99 Comments
May 12, 2022Liked by BentPawn

It's been a while since I've logged on here, so a quick update for everyone. The last month was spent in trial, but this time it was the first time I conducted voir dire and examined (and cross-examined) witnesses and experts. We won the trial.

Also, was told that I would be promoted to equity partner, so that's cool too.

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Nice work.

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Congratulations! Also, YWC was trying (unsuccessfully) to guilt trip me about not going to South Bend + Chicago, so I showed him photos from the Cal @ Northwestern weekend (which he didn't go to, because he's the worst) so we were just looking at photos of you!

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deletedMay 12, 2022·edited May 12, 2022
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Gonna be an epic time in South Bend...after letting everyone down in Ft Worth, Newellbany & I plan to bring it like we did in Faulkner’s flowery-a$$ town back in ‘19...

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Congrats!

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Noice!

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May 12, 2022·edited May 12, 2022

Score! Get paid!

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Congrats on the promotion!

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Congratulations!

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Congrats!

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May 12, 2022·edited May 12, 2022

DBD Finance & Technology

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El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele is a 40-year old millennial. He made his country the first to adopt Bitcoin as a legal currency. The country invested in Bitcoin for its currency reserves. Since then, Bitcoin prices have plummeted and the country appears like it will imminently default on its bonds as its skimpy reserves have evaporated.

https://english.elpais.com/economy-and-business/2022-05-10/el-salvador-expected-to-default-as-bitcoin-plummets.html

https://www.coindesk.com/price/bitcoin/

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Shoulda bet it all on asscoin. That’s the takeaway right?

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I've been seeing some updates that Bukele might use this as a pretext to increase government clampdowns on protestors, which is not a happy thought given how these things usually go in El Salvador

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[Not good category]

SoftBank’s Son Pays Price for Tech Bets With $20 Billion Loss

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-05-12/softbank-vision-fund-posts-a-record-loss-as-son-s-bets-fail

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that is quite a loss!

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May 12, 2022·edited May 12, 2022

It was a pendulum swing from their best quarter ever to their all time worst. Now they are hoping to list ARM on nasdaq assuming the ARM China problems with the renegade Haas educated CEO have been solved.

https://techcrunch.com/2022/05/12/softbank-may-cut-its-startup-investments-by-more-than-half-2022/amp/

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Falls

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closer to home .. DuPont State Forest in western NC has lots of amazing waterfalls along w/ the some excellent gravel bike trails.

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Iceland is the land of waterfalls. They have random unmarked waterfalls off the side of the road that would be a major attraction that would draw millions of visitors in the US. Their waterfalls are amazing.

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May 12, 2022·edited May 12, 2022

not to be a downer .. but i fell on my bike on Thu. very nomral ride, but i must have flipped over and hit my head/neck. dont remember the details.

got surgery on broken collar bone and perhaps more concerning is that i am still in a cervical neck brace and the possibility of spinal fusion surgery of 2-3 vertebrae.

hoping for the best ..

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Yikes. Being in a neck brace while a while after a neck injury is pretty common even with just soft tissue injury. Sometimes it's recommended just for comfort. But fusion, ouch.

Most flexion and extension of the neck is from first 2-3 cervical vertebrae so lower cervical fusions don't result in much loss of function. Based on your clavicle injury, I'm guessing the vertebrae are lower in the neck (C5-T1 range)?

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oof. collar bones - the bane of every cyclist.

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Thinking about it, I'm glad I took all my falls 18-22.

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so scary :( hoping for a smooth recovery for you!

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That is concerning - wishing you the best possible outcome.

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Oh no. So sorry to hear this. Best wishes from me and the pups for a quick and speedy recovery HSB.

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Hoping for the best and wishing you a speedy recovery.

I crashed on my mountain bike once and was flung over the handle bars. Hit my chin and had to get lots of stitches at the ER to close the wound.

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DBD AV Club

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Christopher Walken cast as the emperor in Dune. Can't wait for him to deliver dialogue.

