Welcome to the Daily Bear Dump, a Write for California community board where one can talk about anything - Cal related or off-topic. Comment threads are sorted by topic. Anything is fine, so long as you’re generally civil.
I'd guess was taken after the 16th St. Baptist Church firebombing in Birmingham, AL (09/15/1963). Look in the lower left corner of the photo. It refers to the "Birmingham Atrocities". Also, the clothing has that early 60s vibe.
Only one visit to the campus. But although I was from the central valley, I had many relatives in the bay area, so sort of familiar with Oakland and Berkeley and SF. Also, a nice central valley Cal grad graciously hosted a lot of us admitees.
Aunt and uncle attended before WWII. Lived at Tree Haven on North side.
Father and uncle worked the Kaiser shipyards, also lived at Tree Haven, before joining Navy. My father had mixed feelings and really wanted me to go to JC. Of course that made my decision to go as a Freshman. LOL
- Bengali school every Sun afternoon on campus. we just "borrowed" an empty classroom in Dwinelle. completely not-related to Cal in any way
- UCB summer program in 7th and 8th grade, took classes for 2 summers. then returned as a counselor in the program in HS. met a bunch of people that i later ran into as an undergrad.
- took legit classes as a senior in HS thru a program that allowed local HS students to enroll at Cal.
as a result, i didnt actually have to apply to Cal as a freshman in the normal way. i just returned as a continuing student. it also took a lot of stress off the college application process since i knew i had the world's best safety school with guaranteed admission.
I can’t say countless ,but I grew up in Oakland so had been to some football games growing up. And we would sometimes go out the day before the Big Game to see the vibe.. Also my uncle who played for UCSB had taken me to some baseball games
i had a not-normal senior year of HS as a result. i only had to take 4-5 classes in the morning before lunch. i had every afternoon off so i could go to the Cal classes, which were only 2-3 days a week.
I can name two DBD regulars that went to UCSC - myself and CruzinBears. CruzinBears hasn't chimed in for a while, though. Oaktown Rush is also a UCSC alum. Who am I missing?
My first ever game set a record that will never be broken. In 1978, Cal lost to UCLA 45-0 and threw 10 interceptions, 9 by Rich Campbell who went on to become a 1st round bust in the NFL. My love for Cal was born that day... absolutely no idea why.
That is beside the point I'm making. Cal is not a college football blueblood program. Cal's football program has had an uneven history. I'm not saying that there are very few non-alums within the Cal fanbase. I'm saying it isn't 2/3rds of the fanbase. In fact, I think it's probably not just less than half, it's probably less than 1/3rd.
I suppose "uneven" is as good a way as any to express Cal's football history. From the permanent move from rugby to football in 1915 through the 1952 season the University of California was mostly a great football school (Smith's Wonder Teams, Allison's Thunder Teams, Pappy's first six years which included three Rose Bowls). From 1953 on the Bears have mostly been either bad or mediocre. If you're a fan of the Sturdy Golden Bears you're either a masochist, an enteral optimist or you found something about yourself, something deep in your heart that is reflected by the Blue and Gold that won't let you go because you don't want it to.
I would say - for Cal - it's like single digit percentage. Only a precious few can ignore bandwagoning with a more successful team to enjoy the delicious torture of being a Cal fan. To that end, I respect the heck out of non-alum Vandy fans... and you. Growing up, the most die hard Cal fan I knew went to SJSU.
Thanks. I also respect Cal alums who don't simply ignore the football team as so many do. Support for your fellow students/alums when they represent their school is something to be, well, respected.
In my case, it was ingrained in childhood. I've also created 2 mini-mes in regards to Cal football. Not so much with rugby; that's a different thing because they both were part of the Cal Poly Mustangs rugby team, which is a club sport at Cal Poly SLO.
Fish that are out of the water will, after some time, feel like using a wet towel to apply water. They still use the phrase "towel off" rather than "towel on" since they are toweling off the dryness.
Shyamala Gopalan and Donald J. Harris, who met as doctoral students at UC Berkeley through the Civil Rights movement. Kamala was born in Oakland and raised in Berkeley, living with her mom after her parents divorced when she was 7. Kamala was bused to North Berkeley as part of the desegregation programs. Harris attended Howard with BAs in poli sci and economics, but went to UC Hastings for law. Her career ladder included stints as deputy DA in Alameda County, California assembly commission work, assistant DA in SF, SF City Hall, DA of SF, AG of California, US Senate, and Vice President. She has zero experience as a reality TV show host and has not run any companies into bankruptcy.
