the documentary, how he famously demanded every teammate put every ounce of energy into every single game and every single practice.

If not, they risked confrontation with the most competitive man in the game.

He had that instilled in him, Peterson said. It came from his family.

Joe Wolf, left, playing against Duke.

Wolf said Jordan brought that from Wilmington to Chapel Hill. And it didnt end on the basketball court.

I had known Michael since the ninth grade. Wolf said. We had played against each other at Coach Smiths camp. To be around him everyday and see that competitive drive in every aspect was amazing. But we were all like that. Coach Smith recruited confident and competitive players of high character. Thats who we were. It didnt matter if it was practice inside Carmichael or pickup games at Granville Towers. It was even that way when we played ping-pong and pool.

Wolf tells an amazing story of how he and team manager Dean McCord would play a high-powered game of ping-pong every night after games or practices.

We were the best two players by far, he said. No one else was close. But every single night, Michael would watch us and wait to play the winner. He lost all the time. But he would still challenge me every night. I mean every night. And eventually, he got better. Eventually, he was better than us at ping-pong.

And the same thing happened with pool. I was the best pool player for a while, before Steve Bucknall came over from England. Michael played me because I was the best, but Bucknall had played snookers in England, and when Michael realized that he was better than me, Michael left me in the dust and played Bucknall every night.

Peterson said it didnt matter what game it was or just elements within the games. Jordan was going to get better at something every year of his life.

Ive known Michael since the summer of 1980, he said. "We met at the North Carolina basketball camp, though we never saw each other play. We knew of each other. He just walked up to me one day and said, Hey, my names Mike Jordan. Im from Wilmington. We became friends. And we became competitors.

Hornets owner Michael Jordan with Buzz Peterson, right, and Mitch Kupchak from his staff at a Virginia-Carolina basketball game in 2019.

Peterson played at Asheville High School on the other side of the state from Jordan, but they competed anyway. And when Peterson and not Jordan was named high school player of the year in North Carolina, well, lets just say Jordan has never forgotten it.

He still talks about it, Peterson said.

I remember talking to him that summer about camps I was going to, and he didnt know about any of them," Peterson said. "It angered him a little to hear that the top 200 players were going to a camp in Atlanta or the Five-Star Camp that he didnt know about.

Roy Williams, then a Carolina assistant coach, would later watch Jordan in a pickup game and call Howard Garfinkel to arrange his invitation to Five-Star, a weekend that Jordan would later say changed how I felt about basketball. It was the turning point in my life.

Peterson said to watch Jordans game develop year after year was amazing, even though he had his own dreams of playing in the NBA one day. Playing against Jordan every day, he said, was hard.

I had a little ego about my game, too, he said. So at first, it wasnt easy knowing hes the best player in the country. I now believe hes the best player to ever lace them up. If I had to do it all over again, Id come right back to Chapel Hill. We all would.

Michael Jordan during his North Carolina playing games.

That last season before Jordan would go pro, Carolina won its first 21 games and went undefeated in the ACC. Six players would go on to play in the NBA, and Jordan would indeed go on to be one of the greatest to play the game.

But the last dance at UNC would end in injury and defeat, first freshman point guard Kenny Smith against LSU and then Brad Daugherty in the NCAA Tournament. Jordan even fouled out of his final game, limited to 13 points.

He was hungry, Wolf said. He never took a day off. We had a special team and we worked hard. And it didnt matter what game we were playing.

Peterson said it was more than a month after that season when Jordan decided to go pro, but even then he was torn.

Wed been out the night before, I think with Davis Love, Peterson said. I remember the last thing I asked him that night when my head hit the pillow. I asked him what he was going to decide that next day.

Peterson said he would never forget Jordans response.

Buzz, he said, I dont know. I wont know until I talk to Coach Smith.

Jordans last dance at Carolina ended the next day.

Michael Jordan, with North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith, announces on May 5, 1984, that he will leave school after his junior year to go to the NBA.

Contact Ed Hardin at 336-373-7069, and follow @Ed_Hardin on Twitter.

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Michael Jordan's 'last dance' at Carolina, through the eyes of his teammates - Winston-Salem Journal

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April 30th, 2020 at 12:49 pm

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The Problem with Edmund Burke and Defenders of Tradition – Merion West

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The problem here is that one mans stable hierarchy and proud tradition is anothers tyrannical oppression and ideology.

Introduction

Instead of casting away all our old prejudices, we cherish them to a very considerable degree, and, to take more shame to ourselves, we cherish them because they are prejudices; and the longer they have lasted and the more generally they have prevailed, the more we cherish them. We are afraid to put men to live and trade each on his own private stock of reason; because we suspect that this stock in each man is small, and that the individuals would do better to avail themselves of the general bank and capital of nations and of ages. Edmund Burke inReflections on the Revolution in France: And on the Proceedings in Certain Societies in London Relative to that Event

Many have been puzzled by post-modern conservatisms distrust of so-called liberal elites and the appeals these liberal elites make to scientific consensus, academic authority, and other rationalistic tropes. Less appreciated is the fact that this animosity on the part of post-modern conservatives has a longstanding basisfar-right priests of reason and logic notwithstanding. Conservatives have long defended tradition as the stored locus of wisdom and insight, which is only to be deviated from with great caution. This is linked to the longstanding conservative skepticism of reasons power to accurately know what is and what should be. The store of insight available to even the most intelligent personalities is so limited that it would be unwise to put faith in its power. This inclination goes back to Edmund Burke, who castigated the rationalistic philosophes of his day for thinking they could simply recreate the world wholesale from the idle speculations of their pens. For authors such as Burke and Michael Oakeshott, the skepticism towards universal reasonand the over-educated intellectuals who swear by itcan lead to flirtations with the virtues of a politics of faith. At its most extreme, in the work of figures such as Joseph de Maistre and Carl Schmitt (and the counter-Enlightenment movements they cheered on), it can trend towards an outright embrace of irrationalism.

