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Covid officially over at dbd?

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Break through cases in vaxed and boosted people continue to occur; we have one in recovery at work right now. And lots of other effects of both Covid and the pandemic circumstance continue to complicate matters. I don't think this will be over, officially or otherwise, for a long time yet to come.

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Nope. Just yesterday we reinstated a maximum telework policy (most people were already working from home) due to recent outbreaks at work.

I masked up when in the airport and while flying to LA last week and I'll do the same when heading home tomorrow.

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I wore my N95 on the airplane both to and from Nashville. In Nashville when I was inside and it was fairly crowded, I wore a mask.

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New York hospitalization going up so . .. no not really. I think it's a bellweather for the rest of the country and vaccines are safer but not fully protective from covid.

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Nope. High school daughter got it for the 2nd time in 1 month. Had it for a week, all clear for a week, got it again. She is fully vaxxed and boosted. Very frustrating.

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well that sucks

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Our house had it a few weeks ago. And at work (55 employees), about half-dozen cases. So still out there, but weak.

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With Marin County still on the rise, and leading all of California in case counts again, I've resumed masking.

But maybe Covid is over at DBD as a discussion topic. What more can one say?

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Well it looks like there are still a lot of stories to share

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Sure does!

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The Kennedy Center ended proof of vax as of yesterday. Still requires mask if sitting in one of the theaters. As noted below, the People's Convoy is on its way back to DC.

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"Mission Accomplished!"

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Ok, more New England questions/rec requests

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Best town to stay in on Cape Cod?

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@Boston@

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P-Town is the best. This was an amazing place.

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/15987726

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we were leaning P-town

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I mean, all the towns from the center toward the east are very cape cod-y - like Mashpee & Sandwich to the east and are pretty interchangeable.

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You also have to visit the pirate museum. Sounds corny. Actually really great. https://www.discoverpirates.com/

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May 17, 2022·edited May 17, 2022

Best town to stay on the Connecticut coast?

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touristy, Groton/Long Point or Mystic

more chill, Southport

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DMoney's couch

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Activities in Burlington or nearby?

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- Ben and Jerry's Factory Tour (30 min)

- lunch/drink/walk at the Beach House

- ride bikes along the Lake Champlain Causeway (sort of like the drive to Key West but on a bike)

- day trip to Mad River Valley, good brew and food and casual hiking

- hike Camels Hump if you want a challenge

- drive up to Stowe, goof around the ski resort, the Von Trapp Family brewery is a good destination

- lots of great food and drink and shopping in Burlington, sort of a mini Boulder CO

- day trip to Lake Placid

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I have backpacked Camel's Hump in 1978 (IIRC).

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Best part about Burlington is that you're so close to Montreal.

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because I'm a dork the only places I've been there are the Lake Champlain science center and the Magic Hat brewery. Apparent some people like Burlington Beer brewery more, and who's to say they're wrong, lots of good local beer in Vermont.

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Shelburne Farms is really great-- one of the big Vanderbuilt properties built in the late 1800s on the shore of Lake Champlain, it is now an inn with a restaurant, and a non-profit program with farming/educational programs (you can make cheese!). You could spend a morning or afternoon wandering the grounds, the public rooms of the inn/old house, and the most gorgeous barn in the country. Lots of trails, but also some adirondack chairs on the lawn to enjoy the beautiful lake.

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May 17, 2022·edited May 17, 2022

A little farther south is the fantastic Fort Ticonderoga Ferry, that squires you across Lake Champlain, into the historic New York town of Ticonderoga...home of Fort Ticonderoga, and Newellbany and my old stomping grounds...poor town hasn't been the same since, unfortunately.

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Home of the pencils?

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The very namesake...

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indeed, this place is super nice

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I hear there's a coat factory or some shit there

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better to go to the ice cream factory

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Is Augusta worth staying in for 1 night as we meander west towards Burlington? Looking for something relatively close to Acadia after we do that one day. Just looking for quaint B&B type action and Augusta fits the route

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FS...the red pup and I stayed in an AirBnB in Ellsworth, ME when we hit Acadia in '20...it was a cool little town, and Union River Lobster Pot was a killer restaurant right on the river.