Wikipedia disagrees. Kamala's mother got a position at McGill University when Kamala was 12. Along with her sister, kamala moved with their mother to Montreal, and she graduated from Westmount High School in Westmount, Quebec in 1981.
Maybe the GOP isn't quite so unified as they would have you believe. From WaPo -
Pence thanks Biden for making ‘the right decision for our country’
Former vice president Mike Pence on Monday praised President Biden’s decision to drop out of the race and thanked him for “putting the interests of our Nation ahead of his own.”
Pence’s statement, which was posted on X, stands in sharp contrast to those made by his Republican colleagues — some of whom have attacked Biden’s record and claimed that his withdrawal from the race invalidates the votes of millions of Americans.
Pence also called for unity as the country faces an intense campaign season that has been talked about in existential terms on both sides of the political divide.
“After the assassination attempt on President Trump and President Biden’s decision to end his campaign, now is a time for leaders in both parties to project calm and send a message of strength and resolve to America’s friends and enemies alike that, whatever the state of our politics, the American people are strong and our American military stands ready to defend our freedom and our vital national interests anywhere in the world,” Pence wrote.
This is more than just changing out the candidate at the top of the ticket; this flips the script because Trump is now the older major party candidate in the 2024 presidential race, even if Joe Manchin III were to get in.
I think Kamala Harris will be the Democrats' nominee. I also think this is a necessary change not just for the party but also for the nation as a whole. We must move forward. The campaign can now truly be about this nation's future and not just about point-counterpoint about grievances and trying to stop the advance of time.
Apropos: Biden finally convinced by his two closest advisor that he couldn't win as he was losing in the six swing states. The DEMs needed to do something drastic.
I am interested in the political science behind the mainstream DEM choosing Kamala as the front runner as the successor considering her polling is not much better than Biden's. And in some cases, she does worse. This article has a good summary of the polls.
There is not one single named Dem whose polling was materially better than Biden's. The Dems who won in the polls were named "Generic Democrat" and "Younger Democrat." Insert the name of an actual person, and the advantage disappeared. IMO the real advantage of this move is that it shuts up the "Joe is too old" issue and now we move onto whatever other issue Republicans and disaffected Dems gin up.
firstly, there is no science to political science, which I feel comfortable saying w/ 2 degrees in the subject.
Secondly, every non-generic candidate polled as an alternative to Biden did worse than "anonymous unicorn candidate who somehow has no negatives."
My $0.02 which is worth even less than that on the open market: the argument for Harris is, imo, that she's the Vice President. There is no other better candidate ready to go, she's part of this administration, she's a known quantity. Speaking only for myself, I am absolutely for her as a candidate as opposed to whoever was picked by party insiders and big money donors who conspicuously lack a track record of winning elections. All this talk about "there should have been an open primary" is for rich cunts who don't like the idea that their "leverage" didn't translate into king-making, and long time democratic politicians who discovered their political courage about challenging an incumbent when there was no apparent downside. Tough shit assholes, get helping or fuck off.
Here's another data point re: the political science of choosing Kamala Harris as the next Democratic nominee for president. From WaPo within the last ten minutes:
"Sunday was the best fundraising day in at least four years for the Democratic platform ActBlue. It took in $67 million, according to the ActBlue Ticker Tracker, which tracks the platform’s online ticker of contributions. An hourly analysis from the Ticker Tracker showed Democrats raising $84 million via ActBlue between when Biden endorsed Harris and 11:45 a.m. Monday."
One other observation - polling should inform discussion; it should not be a substitute for it.
At some point, the nation has to be able to move on from one of the most consequential generations in its history - the Baby Boomers. This is that move, even more than the election of Obama was in 2008. Without that passing of the torch to Kamala Harris and others who are younger than the Boomers, 18 to 39-year-olds would be discouraged from participation in this and subsequent elections.
This is why I am highly skeptical of the calls for an open convention. It seems to me this is of an effort to keep the nomination away from Kamala Harris and from younger generations of voters. It sounds like a highly anxious older cohort is upset and angry at the sequence of events leading to this historic moment and wanting to exert a final last gasp of power as the light dies. Can't say that I don't understand, because I do. But even I, hoping to become a grandfather myself within a few years, want to see the next generation exert their influence and vision on the political stage.