The unusual feature of this embrace of tradition is that it is often very hard to tell what insights conservatives think we should glean from it. This relates to another fundamental feature of the conservative mind, which is that it is driven more by what Russell Kirk called an attitude or disposition that is resistant to the changes put forward by liberals and, especially, the political left. As my friend Nate Hochman put itin National Review ,the path to conservatism begins as a knee-jerk reaction to the contemporary Left: a feeling that its assertionsmustbe wrong, with little understanding of exactly why. This means that many of the defenses conservatives put forward of tradition are rationalizing, rather than rationalistic. Conservatives sense that this or that venerable institution or principle, which is being attacked for its prejudices, serves a valuable function, and they, then, set out to justify its existence. This is quite different from liberals and progressives who hold certain first principles to either be self-evident or required for any society to be called just and, then, seek to steer their own in the correct direction.

The Problem with Rationalizing Tradition

The effort to rationalize tradition is understandable. Logic bros notwithstanding, most conservatives have long understood that people often have deep emotional attachments to their shared ways of life and histories. Critics from Kant through to Benedict Anderson have often pointed out that these attachments are not nearly as natural as many suppose; states spend billions of dollars per year inspiring a sense of fidelity and loyalty to their flags. At some level, we are all intuitively aware of this, as the deepening hostility towards government officials and rhetoric implies. But that has never been sufficient to entirely break the spell of non-rational attachments to collective traditions. Moreover, as other thinkers, such as Jordan Peterson, have pointed out, these attachments reflect an even deeper need on the part of individuals for a sense of order in reality. Human life is filled with tremendous precarity, as well as the ultimate threat of total annihilation, which is tied to our existential finitude. Shared tradition provides a partial barrier against the to-and-fros of the world. And tradition cannot be easily replaced by institutional changesor even effective egalitarian economic reforms to spread wealth more evenly to protect individuals against material destitution.

However, the problems with this position are also easy to note. The first is that since conservatism is a disposition or attitude rather than a rational outlook, it will often be forced to play a reactive and defensive role against its opponents. Liberals and progressives will make a case against some institution or principle conservatives cherish, and their opponents will have to respond by building a case for it. This, often, gives conservative intellectualism a frenetic quality, with its advocates raising to a pastiche or even self-contradicting bricolage of principles, data, and even crude appeals to faith. The efforts by fusionists to reconcile an unbridled support for capitalism and freedom with support for social conservatism and religion (when the hedonism and permissiveness of the former will always undermine the latter) are representative. It also means that conservatives are always at a disadvantage. Since liberals and progressives are always on the offense, they need only win a battle once to typically triumph in perpetuity.

Conservatives must always succeed or resign themselves to the institutions and principles being cherished joining others on the ash heap of history. While it is untrue that history moves in one directionand that there cannot be successful counter-revolutionsthe inexorable entropy of existence inclines to change, rather than permanence. Finally, conservative rationalizations often fall into the performative contradictions, which inevitably tar any efforts to reject reasons authority. To demonstrate the limits of reason to challenge hierarchy, conservative intellectuals must inevitably raise rationalizing objectionsor fall into mere dogmatic assertions of fidelity. But if they do this, they also concede that there are ways to assess the value of a tradition; if the tradition is found wanting, there may be a powerful basis for abandoning it. The mere assertion this is the way we have always done things is no argument for its efficacy. People clung desperately to the idea that the sun revolved around the earth, that there were natural slaves, and that God apparently granted a divine right to rule to even the most incompetent monarchs. This brings me to a more crucial point.

Conclusion

More damning is that the conservative disposition can become so attached to order that it comes to support even the most unjust or evil hierarchies, if they provide the only defense against liberal and progressive change. Roger Scruton even acknowledged as such when he pointed out that conservatives will be far more willing to tolerate levels of injustice that are known and acceptable, rather than take their chances with the fickle promises of reform. The problem here is that one mans stable hierarchy and proud tradition is anothers tyrannical oppression and ideology. When the American Founding Fathers mused on the evils of slavery but conceded that changing it would bring too much disruption, they committed a banal act of moral indifference. The rot of this choice corrodes the United States to this day. Joseph de Maistre lambasted the violence of the French Revolution, while nodding approvingly at the possibility of millions of people being killed as divine punishment for beheading their monarch. J.S Mills calls for women to be granted the right to vote and to enjoy status beyond being property of their husbands were lampooned as unnatural (perhaps a reason he infamously claimed Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives). Ironically, this point was well-described by F.A Hayek, the libertarian economist in his essay Why I am Not A Conservative:

In the last resort, the conservative position rests on the belief that in any society there are recognizably superior persons whose inherited standards and values and position ought to be protected and who should have a greater influence on public affairs than others. The liberal, of course, does not deny that there are some superior peoplehe is not an egalitarianbut he denies that anyone has authority to decide who these superior people are. While the conservative inclines to defend a particular established hierarchy and wishes authority to protect the status of those whom he values, the liberal feels that no respect for established values can justify the resort to privilege or monopoly or any other coercive power of the state in order to shelter such people against the forces of economic change. Though he is fully aware of the important role that cultural and intellectual elites have played in the evolution of civilization, he also believes that these elites have to prove themselves by their capacity to maintain their position under the same rules that apply to all others.