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My old boss grew up in Ellsworth- lots of cool little lakes around there ("ponds" in local parlance, but they are bigger than a pond by my West Coast upbringing) that also may have some rentals that would be great.

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i would go a little farther west and do a night near Mt Washington (the Mt W Hotel is nice/historic) and that whole area near North Conway is nice.

Augusta is just ok.

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the drive along Rte 2 to North Conway is also pretty nice as these things go

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this place always looked interesting

https://www.adventuresuites.com/

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You doing the finger lakes area? I've heard they have good wine that way.

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no, thats too far west

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Weather

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The official May Gray weather cycle seems to finally have arrived here in LA.

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getting towards hot weather now. Mid to upper 90s for highs this week.

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Driest in the US West since algebra was established. Literally.

https://www.popsci.com/environment/west-us-drought/

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Your prized sports card

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I have a signed Hakeem Olajuwon card from the mid-90s, it's "personalized" to me so I have no idea of it's worth.

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The more that I read about the kid who lost his cards at the Yankees spring training game, it became a much less sympathetic story given he only lost the signed cards from that one day rather than over sessions or even years. He probably could have got the same autographs on those same cheap base cards if his parents just took him to another spring training game. He winds up extremely lucky to get all the freebies via mail.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/33928658/the-boy-lost-autographs

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Rickey Henderson rookie. Also my dad gifted me a set of 74 Topps that his best man got him as a wedding present. Good set, includes a Winfield rookie.

FET: his best man won the trivia contest at the annual SABR convention one year when we were kids. Question was name the guy who has season total HRs of 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. He answered it with a wave of the back of his hand like it was a stupid question. Amazing!

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Btw answer to that question was Chris Speier

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Thirty years ago I sold my baseball card collection to pay off my student loans and buy a new stereo system.

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I have 34,500 of them.

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Fran Tarkington. The fame from That's Incredible didn't hurt.

OJ Simpson. I wonder what he's doing now.

George Blanda - not because he was good, but because he was a 47 year old playing in the NFL, but looked 57 years old.

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I'd keep ownership of any OJ memorabilia close to the vest, you don't want any unwanted visitors

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Billy Ripken

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F-CK FACE

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My friend had that one! Was jealous!

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Also I stole a pack of cards from a grocery store in fourth grade once and I felt really shit about it. Then I opened the pack (89 Upper Deck) and the face card was a Griffey rookie! I am surprised I didn’t become like a jewel thief or something after that life lesson.

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There is a doc about that Griffey card that I forget the name of. That card lifted the market and then killed it when everyone realized they were just pumping out those cards.

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pqtm - you felt bad?

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Hey man, I was in Catholic school!

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A movie with a really good soundtrack

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I'm not a huge comic book movie fan, but The Suicide Squad (the good one), both Dead Pools and Guardians of the Galaxy movies were all great

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Valley Girl

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I think the Plimsouls were in that move, no? ‘A Million Miles Away”. Good song

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I know someone who was in that movie!

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Surprised no one has said Grosse Point Blank yet.

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I... did not like that movie, but it might have a good soundtrack for all I can remember.

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Vintage Cugel....that movie’s a classic. ;-)

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Baby Driver

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Edgar Wright tends to have great soundtracks in his movies.

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cheating a little since most of the music was already famous ... Amadeus

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Immortal Beloved!

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Ha! I was thinking of that - is a bit, same as any bio-pic about a famous singer.

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Natural Born Killers.

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For an original score, Requiem for a Dream. For a collection of songs, High Fidelity.

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I'm gonna sell five copies of the Beta Band.....

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May 17, 2022·edited May 17, 2022

I am pretty sure I downloaded Dry the Rain bc of that scene. But I did it on Napster for free so haha record industry! That’s what you get for selling me $18 CDs with only one good song in the early to mid 90s!

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Jack Black’s portrayal of Barry remains one of the all-time great supporting roles in film history. We’re Sonic F-ing Death Monkey....

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Casino

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A very distinctive one: The Third Man - with the zither score by Anton Karas

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Scott Pilgrim vs the World.

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Trainspotting

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Born Slippy!