My generation has had its time, its shot at making the world better. It's time we demonstrated that we have confidence and faith in the next group to do what's necessary to preserve democracy and advance a more perfect, a more just society.
(Though personally, I think people born in the early 60s are really more like Gen-Xers, even if they were technically part of the boom when they were born.)
This discussion arises every once in a while. Another argument can be made that the Boomer generation had its cutoff in 1956 which was a full decade on from the start of the Boomer demographic and the Greatest Generation had moved into its 30s.
I was born in 1959 and I've never felt a part of the Boomer generation, especially since I am typically 8-10 years younger than many Boomers I did know growing up. The 1960s and VietNam were their coming of age moments. Mine was the 1970s and Watergate.
I would imagine that Kamala and her cohort may have been even a bit more distant from the Boomers with Three Mile Island and the Iran hostage drama being their coming of age moments.
IMO the real reason for picking Harris is expedience: everyone else would need time to ramp up as a national candidate, time they don't have now. Harris has been on the national stage for a while and would have access to the Biden campaign funds (having already been on the ticket).
Yeah, Biden should have dropped out a while ago so there could have been a real primary, but he didn't and here we are.
Your first paragraph is spot on. There really isn't time to mount a full-on campaign for the nomination now that the convention is exactly 4 weeks away.
Biden should never have announced for re-election. He should have kept to his 2020 promise to serve as the transitional president and simply stated that he would stay out of the campaign and not offer an endorsement until a nominee was selected.
But that didn't happen. And no Democrat, excepting Dean Phillips, challenged President Biden for the nomination. In a strange way, Phillips may have served a purpose. He showed us that the party was united with President Biden in defeating Trump. The quick coalescence around Vice President Kamala Harris in the aftermath of Biden's retirement announcement reinforces the point.
Conventional wisdom tells us that when a strong challenger takes on an incumbent for the presidency, the challenger not only gets their butt kicked, their candidacy also weakens the party in the general election. See the 1980 Democratic presidential primary wherein Senator Ted Kennedy challenged President Jimmy Carter for the 1980 Democratic nomination.
I'm highly skeptical of any polls purporting to show the state of the race under the following conditions -
poll was conducted before Biden's retirement announcement
poll is conducted before a presumptive Democratic nominee is named (meaning the candidate has a majority of delegates)
There's lots of fluidity in the polity right now. Enthusiasm and turnout among certain segments of the electorate can shift and re-shape the race in fundamental ways which can't be seen right now. Engagement of younger voters, especially, could be crucial.
I do think the polling indicates that she has more upside. There are probably other Dems who also would, but she is more of a known entity than the others.
Turner Sports intends to continue its longtime relationship with the NBA.
Warner Bros. Discovery informed the league Monday that it will match the $1.8 billion per year offer by Amazon Prime Video. Turner has had an NBA package since 1984, and games have been on TNT since the network launched in 1988.
The A’s blew an excellent chance to collect a sweep today, blowing a late lead to drop the series finale to the Angels 8-5.
The pitching matchup for today’s finale was A’s rookie righty Joey Estes versus eight-year veteran Carson Fulmer. Both teams threatened over the first couple frames but came up short, partially due to the defense of the A’s
Team USA was behind for much of their game against South Sudan. South Sudan had 8 seconds left - missed a short driving shot plus a missed put-back slam and couldn't win.
We were watching that game with about 6 min left. South Sudan had their chances. US took some ill-advised shots. Guess they're still trying to figure out the rotation.
An overall disappointing start post-All Star, and a frustrating series loss in Colorado ended, well, with a song.
Hayden Birdsong scribbled all over the history books in his fifth career start with a 2-hit, 2-run, 12-K gem to lead the San Francisco Giants to a 3-2 win over the Rockies.
LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers fell behind before even getting to bat, but then simply powered their way through it, hitting five home runs to finish off a sweep of the Red Sox, 9-6 on Sunday evening at Dodger Stadium.
Twister (1996). Wife wanted to go watch the sequel and perhaps experience the source material for the ride that we enjoyed at Universal Studios by watching the 1996 original starring Bill Paxton, Helen Hunt, and Cary Elwes. Twister was the #2 grossing film of 1996 and I remember enjoying the heck out of it when watching it in a movie theater in Hong Kong. We rented it on Prime. While the Oscar-nominated special effects and sound hold up, there is no denying that the script is merely a vehicle for the FX, so the movie kinda sucks as a story with a lot of continuity issues (eg, characters would be filthy/wet and then suddenly be clean/dry) that jolted me out of the story. 10/19 WNB
Yes, it has good spectacle for its time, but the story and characters are paper-thin. Barely existent, really. The movie relies a lot on the actors' charisma to carry it.