There is nothing wrong with tradition in and of itself. It is often a source of meaning and stability for individuals in a strange and chaotic world. However, there is also nothing inherently good about it either: whether one means inherited wisdom, or providential arrangements of hierarchy to the benefit of all. A mere attitude fearful of change and rationalizing justifications to avoid it is no basis for preventing important reforms that need to happen.

Matt McManus is Professor of Politics and International Relations at Tec de Monterrey, and the author of Making Human Dignity Central to International Human Rights Law and The Rise of Post-Modern Conservatism. His new projects include co-authoring a critical monograph on Jordan Peterson and a book on liberal rights for Palgrave MacMillan. Matt can be reached atmattmcmanus300@gmail.comor added on twitter vie@mattpolprof

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The Problem with Edmund Burke and Defenders of Tradition - Merion West

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Russell Brand And Ricky Gervais Are Just What Your Brain Needs – The Federalist

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Its day 2,346 of staying home, and if youre like me, youve streamed yourself into a coma. I actually watched the John Gotti biopic starring John Travolta the other day, thats how bad its getting (It wasnt as bad as youd think).

If your brain and soul are hungry for something deeper, two surly, foul-mouthed British comedians are here to the rescue. In the most recent episode of his podcast Under the Skin, comedian Russell Brand interviews fellow British comedy luminary Ricky Gervais. I became a fan of Brands podcast after his two amazing conversations with Jordan Peterson, both of which also provide excellent intellectual calisthenics.

The hour-long episode covers everything from Gervaiss love for animals, their narcissism, and the nuances of God, spirituality, and religion. While you may not agree with either, seeing these two exceptionally bright, self-effacing, piss-and-vinegar comedians exchanging barbs and wisdom is just the mental stimulation you need today. Their own search for the truth might even prompt the sort of self-reflection we all could use at this time. Heres a sneak preview.

Brand and Gervais are millionaires many times over and enjoy even greater fame in Britain than in the United States. Still, neither came from wealth or acclaim. Brand was an only child raised by a single mom. Gervais signature edgy humor is inextricably tied to growing up in the working class. Knowing where they stand in society can be tricky.

As Gervais explains, Were court jesters we have to be court jesters. We have to have low status. Were in the mud with all the other peasants, teasing the king. But we have to keep our low status somehow, I think. I feel I want to.

Gervais is the creator of the original The Office series, and Brand talks about feeling sorry for his character, David Brent. The pair both see him as a sad figure, engaged in ever more absurd acts in order to reach a place of acceptance or worth. Compared to our reality TV culture nowadays, this character isnt even absurd anymore.

As Gervais jokes, Big Brother contestants make deals with the producers to get on the show. Let me in there, and Ill start a fight and take my clothes off. It facilitates the emotional destruction of people who just want to be loved and the public eats it up. As Brand puts it, Theres been a glorification of idiocy in culture.

Gervais laments the toll this takes on fame-seekers. This obsession with seeing normal people destroy themselves. These people keep going back to fame and going, Do you love me yet? No, they dont love you, they want you to fail!

Gervais is a well-known atheist. While both men have substantial criticism for organized religion, Brands travels through addiction and mental illness have given him a firm belief in some kind of god and a sense of interconnectedness.

Im a solipsistic, narcissistic person, Brand says. Ive been through the mills of addiction, sex, fame, drugs, money, and all that kind of stuff, and its placed me at a point where Ive had to open myself up to different ideas.

He means this as a challenge to Gervais that while they both have criticisms for organized religion, Brand sees Gervais as having a similar sense of wonder and awe at the universe, the same wonder that prompted Brands spirituality.

Gervais concedes, I seem like a spiritual person, but not literally, which is totally true. I am in as much awe at seeing a tree, or a mountain, or a bird, or a river as anyone who thinks God made it. I see the beauty of nature.

While Brand sympathizes with Gervais distaste for the constraints of organized religion, he explains, Ive gone on sort of the opposite journey, in that I feel like I started off atheistic just in that I would reject any attempt to impose regulation or control on me for the purposes of domination.

But as Ive gone through my own stuff with addiction and mental health or whatever it is, Brand continues, my own sense of despair particularly looking at it from a perspective of mental health issues and addiction is that there is an unaddressed yearning for a kind of oneness, togetherness, and for love.

While Gervais understands that desire for connectedness, he doesnt think desire alone is enough to make it true. It is a terrifying prospect that well never exist again, I think, but it doesnt mean its not true, says Gervais.