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Freshman year in Bowles that was playing from like half the dorm rooms

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American Graffiti

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May 17, 2022·edited May 17, 2022

Glory, most Quintin Terantino movies (esp. Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs and Kill Bill, vol. 1)

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Repo Man. Classic. The 'Sorcerer' and 'Thief' soundtracks by Tangerine Dream are great. Any Ennio score ranges from great to transcendent.

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I was gonna post Repo Man also. Was just listening to Circle Jerks a couple of weeks ago.

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of course, it was the non-lounge version of When the Shit Hits the Fan ;-)

"I can't believe I used to like these guys"

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I liked The Sorcerer quite a bit, rest of the fam, not so much.

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Released the same day that Star Wars was and it cost the studio twice as much as Star Wars to make. A box office disaster, but a good film.

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Hans Zimmer's "Gladiator" score

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Jackie Brown, Boogie Nights, Goodfellas.

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DBD AV Club

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Game of Thrones (S4). (19/19) Masterful story, production, and acting. I have yet to watch the infamous final season, but I'm binging these now on HBOMax and really enjoying them.

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I remember S4 as the “season of big events” and not so much of a coherent, developing story or anything.

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Season 4's unequivocally good and Season 5 slips a bit but mostly stays good. Iirc it's Season 6 where things start to get seriously bad.

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As soon as they get past the books, it goes WAY downhill. Not just the final season.

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agreed about "past the books" , but it is all still really good.

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I watched "All The Streets Are Silent" on Hulu last night. Fantastic doc on the convergence of the NYC hip hop and skateboarding scenes, and how each influenced the other. It was crazy to see how all these things were intertwined; Wu Tang, Moby, Supreme, Busta Rhymes, Zoo York, Club Mars, Jay-Z, Biggie, and the movie Kids to name a few. 18/19 WB

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Went to Cruel World Festival at the Rose Bowl, featuring a wide array of New Wave-era bands from the late 70s and 80s.

DEVO: 20/19, fantastic set without a second of wasted time between songs, entertaining visual elements on the screens behind them, some wacky outfit changes (their trademark hats, hazmat suits, and a couple others)

Bauhaus: 18/19, Peter Murphy had a captivating, almost ethereal stage presence. Great set list and great visuals. DEVO was more fun, but I think this was my favorite set of the night.

Morrissey: 16/19, Morissey closed the festival with a set mostly featuring his solo work (I would have preferred more Smiths-era songs). He seemed to enjoy engaging with the crowd in a very Morrisey-esque fashion: after the first few songs he said "I changed my mind, Goodnight!" and walked off the stage briefly; about two-thirds of the way through he looked out into the audience and said "...you're still here?!" It was all very Morrissey.

Missing Persons: 15/19, fun, lively set, good crowd engagement, and they did the needful by playing "Nobody Walks in LA"

The Church: 11/19, alright, a bit dull. Maybe I would have enjoyed their set more if I were more familiar with their catalog.

I caught snippets of several others, but not enough to rate them: Blondie, The English Beat, Public Image Ltd, Christian Death, London After Midnight, and a few others.

Overall, 19/19, well worth attending despite the 95-degree temperatures during the day.

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Not in the least surprised about DEVO, sounds like a great line up.

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now I'm rethinking my decision to skip seeing Bauhaus, I'm generally leery of these kinds of reunions.

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going next sunday in SF to see them

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If Saturday was any indication, it will be a great show. Enjoy.

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Giannini

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I recall it as being a pretty good place to take a dump as the bathrooms were nice and clean

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As proud CNR student while at Cal...you are correct. I remember there was a lot of marble in there.

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I used to have an office in the basement when I worked IT for the College of Natural Resources. Someone smashed the window and broke in one weekend, but didn't end up taking anything of note.

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Right next door is Wellman Hall. The parking lot behind it might be our new tailgate site in 2023

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Kind of a sucky building to have class in but they did have many cool electron microscopes.

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ELSEWHERE IN COLLEGE

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What kind of dummy thinks you can mail any sort of packet without at least 3 stamps

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Florida Gators set up an NIL sponsorship through personal and corporate support for their long-snapper.

https://twitter.com/JohnHRuiz/status/1526031658692100096

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OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY

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Another sad story...

