A friend of mine often says, “Nothing goes unanswered in the age of smart phones and google,” however googling the quote leaves the answer clear as mud:

Often attributed to 20th century motivational writer and speaker Dale Carnegie, it has also been linked to Mary Wollstonecraft, an 18th century British writer and the mother of Mary Shelley who in turn wrote Frankenstein. Wollstonecraft possibly took the line from 17th century poet Samuel Butler. https://www.cliffsnotes.com/cliffsnotes/subjects/history/who-wrot-a-man-convinced-against-his-will-is-of-the-same-opinion-still

Of course the quote wouldn’t be worth a darn if someone didn’t credit it to Ben Franklin; https://medium.com/@viktorbezic/ben-franklin-quote-applies-here-a-man-convinced-against-his-will-is-of-the-same-opinion-still-aa3d71e38f35
and
https://agents2change.typepad.com/blog4/2013/10/a-man-convinced-against-his-will-is-of-the-same-opinion-still-or-the-art-of-persuasion.html

So I’m going to say it must be by Mark Twain.

Aggie alumna Kimberly Guilfoyle, (UCD ’91??,) part of the trump entourage and currently dating Donald Trump, Jr., apparently forgot to take her hydroxychloroquine and disinfectant injections.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/03/politics/kimberly-guilfoyle-positive-coronavirus-test/index.html

But, I digress….

Happy Independence Day fellow Ags. A lot of people gave a lot of themselves so that we can expound, and from time to time snipe at each other, on forums like this.

Doesn't this enlighten the supposed nationwide racial travesty?

"FACT: In 2019, 9 blacks, 19 whites, and 6 Hispanics were unarmed when killed by police in U.S."

Paul Sperry (new one):

"MYTH: freed African-American slaves never received any reparations

"FACT: The US Government gave away more than 100,000 acres of free land in the West and South to thousands of blacks, who passed these property deeds and assets on to their heirs."

Didn't we also pay for Liberia?

Fox News, July 2, 2020: LA Mayor Garcetti admits 'connection' between coronavirus outbreak and protests, after downplaying link

"We are certain that there is going to be spread"

New Covid19 graphs, now under 500 deaths per day (down from 2,000).

https://twitter.com/andrewbostom/status/1278818432012648449?s=20

It's like World War 1 in here with how deep the trenches are

Indeed!

It's like World War 1 in here with how deep the trenches are — CA Forever

Unfortunately, for us as a nation, that's true. After nearly 4 years of Trump driving the wedge of division deeper and deeper with every opportunity he can find while feeding his insatiable ego, this is result.

Tens of thousands of lives may have been lost due to TDS, including the liberal MSM?

Richard Grenell@RichardGrenell (Jul 3)

"A very real question should be asked by real journalists:

"Did some US media outlets encourage people to NOT take a drug that could have saved their lives- all because they hate Trump?"

https://twitter.com/RichardGrenell/status/1279055041148510208?s=20

Well, continued great news with HCQ and 7 Million new jobs in 2 months!

Love your post my friend! I'm so grateful to have this forum to stay connected to all the happenings going on back around campus especially now being over 1,000 miles away. I really value the connections we're able to make on here especially in light of the current circumstances of a lot of isolation and social distancing. I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to the day that this is all behind us and I can hop on a plane and come back to cheer on the Ag's and hopefully get a chance to meet some of you guys and put a face to the name. Stay safe!

BGA great post and great song by the Avett brothers. Made me shiver. Thank you so much!

Sadly, Broadway actor, Nick Cordero, lost his courageous 95 day battle with Covid-19 this morning at the young age of 41.



https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/05/entertainment/nick-cordero-obit/index.html

Fantastic News.

Alleged Covid19 deaths per day drop from 2701 (May 6th) to 212 (yesterday). An over 90% drop.

Similarly, our Case Mortality Rate is one of the best in the world.

ICE decision not allow foreign students to stay in the US is bad news for Aggie basketball. WBB has 5 foreign players on its 2020 roster, basically 1/3+ of the team. MBB has several as well, but not the WBB numbers. I do not know how WBB survives this with 8 players.

I think they can stay IF they are taking in-person classes. Not sure if schools will find ways to bend the definition of “in person” to make it work. Kind of wonder why such a reliance on international basketball athletes. But in regard to some of your other posts, maybe this will help clean up some of the tennis situation.

I totally forgot about tennis! But I would hate tho see this as the only effective way to clean it up.

(And water polo...)

I bet colleges all across the US will be coming up with mandatory in-person classes for foreign student-athletes.

An acquaintance of mine is a professor at midwestern university. They are working up a proposal to hold classes "in person" where no attendance is taken and they are recorded "for review purposes." Don't know if it will float by DOE. What I'm hearing is that professors are worried about an exodus from their labs, the finance offices are worried about lost revenue because international students often pay sticker price, and administrators are concerned that this could hurt diversity metrics in a time of heightened awareness. Athletics is but just one piece.

And foreign students, even without in-person classes, tend to increase dorm occupancy. Just another revenue and employment source that has suffered when many students remain at home and take only on-line classes.

Downtown was already struggling. At one point there were 6-7-8 connected storefronts empty. Then the homeless / mental illness / drug use problem on top of that.

https://www.statista.com/chart/22102/daily-covid-19-cases-in-the-us-and-the-eu/

https://images.app.goo.gl/FbusHXhpnmZL2Rzt5

Once again, it’s almost as if there are outcomes from getting Covid other than either dying or being asymptomatic.

Comparing the total number of new cases between countries is deceiving. A more meaningful statistic would be total new cases per 1,000 (or pick the number) population.

Stanford expert says 80-85 percent of Texas hospital patients 'have nothing to do with COVID-19'

"Scott Atlas, former chief of neuroradiology at Stanford University Medical Center and a senior fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution, said Monday that for people under 70, the death rate from COVID-19 is lower than or equal to the seasonal flu."

https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/longevity/506241-stanford-expert-says-80-85-percent-of-texas-hospital

I hear the seasonal flu comparison frequently. It might hold water if COVID had a similar seasonality. But it doesn’t. I was really expecting (hoping) that the summer weather would knock the incidence down. It appears were going to be stuck with this until we have an effective vaccine.

Mark Twain once said, "there are lies, damn lies, and statistics." Probably couldn't be a truer statement here because we have incomplete data that is being further manipulated or obscured by various layers of government to fit assorted narratives. We can argue the truthiness of any particular metric (though doesn't seem likely anyone is changing opinions here), but it doesn't change the fact that we have a dumpster fire convergence of health, economic, and cultural crises that are so intertwined you probably can't solve one without progress on all. In the context of this forum, those three factors are shaking the foundations of university academic and athletic business models nationwide more severely than any tax cut budget deficit has. Debate about rates of infection, death, or transmission may seem academic in a few months when we are keeping vigil over who is dropping football or not.