The bottom line is I cant believe something I dont believe. So how do I find meaning? Well, we are here. The chances of us being us you being you and me being me, existing now, that sperm hitting that egg is 400 trillion to one. Were not special, but we are lucky. We do exist. Its incredible.

As were looking for ways to occupy our minds in this strange time, this conversation is worth a listen. You may disagree with Brand or Gervais conclusions; I do. The redeeming undercurrent, however, is that both men are seekers of the truth. Their convictions are born of deep consideration, and they are willing to follow them to their natural conclusions, no matter how disappointing or inconvenient. Now might be just the moment we need to consider what we really believe as well.

Caroline D'Agati is a writer, former park ranger, and New Jersey expatriate living in DC. She studied English at Georgetown and media studies at The New School. You can follow her on Twitter at @carodagati.

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Russell Brand And Ricky Gervais Are Just What Your Brain Needs - The Federalist

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April 30th, 2020 at 12:49 pm

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Justin Rohrwasser Has Right-Wing Paramilitary Gang Tattoo – The Root

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Screenshot: YouTube (Herd Nation )

And with the 159th pick in the 2020 NFL drafts fifth round, the New England Patriots select...the right-wing, paramilitary-supporting kicker from Marshall.

On Saturday, the Tom Brady-less team from the same town that brought you Aaron Hernandez, the gang-affiliated double-murderer from Florida, drafted Justin Rohrwasser, a heralded kicker whose left arm just happens to display the insignia of the Three Percenters, one of the right-wing paramilitary groups that The Root has referred to as Yall Queda.

As soon as the Patriots Trump-supporting coach and owner gave Rohrwasser the nod, Resist Programming noticed that the draftees social media history seemed to show an affinity for far-right zealots like Jordan Peterson, an opponent of transgender pronouns and the feminization of men.

But it was the 23-year-olds Three Percenter tattoo that raised the most eyebrows. Although Rohrwasser claims he got the tattoo when he was a teenager, he didnt have it in high school. It also doesnt appear in photos when he played at the University of Rhode Island in 2015.

Make no mistake about it, the III percent is a gang.

Maxime Fiset, a former neo-Nazi who works with the Centre for the Prevention of Radicalization Leading to Violence in Montreal, called Three Percenters the most dangerous group in Canada. They provided security for neo-Nazis at the Unite The Right rally in Charlottesville, Va. In 2019, a jury convicted Jeremy Drake Varnell of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction to blow up an Oklahoma City building after Varnell admitted that he subscribed to III% ideology, according to the Associated Press.

As we previously reported:

Founded by another patriot named Mike Vanderboegh, the Three Percent movement stems from its belief that the American Revolution was won by an army composed of 3 percent of the population, which, according to this liberal ideology called numbers, is pretty wrong. (The number was closer to 15 percent, but perhaps they forgot to carry the 1 when they were doing the math. Hey, it involves both algebra and fractions, so dont laugh.)

Unlike the Oath Keepers, anyone can simply declare him- or herself a Three Percenter, although the group does have meetings on a local level, according to its website. It was surprisingly also founded immediately after Obama was elected, in Alabama, of all places (I actually heard your brain say, Seems about right).

Like the Oath Keepers who showed up in Ferguson, Three Percenters are famous for descending on the Bundy ranch in Nevada, but used money donated by supporters to bail out other Threepers to buy iTunes music, car washes and food. They are the same people who also occupied an Oregon wildlife refuge in 2016, an occupation that ended after a shootout when the mighty Three Percenters umm ... well ... kinda just gave up because standoffs are kinda hard.

So what was Rohrwassers excuse?

I got that tattoo when I was a teenager and I have a lot of family in the military, Rohrwasser told reporters during an introductory press conference. I thought it stood for a military-support symbol at the time. Obviously, its evolved into something that I do not want to represent. When I look back on it, I should have done way more research before I put any mark or symbol like that on my body, and its not something I ever want to represent. It will be covered.

Of course, the NFL is known for highlighting the pasts of its darker-skinned draftees. In 2016, projected No. 1 overall pick Laremy Tunsil lost millions when a video of him smoking marijuana through a gas mask caused his draft stock to tumble to the 13th pick. Wide receiver Desean Jacksons career has been plagued by rumors of gang affiliations. Since he joined the NFL, he has been arrested forHold on, let me check his extensive rap sheet...Jackson has been arrested a grand total of zero times. And then theres the revealing photo of how the NFL treated Rohrwassers fellow draft class members

But Rohrwasser is different, see. He didnt know that he was gang-affiliated.

And finally, hes a real Patriot.

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Justin Rohrwasser Has Right-Wing Paramilitary Gang Tattoo - The Root

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April 30th, 2020 at 12:49 pm

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FreedomFest Urges People to ‘Catch the Vision’ in Las Vegas – Right Wing Watch

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Organizers of the annual libertarian-oriented FreedomFest conference sent an email to potential attendees Tuesday declaring that FreedomFest is still on for July 13-16 in Las Vegas.

The conference theme, Catch the Vision, seems an unfortunate choice for a time when states and cities and the travel industry are at the earliest stages of opening up from COVID-19 restrictions on public gatherings. But dont worry about catching something else:

The entire staff at FreedomFest is working closely with our vendors and the team at the Paris hotel to make sure we can create the safest environment at FreedomFest for our attendees, exhibitors and speakers. We will follow the most current guidelines that are relevant at the time for social distancing, sanitizing, and encouraging good hygiene for everyone who attends FreedomFest. Paris will also be instituting more stringent cleaning and social distancing practices throughout the hotel.