Authorities: Hate against Taiwanese led to church attack

https://apnews.com/article/religion-shootings-california-1be9931f502664693afbdaa3f1cf6c57

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I'd like to share some information here, as I've found that a lot of the English-speaking sources lacked crucial context.

1) I wrote this thread on Taiwanese history and my family: https://twitter.com/geneandtonic/status/1270087785769086976?s=20&t=3mvsArcLqR375lRCO1YvXQ

2) A point about diaspora: https://twitter.com/brianhioe/status/1526358857814904832?s=20&t=3mvsArcLqR375lRCO1YvXQ

3) Information about the Taiwanese Presbyterian Church (this was very informative for me, as my family isn't Christian): https://twitter.com/Miss_TiffanyL/status/1526354315908030466?s=20&t=3mvsArcLqR375lRCO1YvXQ

4) The shooter's rhetoric: https://twitter.com/seansu/status/1526340237323972608?s=20&t=7cCMqGsmLDCOeCQenzkwBQ

5) The founder of TaiwaneseAmerican.org shared his perspective on Taiwanese American churches (again, an educational post for me to read): https://www.instagram.com/p/Cdo5FTPpnuH/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

6) And finally: https://twitter.com/liaoshenyi/status/1526444003310575616

It really really sucks that people can't go to the grocery store, can't go to church, can't go to school, without the specter of the Second Amendment looming over their heads. Through my anger, fear, and numbness, community is helping, and I'd like to share the above information with those of you who have the bandwidth to take it in.

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Thank you for sharing, I appreciate your insight on this. The media reports I read basically just stopped at "he hated Taiwan"

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Jim Jordan says his texts look pretty treasonous because a) they are, or b) they were altered by Adam Schiff?

https://therecount.com/watch/jim-jordan-mark-meadows-adam-schiff-altered-texts/2645881790

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Sen. Lummis (R-WY) thought it was a good idea to go anti-LGBTQ for her commencement speech at the U Wyoming, where the murder of Matt Shepard helped spark anti-hate crime legislation. She was not well received.

https://twitter.com/webster/status/1525923645637308417

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She smirked like she thought they were for her line of thinking, but then realized they weren't.

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I think she wanted a reaction and she got one

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Seems like the People's Convoy is due back in the area in the next day or two. Seems they still have the same covid related grievances.

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I had hoped they'd have run out of diesel money by now. They're going to get a different reaction around here if any of them try shooting at other folks as happened in Oregon.

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Those g.d. woke hippies celebrating traditional binary gender assignment. Wait, what?

https://twitter.com/therecount/status/1526561920047800321

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Dr. Oz wants to sleep with you.

https://twitter.com/acyn/status/1526376138188070913

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Who could have predicted that he'd say black is white, up is down, good is bad?

https://www.mediamatters.org/tucker-carlson/tucker-carlson-says-violence-and-death-caused-white-supremacists-inevitable-result

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CA State Bill 1401 gets moving... the one that REQUIRES payment to college atheletes and would probably devastate non-revenue sports at Cal. The LA Times has a thorough article about it.

https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/2022-05-16/nil-college-sports-california-bill-ncaa

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PRO

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Steve Aoki may have just unseated 50 Cent for worst celebrity first pitch. Steve Aoki's half-sister is Devon Aoki - Suki the hot pink racer from 2 Fast 2 Furious. Their dad invented Benihana.

https://twitter.com/Steve_Perrault/status/1526336678297739265

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Giants get Coors Fieldy in win at Coors Field

https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2022/5/16/23079299/giants-rockies-recap-curt-casali-mike-yastrzemski

This was not supposed to be the year that the San Francisco Giants won because of their catchers. Gone is our beloved Buster Posey, who skipped off to Georgia to do whatever it is that 30-somethings do with their wife and kids and $200,000,000. I will soon know what they do, as I am only a wife, kids, and about $200,075,000 away from that very same situation.

They sought to replace a 2021 All-Star, Silver Slugger, and MVP vote-getter with someone who was in AAA last year for a reason, and a backup catcher who is, to use the parlance of the guy who founded this site using the parlance of The Simpsons, cromulent.

