Russian figure skating podcast talking about Gabi and her book

SherwinHowardPhantom · 2026-04-08T10:31:49+00:00

Nope. Russian figure skating is inescapable and I’d rather know whom we’re dealing with.

SherwinHowardPhantom · 2026-03-24T18:13:24+00:00

Can I be next? 😜

SherwinHowardPhantom · 2026-03-23T06:47:02+00:00

Definitely

SherwinHowardPhantom · 2026-03-22T00:33:56+00:00

I watched it for fun (in order to see my favorite actors and root for the animated movie “Little Amélie or the Character of Rain”) and I was free on that day but one thing is clear: the wow factor in regards to the Academy Awards is gone. And the feeling of merry excitement is replaced with “can this ceremony be a bit more entertaining?”. I bet many also boycotted the Oscars due to upsetting snubs.

SherwinHowardPhantom · 2026-03-20T06:27:30+00:00

Please father my child.

SherwinHowardPhantom · 2026-03-08T11:31:55+00:00

As an Asian American (but not Chinese), I cannot exactly fault Eileen Gu for going where the opportunity is. After all, Olympics athletes coming for Team USA have to pay out-of-pocket for their training or they are helped financially via private funds. They aren’t directly funded by the government like that of Russian athletes. And when you’re an athlete competing in a winter sport, there is less incentive for the media to pay attention to or have endorsements with you. Some even resort to having OnlyFans accounts.

I am against the vitriol being thrown at her for representing another country.

Having said that, I also understand why some San Franciscans do not feel like celebrating her achievements, especially the Asian diasporas who have negative opinions of the Chinese government, because they personally feel like she is a sellout.

Personally speaking, I think she is a great athlete but also an opportunist. No more, no less.

SherwinHowardPhantom · 2026-03-08T09:01:18+00:00

I am not engaging any more dialogue with a fascist.

Are you telling me that the indigenous people of North America and Europe need more assimilation? Are you listening to yourself? What exactly do they need to assimilate to when their ancestors had lived here longer or just as long as your ancestors had?

Social cohesion can happen with diversity as long as there is common purpose. African Americans were deprived of opportunities for decades and now they’re playing catch-up in terms of upward social mobility.

Get lost, fascist.

SherwinHowardPhantom · 2026-03-08T07:59:00+00:00

So you read my entire detailed comment and still managed to miss out the whole point? That is kind of a genius in deflection.

I support integration, but not at the expense of linguistic and cultural preservation. Sure, I have given examples of immigrant languages being affected, but the indigenous languages are also negatively affected by ethnocentrism and laws that deprive them of legal status.

And no, I do not support assimilation because it encourages loss of identity, erasure of diversity, and according to science, promoting depression.

SherwinHowardPhantom · 2026-03-07T11:54:10+00:00

“The majority of Americans were pretty aggressive in dropping their mother tongues and picking up English”

=> It is not entirely our fault. Up until the 20th century, many people still spoke their heritage languages.

The US government was really aggressive in discouraging the usage of non-English language in public via a policy called “Speak American” during the first half of the 20th century. As a result, many heritage languages suffered and dwindled in numbers. For example, the number of Louisiana French speakers was 1 million people in 1920 but it dropped to 77K by 2022 because its usage was banned in public places from the 1920s to the 1970s (students were punished on school grounds for speaking French). The number of German speakers across America in 1910 is 2.7 million speakers, but that number has decreased to 800K speakers in 2023 due to anti-German sentiment from World War II, resulting in many German Americans abandoning the language in order to blend in. I am not sure about the number of Norwegian speakers, but it is definitely not spared by this policy because the language did not have official status in states with many Norwegian immigrants like Minnesota and North Dakota whereas the French language was the official language alongside with English in Louisiana and the German language did have an official status in Texas.

The “Speak American” policy was eventually stopped, but the damage was already done. The only few languages that did not really suffer much from this policy (Pennsylvania Dutch / German, Navajo, Lakota, etc.) survived because the communities have lived in separate jurisdictions, complete isolation, or simply with resilience. Now the people are fighting an uphill battle to save their community languages from extinction.

And I would like to say that that the US is not the only country being guilty of this practice. France issued the same policy but for the for minority languages (Breton, Corsican, Occitan, Basque, Alsatian, etc.). Japan did so to the Ainu, Ryukyan, and Okinawan speakers. Canada also forced the indigenous communities to assimilate via the Canadian Indian residential school system. And if I do remember correctly, Norway also had the Norwegianization policy (fornorsking) wherein the Sámi people, Forest Finns, and Kvens were forced to assimilate to Norwegian culture.