The email promoting FreedomFest seeks to foster a sense of urgency, saying the first day will begin with an emergency meeting to address the threat posed by the response of governments and individuals to the pandemic.

Heres how conference organizers describe the emergency:

The entire world has now had a taste of global statism and it seems to have appealed to a huge portion of the population. New calls to implement socialist agendas even in the United States! include universal healthcare and universal basic income, mandatory vaccinations, health certificates for travel, and growing burdens on small business owners that will include paid sick leave, remote workspaces, and higher unemployment insurance as well as new regulations that will likely be expensive and confining.

Globally, people seem almost thrilled to give up their freedoms and let government take over EVERYTHING. We have become almost childlike in our reliance on authority.

One of the greatest casualties of the global shutdown has been the shutting down of our usually robust campaign processand this is the most important election cycle in our lifetime. Freedom itself is hooked to a ventilator, and we must be the ones to bring it back to life.

The email promoting the conference mocks Americans compliance with social distancing restrictions and other public health requirements imposed by governments. We are living in the land of the sheep, the email reads:

Its downright scary how billions of people, including many liberty-loving Americans, willingly sequestered themselves in their homes, donned masks, social-distanced, shuttered their businesses, and believed the hype. Were experiencing what Ben Franklin famously observed:were giving up essential liberty for temporary security.

Was it really necessary?

And even more importantly,was it morally right?

What do we now face in the future? How much easier will it be for governments to shutter our businesses under any pretext described as for the common good? They told us to shut down our businesses, and we did. They told us to stay home, and we did. They told our neighbors to report on us, and they did. They told us not to buy masks, so we didnt. And then they told us we had to wear masks, and we did. We are living in the land of the sheep.

How many of our unalienable rights were violated and what does that mean for our future freedoms?

Going forward, it is absolutely essential that these draconian measures be challenged in the courts.

But, the email declares assuringly, As free marketers and freedom-lovers, we are up for the challenge!

The speaker lineup is heavy on investors, libertarian and right-wing media figures and advocates, and, despite the libertarian tilt of the conference, some conservative culture warriors like movie critic Michael Medved and public philosopher Jordan Peterson.

Among the many speakers scheduled to appear:

Among the organizations scheduled to lead sessions are the Pacific Legal Foundation, National Review and the National Review Institute, and the Independent Institute.

FreedomFest also includes Anthem, a libertarian film festival. Among the movies it has screened in the past is Dinesh DSouzas America: Imagine a World Without Her.

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FreedomFest Urges People to 'Catch the Vision' in Las Vegas - Right Wing Watch

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April 30th, 2020 at 12:49 pm

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There Was Only One Player Michael Jordan Feared Playing, According To Former Teammate At UNC – BroBible

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Michael Jordan and Buzz Peterson played together all three years His Airness worked his magic at the University of North Carolina.

He also won North Carolina high school basketball player of the year over Michael Jordan before they each joined Dean Smiths squad. Now he works for his as assistant general manager for the Charlotte Hornets. So one could say that Peterson has seen it all when it comes to Michael Jordan. Or at least considerably more than most.

With ESPNs The Last Dance taking over the dormant world of sports, Roderick Boone of The Athletic spoke with Peterson about his days playing with the GOAT in Chapel Hill.

He says that anytime someone brings up his winning player of the year over Jordan, Michael replies, Yeah, Buzz got that award because in North Carolina there are seven major newspapers and his dad owned six of them. So thats how he got the award.

Little did he know that Jordan would go on to become one of the most dominant players in college basketball.

at first, the success he was having, it was tough, Peterson recalled. Personally, it was very hard for me, and at the time it was like, OK, this guy, hes really good, Buzz. Hes really good. For you to beat him out, its going to be really difficult. Hes just very gifted. But you can still be one of the guys to play out there with him. And so once I made my mind up and just to see him the unique thing was how he got better each year at Carolina from freshman to sophomore, sophomore to junior, how his game got better and better.

Embed from Getty Images

Peterson also recounted how Jordan would more than hold his own over the summer between his freshman and sophomore year going up against North Carolina legends like James Worthy, Walter Davis, and Al Wood.

However, there was one former Tar Heel that Peterson claims actually scared Jordan.

There is one guy that I always thought, and I know to this day I dont know if Michael wont admit or not, but I swear that he had a little bit of fear of and it wasnt a basketball player. It was a football player by the name of Lawrence Taylor. LT, phenomenal athlete. Could guard east to west, as quick as anybody, could jump, big hands, strong and was a bit crazy. So Michael in the back of his mind said, Sh-t, I better be careful with this guy. And LT always wanted to guard him.

He also remembered that during his four years at North Carolina he roomed with Michael Jordan for two years and Brad Daugherty for two years.

Ill never forget, I remember seeing something in Sporting News one time, said Peterson. They said, If you want to pick the right roommate, call Peterson because he chooses the right millionaires to be roommates with.'