I am not criticizing the plan. I’m merely detailing it. Of the 183 plate appearances by Joey Bart and Curt Casali, 163 of them have come from the nine hole. Fangraphs projected them to be the fifth-worst catching crew in the Majors.

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Tony Gonsolin, Chris Taylor lead Dodgers over Diamondbacks

https://www.truebluela.com/2022/5/16/23080638/tony-gonsolin-strikeouts-chris-taylor-home-run-double-dodgers-diamondbacks

Tony Gonsolin was allowed to pitch deeper than usual on Monday, and delivered six strong innings to lead the Dodgers over the Diamondbacks 5-4 in the opener of a four-game series at Dodger Stadium.

Gonsolin got uncommon rope, wading five batters into the choppy waters of the third time through Arizona’s lineup. Kettle Marte, who had a fly-ball double earlier and scored with the help of an error, hit a fly-ball single with two outs in the sixth. Christian Walker, who homered off Gonsolin in the second inning, was pitched around in a five-pitch walk.

But Gonsolin rewarded the faith by striking out Josh Rojas to end the threat. Gonsolin’s seven strikeouts are a season high, and two more than he had in any previous 2022 start.

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GBBR

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GBBR

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Dodgers win the first game of a doubleheader this afternoon.

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A's: The Loneliest team in baseball (NY Times piece)

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/15/sports/baseball/oakland-athletics-attendance.html

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And yet I've been to 3 games this season!

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Game #38: Offensive woes continue in 3-1 loss to Twins

https://www.athleticsnation.com/2022/5/16/23080113/game-38-as-lose-to-twins-3-1

The A’s dropped the series opener to the Minnesota Twins on Monday night, losing 3-1 for Oakland’s third straight loss.

The A’s rookie starting pitcher was solid enough, and four bullpen arms combined to yield just one run. But the lineup collected just four hits and a pair of walks, going 0-for-4 with RISP. Oakland has scored just seven runs in their last five games and continue eto be lost offensively.

Things were looking up to start this game. Starting pitcher Zach Logue pitched a clean top half of the first, throwing 10 of his 13 pitches for strikes, then leadoff man Tony Kemp pulled a single into right field to get the A’s going. A Ramon Laureano walk put a runner in scoring position with just one out, but the struggles in these situations continued as Seth Brown and Sean Murphy both went down without bringing in an early run that Oakland could have used.

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The Phoenix Suns choked so bad that they couldn't even apologize correctly.

https://twitter.com/RedditCFB/status/1526334150516432896

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🙄 who cares about that?

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Oakland Colosseum has feral cats. It also has...

https://twitter.com/matthewkawahara/status/1526000935524134913

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Cubs lead-off hitter smacked a grand-slam. In the first inning.

https://twitter.com/Cubs/status/1526354530467729409

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George Springer did that on 6.24.16, which I think is the only other time a lead off hitter hit a GS in the 1st inning

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So... how's the Washington Nationals' season going so far?

https://twitter.com/BallyMarlins/status/1526368433956323332

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They are really bad. More than once they've had two errors on the same play. And last week had two runners thrown out at third on the same play.

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Congratulations Toronto Maple Leafs. You've done what no other pro team has done before - been eliminated in game 7 of the first round of the playoffs for 5 straight years!

https://ftw.usatoday.com/lists/toronto-maple-leafs-game-7-nhl-playoffs-2022

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This is a franchise that definitely seems like it should have done better over the years.

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And apparently they sell out every single game to the point that if you want tickets you have to gamble on the scalper market outside the arena before games

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A very long time ago I went to a game at the old Maple Leaf Gardens when I was working in Toronto and had no problem getting a ticket. Definitely a long time ago.

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CAL

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Women's BB hires new assistant coach the alliterative Heidi Heintz. Apparently Kelly Cole is gone. https://calbears.com/news/2022/5/16/womens-basketball-heidi-heintz-joins-womens-basketball-coaching-staff.aspx

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Congrats to the Class of '22

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Go Bears!!!

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Ire Ursis!!!

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