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More cowbell!

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You know Todd...it wouldn’t kill you to play some competitive sports once in awhile....

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I'm enjoying The Offer (Paramount+) about producing the Godfather - my wife less so. We both enjoy Starstruck (HBO).

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Y'all should not be shy about posting things tomorrow. I'm flying to PDX for a weekender to celebrate my birthday today.

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Happy Birthday!

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Happy Birthday!

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Happy Birthday!

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Happy Birthday!

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Have fun! I’m in Portland (Wilsonville, actually) with the pups right now...heading to Shasta in an hour, then the Bay Area, then home to SB as we wrap up this little 2-week road trip. Enjoy SGB!

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Happy B-day and many more trips around the Sun.

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what good plans?

and HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!!

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Oldman was so good.

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I really loved it

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It's quite good, better after the first episode.

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ELSEWHERE IN COLLEGE

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ACC and its 14 members are planning on switching away from divisions and toward a 3&5 schedule - three annual opponents and the other 10 played on even/odd years.

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/33899589/acc-mulls-3-5-5-college-football-scheduling-model-effort-scrap-divisions

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I am not enamored by the Pac having divisions so eliminating them would be an improvement, IMO. Though requiring a top-2 conference finish to play for the championship may hurt our ability to ever participate in one.

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I wouldn't mind doing something similar, play all the CA schools and rotate the rest of them. Northwest pod, CA pod, AZ/Utah/CO pod

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Other than Stanford and ucla, I don’t feel the need to play USC every season.

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As I recall, not playing both LA schools yearly was a deal breaker for Cal (& probably LSJU) when they proposed to split the conference into divisions. We wanted to maintain the 'rivalries' and keep the annual trip south. The main (real) reason being we didn't want to miss playing yearly in the fertile southern California recruiting ground.

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This, its about brand recognition in recruiting regions. Hence Notre Dame's "rivalries" with Stanford and USC.

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(And why we should continue to schedule Texas schools)

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OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY

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Katie Porter refers quarter-million dollar Trump administration bribery scheme to DOJ. The fact that it was hard for me to even find anything about this shows how far we have fallen as a society that this isn't even a news blip.

https://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/watch/katie-porter-goes-after-trump-uncovering-potential-bribery-scheme-139831365638

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Repubs will run out the clock.

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Dang, so much corruption, hard to keep track of it all.

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The scandal that is going to end the presidency in Clear and Present Danger is sending a squad of troops to fight an illegal drug war in Columbia. WOuldn't even get a paragraph in today's paper.

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TWW: failure to disclose MS leads to a near-impeachment...

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I wonder who pays Rep. Paul Gosar?

https://twitter.com/repgosar/status/1524562978535874570

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He doesn't seem smart enough to profit from any of this. He's just messed up.

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All of his siblings put out a commercial "dont vote for our brother" and he still got elected

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It was a great ad, though.

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If you're tired of the Qanon & GOP's Firehose of Falsehood, take a look at their inspiration.

https://twitter.com/maxfras/status/1524385330652188673

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They have found out our secret tactics. Alert antifa on the secret phone.

https://twitter.com/TomiLahren/status/1518384626519134208?t=YmXQo1jbuKsWFxSG_1r4_g&s=19

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Is she trying to do a racism by referencing beans and watermelon? Because, huh?

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Of course I had to read further to figure out why. And I've now given up on any further understanding.

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This is true. Exceedingly well-played bank shot by him.

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PRO

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Chase Garbers has more competition and his signing is not mentioned in this article.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/33903390/new-england-patriots-trading-backup-qb-jarrett-stidham-las-vegas-raiders-source-confirms

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Jarrett Stidham is my ex-boss's son-in-law

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Fight! Fight! Fight!

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I mean, I love Garbers, but you have to admit his chances of starting a game in the NFL are pretty low. You never really know until you try though - kudos to him for going for it and not leaving that stone unturned.