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There Was Only One Player Michael Jordan Feared Playing, According To Former Teammate At UNC - BroBible

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April 30th, 2020 at 12:49 pm

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A short stretch in the cult of yoga – The Conservative Woman

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I WANT to focus on the new age phenomenon involving an obsession with the self, such as mindfulness practices, meditation and yoga.

In the fitness world, trends come and go. In the 90s, Pilates was everywhere and now seems that everyone has tried yoga. Travellers strike pretentious yoga poses in front of landmarks.

But theres an extra dimension to yoga and when the subject of religion comes up, do not be surprised if practitioners say, Oh, Im not religious but I am spiritual.

In university, I had a few (American) football friends who swore by yoga as helping them stretch and improve their flexibility on the football field. I also had a few friends with sedentary office jobs who maintained an excellent physique by going to yoga. As a curious person who loves playing devils advocate, I decided to give yoga the benefit of the doubt and immerse myself into the culture for at least a month. As a Catholic, I was fully aware that the Bible is clear on such a venture:Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? (2 Corinthians 6:1418 NIV).

What was initially apparent was the size of the industry behind yoga, and the pressure to look the part. The yoga industry seems to focus on selling classes and retreats, encouraging elite cliques, sales of merchandise (eg100 yoga pants). I do not doubt the people behind the yoga communities mean well but it is hardly an altruistic industry.

Next, I found myself awkwardly trying to understand the religion or spirituality behind yoga. On the one hand, the teacher was chanting things that are apparently from the Vedas. These are ancient Sanskrit texts composing of the Rig-Veda (1028 hymns divided into ten books or mandalas), Sama-Veda (chanting), Yajur-Veda (ritual and sacrifices) and Atharva-Veda (charms and magical incantations). The Vedas forms the basis for Hinduism and there appear to be some elemental involvements (eg moon, sun, etc). Many classmates did not seem aware of these facts.

What did I find funny enough to stifle a laugh when I saw it in the yoga class? Buddhist statues everywhere. Ironically, according to Nandan and Jangubhair, authors of a comparative study between Hinduism and Buddhism, Buddhists do not believe in the Vedas or for that matter any Hindu scripture.

So, it appears yoga has its own philosophy borrowing from the Vedas (Hindu scriptures) and borrowing the likeness and some Buddhist philosophy as well. Yoga is starting to sound like a mixture of philosophies, a pseudo-spirituality that preaches about no judgement and things such as karma: an Eastern philosophy fruit salad if you will.

As I went through my classes, I questioned if people even knew what they were chanting or if they were just going through the motions. I did not join in because as a Catholic, Im not about to chant or pray to pagan gods.

My understanding is that yoga emphasises exercise, worshipping via postures to the Hindu gods and emptying the mind (to be filled with what? I am uncertain but have my suspicions).

Yoga appears to be where modern folks go instead of Church. Attending yoga retreats to celebrate solstices and full moons, saluting the sun: it all serves to fulfil the desperate search for meaning and enlightenment when traditional values and religion are under attack. The yoga cult tends to strike after young people in their 20s (and sadly maybe even 30s) recognise that their hedonistic lifestyles of drinking to excess, clubbing, the hook-up culture and their adolescent irresponsibility are devoid of meaning, and the yoga community seems to provide this meaning.

People see celebrity posts on yoga, sexy poses and how rich some celebrity yogis have become, and they are sucked into the illusion that yoga is the answer.Hollywood frequently showcases characters who have lost their way or hit rock bottom, then they go to a yoga class or retreat and suddenly everything has changed! A perfect example is in the TV showMad Men,inexplicably on for several seasons, featuring a despicable character and his liaisons in 1960s America. The series ends with him at a yoga retreat and he is forgiven all of the past seasons extramarital affairs! Incredible!

When suckered into the yoga community, participants often experience a desire to abandon all worldly possessions, consumerism and capitalist behaviours. Thus, yoga serves as an introduction or gateway into tarot, reiki, crystals, psychics and mediums, and contemporary occultism. Eventually, in the extreme, you will end up a vegan, eating twigs and berries, burning sage, talking about being present and grounded and chanting the gurus teachings while beating a Buddhist gong. You may even end up living in a van or commune and refusing to shave or wear a bra! Enter the Left-wing agenda to form radical feminists and gender crusaders. Then yoga begins to serve as a way of killing any religiosity one may have by replacing it with an obsession with self. It becomes all about your soul-changing journey and your truths, and there is a yoga community to reinforce these beliefs.

Some say they eventually come to the conclusion that there is no being more divine than themselves. They become spiritual alcoholics drunk on yoga.Joseph Magnus Frangipani, who experienced yoga before converting to Christianity, has written:I saw so many people some friends, many strangers seeking the dissolution of self. They had an insatiable desire to lose themselves, not in the life and light of God but in the darkness of the void, in a separation from the Love Who Transcends Everything. You can read his excellent article on yoga and its destructive forceshere.

So, what conclusion did I draw from my yoga studies? I think youth today could replace their hedonistic lifestyles by finding religion, meaning and purpose. A perfect example of youth searching for meaning is the huge following for inspirational (and rational) role models such as Jordan Peterson. He expresses that itisntabout you, which is contrary to yoga teachings and may be shocking to some young people whose parents have catered to them their entire lives. Many young adults have never heard enlivening speeches on humility or on adhering to a proper ideology and such a no-nonsense Quit-being-arrogant-and-criticising-everything-and-you-are-not-special-now-find-your-purpose-and-get-going rubric that Jordan Peterson preaches.

