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Is there a list somewhere of schools that pay high school athletes to commit?

I’ve been looking for it, but I can’t find it. We know that Oregon does it, and are public about it, and surely others are public because it serves their interests.

Would be good to know.

Frankly, if we are looking to rebound in high school recruiting. I believe we are going to have to start doing that too. I’m sure there are others that would not agree.

I do know that the rest of the country thinks that we do, but from what I can tell we do not until they are signed.

(must read!) How the GOP muzzled the quiet coalition that fought foreign propaganda

The FBI put a pause on briefings with tech companies due to an ongoing lawsuit, adding to a broader breakdown in a system meant to guard against influence operations and to ensure election integrity.

Image of Jim Jordan interrupted by square images with election ballot drop box, Mark Zuckerberg, and X logo



Nov. 10, 2023, 1:05 PM UTC
By Kevin Collier and Ken Dilanian

A once-robust alliance of federal agencies, tech companies, election officials and researchers that worked together to thwart foreign propaganda and disinformation has fragmented after years of sustained Republican attacks.

The GOP offensive started during the 2020 election as public critiques and has since escalated into lawsuits, governmental inquiries and public relations campaigns that have succeeded in stopping almost all coordination between the government and social media platforms.

The most recent setback came when the FBI put an indefinite hold on most briefings to social media companies about Russian, Iranian and Chinese influence campaigns. Employees at two U.S. tech companies who used to receive regular briefings from the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force told NBC News that it has been months since the bureau reached out.

In a testimony last week to the Senate Homeland Security Committee, FBI Director Christopher Wray signaled a significant pullback in communications with tech companies and tied the move to rulings by a conservative federal judge and appeals court that said some government agencies and officials should be restricted from communicating and meeting with social media companies to moderate content. The case is now on hold pending Supreme Court review.

“We’re having some interaction with social media companies,” Wray said. “But all of those interactions have changed fundamentally in the wake of the court rulings.”

Wray didn’t elaborate, but sources familiar with the matter told NBC News that all the FBI’s interactions with tech platforms now have to be pre-approved and supervised by Justice Department lawyers.

The FBI told the House Judiciary Committee that, since the court rulings, the bureau had discovered foreign influence campaigns on social media platforms but in some cases did not inform the companies about them because they were hamstrung by the new legal oversight, according to a congressional official.

“This is the worst possible outcome in terms of the injunction,” said one U.S. official familiar with the matter. “The symbiotic relationship between the government and the social media companies has definitely been fractured.”
The FBI declined to comment.

More than a dozen current and former government and tech employees who have been involved in fighting online manipulation campaigns and election falsehoods since 2020 echoed those concerns. Most agreed to speak only on the condition that they not be named, all citing the current climate of harassment against people who work in election and information integrity.

A common theme among those interviewed: The chilling effect that Republican attacks had on the sharing of information about possible interference, which could make it easier for foreign adversaries to manipulate U.S. public opinion and harder for 2024 voters to sort out what’s real from what’s fake.

Beyond the FBI briefings, other coordination efforts have folded after facing pressure from conservatives. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which oversees federal election cybersecurity and has become a favorite target of Republicans, has halted its outreach to Silicon Valley, and the Department of Homeland Security has shuttered a board designed to coordinate its anti-disinformation programs.

“Some of these efforts really are designed to isolate people and make them feel like they can’t communicate with CISA, like they can’t communicate with their peers in other states,” a person who works in state election administration said.

“People feel that things are really, really fraught, and common sense does not rule today,” the person added.
Some politicians are sounding the alarm. Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said efforts to stop foreign manipulation of U.S. politics are well within the government’s remit.

“I understand we don’t want to interdict constitutionally protected speech, but what is constitutionally protected speech?” he said. “Certainly foreign agents don’t have constitutionally protected speech because they’re not subject to our Constitution. I presume bots don’t have constitutionally protected speech. American citizens do.”

GTS Week 9 - Washington - Don't Want It

Ugh. This is one I wish I could give back. Unfortunately I hit it dead on this week, which means we lose again. Overall the pool fared much better this week too, which again, is a bad thing. Even so, still only 8 GTSers had a UW score higher than what the Huskies actually put up. Folks, this is a historically bad defense. I think my son's 10U team could put up 35.

For the week, we had 12 within 10 points and 40 (out of 50 total) within 20. Following my 0, we had @FreeReggieBush with a 4, @jcbraam with a 5, our season leader @Larr212121 with a 6 (and a back door SC TD away from another win), and then a handful at 7. For what it's worth, my guess this week was the first dead on guess of the year, which also tells you something about how the year has gone vs expectations.

2 weeks left to go on the season. Next week will be an interesting one. Do we finally see GTSers go wild on the amount of points Ore will put up or do we still underestimate it?

On the season, I made up a little ground on @Larr212121 and move into second, but he keeps rolling with strong guesses and has an insurmountable lead! :) @cramwetzel , @trojan_a_1 , @Kylerkeener and @jcbraam are all in the fight for second still as well. If I remember correctly @Ryan Young, second place pays $100,000, right?

Week 10 Results
PlaceSubscriberUSCUWDelta
1dbcraig42520
2FreeReggieBush42484
3jcbraam38515
4Larr21212148526
5trojan_a_135527
6CRDUSC9338557
7JetLaggMatt42457
8TJW4SC42457
9SCScotch38557
10Kylerkeener39589
11RudyTheTrojan34519
12187Bruins354910
13Darcy Bug484711
14555heiden424111
15cramwetzel444113
16nfoster1617524913
17Jack53454213
18jogonzalnt524913
19charmac454213
20AlpineTrojan1484513
21seattledoc454213
22usc7137454213
23remc454114
24SC55OU19384214
25mstrlingrundy454114
26SCtrojan2k2423814
27NoBull1565214
28Ayedoc423814
29MrSC413815
30Sc-raza314815
31Alex3000376215
32ericsanford474116
33sdthomas304816
34Erndog21453817
35Wizard of Illium456617
36prime88305818
37tentm354118
38uclowns413518
39Kdub8791555920
40ddones10483820
41Eight three423121
42Bigtrojan78383224
43MikeAce00584424
44cj453124
45HI50trojan313825
46Trojan Ace263929
47blown55583929
48PanamaSteve175629
49consciousBE482830
50tlevyn313033

WAKE THEE, GOOD, GENTLE PEOPLE! T'IS THE DAY OF THE ATHLETIC COMPETITION!

Well, most of the leaves have fallen off the tree that is the 2017 regular season for USC football. “...and then there were two.” If you are like me, you clapped with delight in watching each falling leaf flutter like an exuberant spring butterfly on its carefree journey towards the ground. Hopefully, you are not one of the vexed ones who cursed each red, yellow, orange, and brown cast-off from this shedding plant, lamenting all the while its lack of greenness. If so, perhaps all that you could envision was the ugly mess that the tree would make in the yard. Perhaps you have been consumed with and dreaded the inevitable investment of labor and the output of sweat to tidy up the mess. "If only it were an evergreen...."

With some urgency, I presently implore you to consider that soon, that tree will be bare; there will be no more leaves to admire—not green, not red, and not brown, only branches.

Yes, ONLY TWO leaves remain. Consider this as your "two-minute warning." I cordially invite you to laugh at the butterflies along with me. Pull up a chair. Cradle your favorite mug which cradles your favorite brew. Perhaps you might find the inspiration to clap; clap heartily. Winter is coming.

Fight on!
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