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Yup, even if he doesn't even make the final roster or even practice squad, at least he can say he made it to the NFL.

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Yeah. Garbers has moxie so maybe he will earn a roster spot.

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Giants beat the Rockies for the sweep behind the arm of Alex Cobb.

Cobb is an interesting pitcher - a 34-year old journeyman pitcher who didn't make the bigs until he was 29 for the Orioles where he proceeded to get hammered for 3 season. He goes to the Angels and has a decent season. Understandably, he's the #5 pitcher. He's a two pitch guy - a split-finger fastball and a sinker that doesn't sink that much - that is finesse rather than power. But the lateral movement is filthy. Speaking of filthy, opposing pitcher Chad Kuhl has a slider that is unfair. It has a late break that is like a whiffle ball. Fortunately, Giants figured him out.

https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2022/5/11/23067914/mlb-recap-san-francisco-giants-colorado-rockies

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A's take out frustrations on the poor paper Tigers 9-0. Still the power drought of the A's is disconcerting. At this rate it appears like none of their starters will achieve 20 home runs this season.

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Grizzlies Whoop That Trick on the Dubs 134-95.

https://www.espn.com/nba/recap?gameId=401434774

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Game was done by time I thought to look in. And that was early in the game.

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They waved the white flag in the second. If Otto Porter Jr is out for game 6 there may be some trouble brewing.

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I didn't even notice he was out for that game. That does help explain why they got killed on the glass and on defense, in a way they hadn't before.

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It’s crazy that they were so thoroughly beaten given Memphis was without its best player. I do wonder if Kerr being out was a factor.

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Them not changing their game plan without Ja was the factor. Having Draymond not take any open shot attempts allows the Grizzlies to play 5 on 4, he needs to be at least somewhat of a threat out there.

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Keep in mind that the Grizzlies' record without Ja was actually better than with him in the regular season. They are not helpless without him.

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May 12, 2022·edited May 12, 2022

He went out with a foot injury and they shut down most (if not all) of the starters in the 3rd. Also I just learned about their whole “Whoop That Trick” unofficial song and it was really weird watching all their fans chanting it over and over, including parents encouraging their young kids to chant along to a song that is essentially a song about beating up sex workers.

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I had the same thought! It’s not essentially about that; that is the literal meaning of the lyrics. Bonkers

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i went to bed a half time and it was already out of hand

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I actually fell asleep in the third quarter.

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Brutal

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CAL

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Go Bears!!!

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It seems like the recent pick-ups out of the portal on the O-Line may have saved our season from a dangerous and concerning lack of depth. This seems to be a perennial problem that has not been solved through recruiting, just sayin'

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The portal has transformed recruiting. The huge pool of much lower risk but lower ceiling guys certainly is useful.

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That assessment does seem to fit right in with Cal.

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[SB] Cal gets two first team All Conference players - UTIL Makena Smith (OPS 1.274) and SS Tatum Anzaldo (0.953 OPS) both tore the cover off the ball. P Sona Halajian got second-team but was arguably Cal's MVP because she was a good batter and Cal's best pitcher who shoulder a massive load (165 innings of 351.2 total innings). Acacia Anders also named to 2nd team, who had excellent plate discipline with the 2nd most walks and one of the fewest strike outs. The Bears should be competitive next year as they currently don't have anybody on the team that is older than a Junior.

https://calbears.com/news/2022/5/11/softball-four-bears-earn-all-conference-honors.aspx

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They did do the whole senior celebration thing for Amani Bradley (who is a starting outfielder) and Morgan Zamora (a bench player) last weekend. Still, the team should be even better next year...even if they can likely extend this season by upsetting UCLA this weekend.

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[WGolf] Bears finish 10th at NCAA regionals out of 12, 53 shots behind the lead. It was not the finish they hoped for, but it was an honor to be there at all.

https://calbears.com/news/2022/5/11/womens-golf-bears-wrap-up-season-in-10th-at-ncaa-stillwater-regional.aspx

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Things said on Twist's wedding night.

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