Although I do not recommend yoga, I did like the stretching and exercise so perhaps I could find an old Pilates video at the bottom of the discount bin at the department store.

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A short stretch in the cult of yoga - The Conservative Woman

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April 30th, 2020 at 12:49 pm

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Bird Droppings: Arizona Cardinals preparing for virtual draft, Jordan Phillips looks to build on career year – Revenge of the Birds

Posted: April 12, 2020 at 8:46 pm


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Happy Wednesday one and all.

We are halfway through another week of quarantine and things are definitely hitting the monotony.

That is okay, because the NFL is primed to save us from that, as in 15 days we have the weirdest NFL Draft in history.

For that and all the news from around the web on your Arizona Cardinals we have your morning links.

Enjoy.

Larry Fitzgerald, Patrick Peterson, Chandler Jones Named To All-Decade Team Hall of Fame selection committee picked best from 2010-19

After 2019 Breakout, Jordan Phillips Ready To Show Staying Power Free agent addition confident he's not a one-year wonder

Kingsbury: No Concern DeAndre Hopkins Trade Will Be Done Before Draft Players in deal need physicals before official completion

Challenge Of Virtual Draft Doesn't Intimidate Kliff Kingsbury Coach confident in technology and Cardinals' process

No Hard Knocks For Cardinals Arizona Cardinals Official Team Website I Arizona Cardinals AZCardinals.com

Phillips On New Contract: 'I Was Made For This' DL Jordan Phillips talks to the media about his three-year deal with the Cardinals.

Recapping The Cardinals On The 2010s All-Decade Team Relive highlights from the Cardinals who were named to the 2010s All-Decade Team.

Cover 2 Clips - Justin Murray Signs Craig Grialou and Mike Jurecki discuss OL Justin Murray and what the offensive line position looks like before the draft.

Kingsbury Want To 'Be Better" In Year Two Head Coach Kliff Kingsbury meets with the media and talks draft preparation, free agency and entering his second year with the team.

Kliff Kingsbury - Arizona Cardinals' trade for DeAndre Hopkins will be official by draft Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury said Tuesday that he has no doubt the trade that landed wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins from the Texans in return for running back David Johnson will be completed before the NFL draft begins on April 23.

Cardinals WR Christian Kirk expected to see fantasy football dip in 2020 Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Christian Kirk might see his fantasy football production go down following the arrival of wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins.

3 Cardinals make The Athletic's 'best to wear every jersey number' Larry Fitzgerald was joined by two past Arizona Cardinals who were named by The Athletic as the top players to wear their respective jersey numbers.

Trio of Cardinals make NFL, Hall of Fame 2010s All-Decade team Arizona Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald, cornerback Patrick Peterson and pass-rusher Chandler Jones made the 2010s All-Decade Team.

Really weird prop bets for a remote 2020 NFL Draft How many dogs or cats will appear in the first round of the remotely produced NFL Draft? This is a thing you can put money on.

NFL Draft: Teams told to prepare to pick virtually because of coronavirus A league memo advised teams to prepare to conduct the NFL Draft virtually, with team personnel at home instead of in the facilities.

Five things to know about new Cardinals DT Jordan Phillips Cardinals DT Jordan Phillips discussed his fit on a new team, his bowling talent and a hectic past few weeks that included the birth of his daughter.

DeAndre Hopkins calls Cardinals 'classy,' asks for Arizona food staples Receiver DeAndre Hopkins answered questions from fans and asked for food and sight-seeing suggestions in the Phoenix area during a live Instagram stream.

Kingsbury: Cardinals' remote operations for NFL Draft not all that bad There are bigger problems in the world than a remote NFL Draft. There are even streamlined parts of the process, said Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury.

9 Arizona Cardinals offseason questions, answered by Kliff Kingsbury When will DeAndre Hopkins officially be a Cardinal? Is the team working on a deal to re-sign free agent center A.Q. Shipley?

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Bird Droppings: Arizona Cardinals preparing for virtual draft, Jordan Phillips looks to build on career year - Revenge of the Birds

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April 12th, 2020 at 8:46 pm

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Announcing the Release of Myth and Mayhem: A Leftist Critique of Jordan Peterson – Merion West

Posted: March 7, 2020 at 3:44 pm


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Peterson himself described some of its symptomatic features in Maps of Meaning when he discusses how the breakdown of traditional mythopoetic traditions generated a sense of nihilistic uncertainty

Introduction

We live in an increasingly chaotic world. This owes much to the precarity engendered by 21st century neoliberalism, which put forward the allure of unlimited personal freedom so long as working people and minorities abandoned their civic capacity to demand egalitarian change. In the aftermath of the 2008 Recessionwhen the contradictions and instabilities of the Washington consensus and neoliberal governance exposed the naked emperor in all his ideological frailtyone saw a resurgence of energy on the Left. Many once more saw the opportunity to push for a fairer world, where resources and power were distributed in a more just manner. These developments are climaxing now in the push to get genuinely Left candidates into office in both the United Kingdom and the United States, which would solidify a major sea change in the politics of developed states.

