The end of the Steeler Patriots Game

As I understand the rule of a “pass catch” it is when a player 1. --- takes possession of the thrown ball , THEN 2. ---- makes what they call “a football move”. That is what determines a catch. 1 and 2.

(This rule I believe was first employed just a few years ago concerning a catch and a subsequent fumble. A catch was determined a catch if the receiver took control of the ball and then made “a football move” before he may fumble it when hit.) --- a pretty crappy rule no matter what.

Well……….. our Steeler player definitely 1. -- caught that ball and had complete control over it, then 2. --- reached out (IN “A FOOTBALL MOVE”)…… never having been touched by the other team (not that that is at all relevant) …….he reached over the goal line and as the ball was in his grasp the ball hit the ground slightly but the ball was still in his grasp.

That is a CERTAIN CATCH AND TOUCHDOWN because he took control of the ball then (reached over the goal line—“a football move”) with the ball and kept control never having been touched by the opponent. Touchdown.

1.--- It was a completed pass THEN 2. --- he made “a football move” reaching into the end zone -- that term is in the rule book. He landed in the end zone keeping control of the ball AFTER THE CATCH AND “THE FOOTBALL MOVE”. (Even if he “bobbled” the ball slightly, he had made a catch AND made that required "football move" as he reached over the goal line. ) Total horsesh*t call.

If the NFL had any balls (that aren’t deflated), they would admit they made a HUGE MISTAKE for the owner of the Patriots, Robert Kraft.

The Steelers outplayed those New England characters most of the night, except for that beastly tight end of theirs.

Well……… we’ll see them later this year, and I don’t care where that game will be played, we may have Antonio Brown back for the entire game then.

People pay their money on FR and have the right to post NFL things. It isn’t just a political forum, either, which is what makes it great.

But, I do have a question for you. This is rather long, KevinB, but I would appreciate it if you would take the time to read it and comment on it. As conservatives, we prefer to be consistent in our views.

Again, this is long, but I have faith in the intellectual capacity of Freepers to be able to analyze these kinds of things.

Then NFL has been under fire for its vacillation, unwillingness, or even craven support of men playing the sport who disrespect the flag of this country during the playing of the National Anthem. Up to now, it has been a largely symbolic issue for the NFL, not necessarily a financial one initially, but with decreasing revenues and viewership, that has been changing, and has resulted in the announcement today by the NFL.
That announcement is going to change the nature of the opposition from a largely ideologically symbolic one to ideologically financial one now that the league has pledged $100 million dollars over the next seven years to “Social Justice causes”.

This means, for the first time, in addition to the relatively innocuous causes the NFL has supported in the past such as Play 60, Youth Football, Player Matching Grants and such, the NFL is going to financially support entities that have values in direct opposition (and often in hostile ways) to what are generally viewed as fundamental American values.

I hope that some of you who see this post will take the time to read it, even though it is long. Please take the time to read the entire post if you can, because I think it is important. It is important from the basic consistency of the stance we take, and also important to stop the cultural corrosion and bleeding resulting from this money trail described below.

I have looked at this because I try to be consistent, when I can, and I wanted to evaluate (including NFL viewership) my consumer choices. It isn’t always possible. For example, I despise Google and all it stands for, but I am required by work to use the suite of Google products. But I HAVE made choices (personal and consumer choices) in my life (to the annoyance and smirking humor of some people I know) but for other people, those may not be the same choices they want to make or choices they can make.

My stance on these is that I generally, with few exceptions, won’t criticize others for their choices, because I believe those are personal decisions for everyone to make on their own.

For my example, I am going to use Microsoft, because they are one of the biggest donors to The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation having given over a BILLION dollars of MICROSOFT money (not the donations from the employees, that is a BILLION DOLLARS OF MATCHING FUNDS FROM MICROSOFT’S OWN FINANCIAL RESOURCES to the foundation.

WHAT YOU SEE BELOW IS DATA I HAVE LOOKED AT ON THE INTERNET BY GOING DIRECTLY TO THE BILL AND MELINDA GATES WEBSITE AND DOWNLOADING THEIR OWN DOCUMENTATION.

I did not make this up or take it from some blogger. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is quite proud of the money they get from these corporations, so while it took a little scratching to get to it, it is available to everyone to see with their own eyes.

For what it is worth, go to the NFL Foundation, to see who they give money to. (The URL is: http://www.nflfoundation.org/)

Some of those causes the NFL gives to look a bit sketchy, but I don’t see The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on it, and none of the causes they give money to appear nearly as heinous and destructive as nearly all of them I have listed below.

I am as outraged by the disrespect shown by some of the NFL players and the weak and craven franchises and league who were too wimpy to stand up and put a stop to it as anyone.

But in my opinion, the more fundamental issue is, why are we not more consistent in this outrage to protect our American values and ultimately, our country?

Why isn’t the outrage I see here on FR and in many others that is directed at the NFL for the physical disrespect for our values, NOT ALSO DIRECTED AT Microsoft for the money that Microsoft has given outright to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation? (I will use Microsoft as an example, but this goes for the companies listed below such as Apple, Exxon Mobile, Boeing,The Home Depot, Verizon, etc.)

Microsoft does a 1:1 match, and gave $47 Million dollars to the foundation in 2014. (Since they began matching, they have given over a billion dollars. THAT IS A BILLION DOLLARS.)