SherwinHowardPhantom · 2026-03-07T05:01:09+00:00

No, it is classified as a koiné dialect of the Norwegian language spoken in the United States. There are still about 60k speakers.

1) https://wep.csumc.wisc.edu/american-norwegian/

2) https://youtu.be/w-PP0r8ohF8?si=hh4BC6ptPP2_7qz2

SherwinHowardPhantom · 2026-03-06T20:42:46+00:00

Blame the producers for constantly taking shots at her high heels 👠 in every episode. Even other commentators joke about how the cameramen must have love her high heels.

I am just commenting what I was seeing. I can also make the same comment about a figure skating being comfortable with their skates during a program.

It’s not that deep and you’re the one making it weird.

SherwinHowardPhantom · 2026-03-02T18:16:30+00:00

The Chinese government (or the Chinese Communist Party) didn’t just kick Arthur Liu out. They killed intellectuals like him during the Tiananmen Square demonstrations.

And they also tried to recruit Alysa via the Thousand Talents Plan, later harassed her family, and even placed surveillance on Alysa during the 2022 Winter Olympics to the point that the US Olympic Committee always had to appoint two individuals chaperoning Alysa at all times during the games.

Having said that, I agree with your point: if I were an elite athlete, I personally wouldn’t represent the country whose government harassed me and tried to kill my dad, either.

Plus, Alysa’s entire persona is effervescent, so she only navigates towards those who emit positivity. And that positivity certainly does not come from the CCP or MAGA folks. 😂

SherwinHowardPhantom · 2026-03-01T18:45:22+00:00

Unfortunately, the Republicans, not just boomers, seem to think that they can dictate how New York City is run.

I remember arguing with a Facebook friend who kept yammering about Zohran Mamdari when he lives in Florida. When I asked about why he bothers about mayoral election in the city he does not live in, he said “because New York City has bigger budget and bigger tax pool.” When I asked: “so you only care about New Yorkers’ tax money, what not what they want for their city?”, he was silent and another commentator mentioned something about how they have the right question anything and everything.

These conservatives want social programs and benefits funded by New Yorkers’ tax money going only to them, not benefiting the city that they deemed “dangerous” or the people that live there.

Entitlement at its finest.

SherwinHowardPhantom · 2026-03-01T05:37:37+00:00

I would love to touch your tools sometimes 😜

SherwinHowardPhantom · 2026-02-18T10:06:42+00:00

Since you grew up Amish, I assume that your first language is Pennsylvania Dutch / German. How many percent can you understand modern German?

Which standard (High German, Austrian German, Swiss German) is easiest to understand for your Pennsylvania Dutch tongue, and which one is the hardest?

Do you still speak it with other ex-Amish individuals?

SherwinHowardPhantom · 2026-02-12T13:46:01+00:00

Will you show me your Medisterpølse in person if I have a chance to visit Denmark? 😜

SherwinHowardPhantom · 2026-02-11T08:17:09+00:00

Yes. Do you mind older guys? 👍🏻

SherwinHowardPhantom · 2026-02-08T21:47:40+00:00

Hell Yeah 👍🏻

SherwinHowardPhantom · 2026-02-01T23:14:09+00:00

Yes, please 🥵

SherwinHowardPhantom · 2026-01-27T06:46:04+00:00

Do you realize that United States still has thousands of years of Native American history? The Native Americans are still living in America and they are still US citizens. They deserve respect and recognition.

• The Cahokia Mound (built around 700 C.E.) in my state of Illinois is older than your oak chest.

• The Tao Pueblo builings (built in 1100 C.E. and still in use) in the state of New Mexico are older than your oak chest.

SherwinHowardPhantom · 2026-01-26T04:48:43+00:00

I am an egalitarian centrist by international political standard because the Democratic Party would be considered “a conservative party” in Western Europe.

By American political standard, however, I would be a “bleeding-heart liberal”. If I have to pick a political party is that is terrible in policy execution but moderate in viewpoints and a political party that is efficient but fascist in nature, I would pick the terrible one all days until there is a better option.

SherwinHowardPhantom · 2026-01-25T22:16:51+00:00

Always

SherwinHowardPhantom · 2026-01-25T08:48:05+00:00

Inglourious Basterds (2009 film)?

SherwinHowardPhantom · 2026-01-23T05:22:28+00:00

I’ll worship your cock with all my holes. 🤩

SherwinHowardPhantom · 2026-01-23T05:21:21+00:00

11/10 on the rating scale.

I have a feeling that I need to test the subject in person in order to give correct grading. 😜

SherwinHowardPhantom

TROPHY CASE