The Decay of the Post-Modern Epoch

For all the optimism this may induce, every progressive step forward brings with it the risk of conservative reaction. We are currently inhabiting a highly reactionary period, with post-modern conservatives like Donald Trump and Boris Johnson advancing right-wing agendas designed to re-entrench traditional authority figures (and groups) atop the social hierarchy. Many are calling for the retreat of democracyor are castigating the advance of marginalized groups who agitate for their fair share, dismissing them as the resentful, ungratefulproduct of so called post-modern neo Marxist indoctrination. By far the most famous intellectual associated with this pushback is Jordan Peterson. The Canadian psychologist and University of Toronto Professor is the author of the best-selling 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos and has millions of followers on YouTube and Twitter. He is also well-known as a critic of the radical left, characterizing social justice activists as totalitarian and offer scathing denunciations of progressive thinkers and agitators. Peterson is also a frequent guest at various conservativemedia outlets to denounce the evils of political correctness and identity politics. These efforts have made him a hero to many conservatives, while also catalyzing an onslaught of progressive commentary pointing out the numerous flaws in his analysis. These shortcomings range from his questionable understanding ofleft-wing theory to his unfortunate tendency to associate with some unsavory figures on thefar-right,which cost him a prestigious gig at Cambridge. These critiques are often well-founded, but so far there has been a lack of systematic engagement with his thinking as a whole. This includes a lack of in-depth examination of his works such asMaps of Meaning and his other academic publications.

Our bookMyth and Mayhem: A Leftist Critique of Jordan Peterson is intended to fill this gap. It is going to be released on April 24th with Zero Books. It examines Petersons intellectual output and offers comprehensive criticisms of many dimensions of his thought, ranging from his support for capitalism to his denunciation of the post-modern left. It is written by four authors, Matt McManus, Ben Burgis, Conrad Hamilton, and Marion Trejo, each of whom brings their respective expertise to the table when examining Petersons work. The book also includes a lengthy introduction by Slavoj iek, which both examines the place of Peterson in contemporary culture and looks back on their debate several months ago.

One of the major topics of analysis is the nature of post-modernity and how to deal with it. Post-modernism is typically described as a left-wing philosophical outlook, and it is often misleadingly lumped in with a number of different forms of identity politics such as radical feminism. However, these various other approaches such as radical feminism have independently complex genealogies and outlooks. While there are certainly left-wing forms of political agitation, post-modernity is better interpreted as a cultural condition characteristic of late 20th and early 21st century life. Peterson himself described some of its symptomatic features in Maps of Meaning when he discusses how the breakdown of traditional mythopoetic traditions generated a sense of nihilistic uncertainty, leading some to retreat into cynicism and others to embrace new dogmatisms.

What Peterson misses is the way in which capitalist processes contributed to the upending of traditional values and the establishment of an increasingly relativistic culture. Professor Gabriel Andrade expressed a similar point in his recent article Listen Jordan Peterson, Marx Is Your Friend. The characteristic feature of capitalismas Marx and Engels expressed in The Communist Manifestois that it is a revolutionary mode of production where all that is sacred is profaned and, everything that is solid melts into air. The logic of capital is to quantify the value of everything in the world so commodities can be placed into relations of exchange with one another. Each thing that exists has its price. This is true even of human beings, which even the classical liberals like Kant insisted should not be subjected to the quantifiable appraisals of capital. For Kant, each human being possessed an inherent dignity which placed a person, beyond price. By contrast in the neoliberal capitalist era of the 21st century, human beings must have a price:about $10 million USD,according to the EPA. The sacred quality of life that persisted in earlier epochswhere each individual was considered beyond price as a unique subject of Gods loveis replaced by an era where atomized individuals have a carefully calculated relative value, which can be traded off against other values. As this logic gradually permeates all areas of the lifeworld, we see even religious beliefs for which people live and died given an instrumental worth related to health and good-functioning in society.

Conclusion: An Ongoing Project

Our ambition is for our book to be a jumping off point for a more robust discussion on Peterson and the political right generally. With that in mind the authors have also prepared a websiterun by our online manager Greg Talion, which is taking submissions for articles discussing and criticizing any element of Petersons thought from a Left perspective. Anyone interested in making a contribution is welcome to submit to us from any theoretical background. We are also very open to submissions defending Peterson provided they are written in a spirit of dialogue and debate. With that said, we are especially interested in essays criticizing Peterson from a feminist, critical race, queer-theoretical, and socialist perspective. The website should supplement Myth and Mayhembyproviding an ongoing intellectual resource for activists and intellectuals eager to push against Petersonian argumentsor other positions staked out by the Right. These resources are vital in a reactionary era. This is all the more the casewhen for the first time in decadesthere is a serious opportunity to win the battle of ideas along with political power ala the election of a Democratic Socialist candidate to the White House.

Matt McManus is Professor of Politics and International Relations at Tec de Monterrey, and the author of Making Human Dignity Central to International Human Rights Law and The Rise of Post-Modern Conservatism. His new projects include co-authoring a critical monograph on Jordan Peterson and a book on liberal rights for Palgrave MacMillan. Matt can be reached atmattmcmanus300@gmail.comor added on twitter vie@mattpolprof

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Announcing the Release of Myth and Mayhem: A Leftist Critique of Jordan Peterson - Merion West

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