Other top donors to The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation are Apple, Exxon Mobile (Exxon Mobile gave over $269 million in 2014), GE, Soros Fund Management, GAP, State Street, Car Max, Johnson & Johnson, Boeing, Chevron, Disney, Google, The Home Depot, JP Morgan, Merck, Starbucks, State Farm and Verizon.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, in turn, gives money to the following:

Organization - Amount (US$ millions) GAVI Alliance 3,152.8 World Health Organization 1,535.1 The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria 777.6 PATH 635.2 United States Fund for UNICEF 461.1 The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International 400.1 International Bank for Reconstruction and Development 340.0 Global Alliance for TB Drug Development 338.4 Medicines for Malaria Venture 334.1 PATH Vaccine Solutions 333.4 UNICEF Headquarters 277.6 Johns Hopkins University 265.4 Aeras 227.6 Clinton Health Access Initiative Inc 199.5 International Development Association 174.7 CARE 166.2 World Health Organization Nigeria Country Office 166.1 Agence française de développement 165.0 Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo 153.1 Cornell University 146.7 Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa 146.4 United Nations Foundation 143.0 University of Washington Foundation 138.2 Foundation for the National Institutes of Health 136.2 Emory University 123.2 University of California San Francisco 123.1 Population Services International 122.5 University of Oxford 117.8 International Food Policy Research Institute 110.7 International Institute of Tropical Agriculture 104.8

Some of those might not be bad, but there are some very bad ones.

The Rotary Foundation? Might not be bad, but WHO does The Rotary Foundation give money to? I haven’t checked that.

Cornell, University of Oxford, John Hopkins et al might not be bad either, but that is open to debate when one sees what goes on in institutions of higher education.

But the rest of them look like a Murderer’s Row of liberal, anti-American Entities, and few of us are going to argue that: World Health Organization, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, United States Fund for UNICEF, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, UNICEF Headquarters, Clinton Health Access Initiative Inc, International Development Association, CARE, World Health Organization Nigeria Country Office, Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, United Nations Foundation, Population Services International, and so on. (The ones I didn’t know anything about such as the International Food Policy Research Institute might not be in the “Murderer’s Row”, but that might be only because I didn’t look.

My point is, that every single one of those companies listed as matching donors to The Bill and Melinda Gates send far more money to entities such as The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that want to destroy what America stands for, than the NFL has done in the entire history of the league.

So why is it that people are outraged by the NFL because a segment of the player population protests during the National Anthem, but are both apathetic and ignorant of the huge financial support given by Microsoft and others to entities who antithetical to American values?

Why?

Is it simple ignorance? (Ignorance in the non-pejorative use...the information doesn’t bubble to the surface to be viewed like a kneeling NFL player)

Is it shallowness, that the visual symbol of a subset of NFL players kneeling far outweighs the financial transactions that take place that fund these entities listed above? These entities OPERATIONALLY FUNDED with BILLIONS of dollars support organization advocating wholesale abortion and others such as Black Lives Matter, Moveon.org, etc.

Is it the fact that many people use a computer running Microsoft software, on networks using Microsoft infrastructure to run servers to access the Internet using a Microsoft browser, to access online stores also running Microsoft software, and that is a bridge too far? A consumer sacrifice too many people don’t want to make?

After all, it is far easier to bash the NFL and people who attend games or watch the NFL on television, when one is either a casual watcher, or doesn’t watch sports at all. One doesn’t have any skin in the game there, so...this is far easier for that person to condemn the NFL by logging onto their PC running Microsoft software and typing their disgust into a website using Microsoft products as well.

Microsoft ALONE has given over a BILLION dollars to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which simply disburses that money to the entities above (and many others NOT listed) to whom that money is not just a symbol of a player disrespecting the flag or national anthem, BUT IS REAL OPERATIONAL FUNDING.

I have seen the result of this operational funding WITH MY OWN EYES down in Washington DC at protests. Large buses parked in rows, protesters being handed professionally pre-printed signs as they get off, and though I have not seen the transactions myself, liberal anti-American protesters being paid a stipend to participate. SOMEONE pays for the protest permits. SOMEONE pays for all of this.

I remember standing with a bunch of conservative counter-protesters, looking at all these buses and signs, and all of us wondering aloud in discussion who pays for it, eventually mumbling it is MoveOn.org, Soros, or whatever.

But you know the REAL answer of “who pays for this?” It is Apple, Exxon Mobile, GE, Soros Fund Management, GAP, State Street, Car Max, Johnson & Johnson, Boeing, Chevron, Disney, Google, The Home Depot, JP Morgan, Merck, Starbucks, State Farm and Verizon, just to name a few. THESE ARE THE TOP 20 from 2014 ALONE.

My point is, when are we going to begin directing this justified outrage at companies other than the NFL.

The NFL is a piker, an amateur with respect to ACTUAL FINANCIAL FUNDING AND BACKING of anti-American entities than any of the corporations such as Apple, Exxon Mobile, Boeing,The Home Depot, Verizon, etc.

If the symbolism only (of a player kneeling during the playing of the National Anthem) is the most important thing to you, and the actual funding of these corrosive entities (that actually do damage) to the tunes of BILLIONS of dollars is not important, then that is your choice, and I won’t criticize anyone for that choice. And, with the announcement that the NFL is going to give $100 million dollars, the NFL may soon enter the top 20 of The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, so that is in play, too.

But shouldn’t we be paying attention to the REAL damage, the actual operational funding of organizations who are dedicated to causes that oppose the values this country was funded on?

Enties funded by the likes of Apple, Exxon Mobile, GE, Soros Fund Management, GAP, State Street, Car Max, Johnson & Johnson, Boeing, Chevron, Disney, Google, The Home Depot, JP Morgan, Merck, Starbucks, State Farm and Verizon?

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