97 was living in SE AK and needed a break. Flew to Denver, early next morning drove up to Rocky Mtn NP for the high drive. Felt like shit due to altitude thus no day hikes. So headed to Black Hills at peak aspen time for a few days.
On a whim I drove to Lincoln NE and walked around campus. I noticed, at any bookstore in town, tremendous piles of books on tables as something featured......Tom Osborne author. I asked if they sell many and the reply was, "thats why he have so many on hand."
Went and saw Twisters which had been running for a while....for like $2.
The photo at the top...
I'd guess was taken after the 16th St. Baptist Church firebombing in Birmingham, AL (09/15/1963). Look in the lower left corner of the photo. It refers to the "Birmingham Atrocities". Also, the clothing has that early 60s vibe.
I’m old and that does look like it pre-dates me by a fair bit.
# visits to Berkeley before attending
Only one visit to the campus. But although I was from the central valley, I had many relatives in the bay area, so sort of familiar with Oakland and Berkeley and SF. Also, a nice central valley Cal grad graciously hosted a lot of us admitees.
Aunt and uncle attended before WWII. Lived at Tree Haven on North side.
Father and uncle worked the Kaiser shipyards, also lived at Tree Haven, before joining Navy. My father had mixed feelings and really wanted me to go to JC. Of course that made my decision to go as a Freshman. LOL
countless
- Bengali school every Sun afternoon on campus. we just "borrowed" an empty classroom in Dwinelle. completely not-related to Cal in any way
- UCB summer program in 7th and 8th grade, took classes for 2 summers. then returned as a counselor in the program in HS. met a bunch of people that i later ran into as an undergrad.
- took legit classes as a senior in HS thru a program that allowed local HS students to enroll at Cal.
as a result, i didnt actually have to apply to Cal as a freshman in the normal way. i just returned as a continuing student. it also took a lot of stress off the college application process since i knew i had the world's best safety school with guaranteed admission.
I can’t say countless ,but I grew up in Oakland so had been to some football games growing up. And we would sometimes go out the day before the Big Game to see the vibe.. Also my uncle who played for UCSB had taken me to some baseball games
i had a not-normal senior year of HS as a result. i only had to take 4-5 classes in the morning before lunch. i had every afternoon off so i could go to the Cal classes, which were only 2-3 days a week.
senioritis was very bad.
DBD POLL
I'm the rare bird in this group in that I didn't graduate from Cal, nor did I attend as an undergrad.
But if I were to answer, it'd be "Hella, Bay Area native"
The DBD has quite a few regulars that didn't go to Cal. Most were UCSC I think and one Texas. All grew up in the Bay Area.
I can name two DBD regulars that went to UCSC - myself and CruzinBears. CruzinBears hasn't chimed in for a while, though. Oaktown Rush is also a UCSC alum. Who am I missing?
Me as well. Go Slugs!
I guess I need to brush up on who's an alum of which school around here. Oy.
JimmyChitwood went to UCSC as did Newellbany (SP?) I think. FireStarkey went to UT.
Okay, I need more caffeine.
It's probably been a while since it's been mentioned about them. I remember way back when, probably in the CGB days, we discussed all this.
Same. I'm a Cal fan because my dad took me to games growing up.
My first ever game set a record that will never be broken. In 1978, Cal lost to UCLA 45-0 and threw 10 interceptions, 9 by Rich Campbell who went on to become a 1st round bust in the NFL. My love for Cal was born that day... absolutely no idea why.
How rare is this bird? two-thirds of all birds
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/697167
Are you saying that what applies to blueblood college football programs applies to Cal? 'Cuz, I don't think so. Even at WFC.
"Clotfelter found no significant link between the academic reputation of a college and the size of its fan base."
To be fair, I agree with you. I have a hard time believing this assertion.
That is beside the point I'm making. Cal is not a college football blueblood program. Cal's football program has had an uneven history. I'm not saying that there are very few non-alums within the Cal fanbase. I'm saying it isn't 2/3rds of the fanbase. In fact, I think it's probably not just less than half, it's probably less than 1/3rd.
I suppose "uneven" is as good a way as any to express Cal's football history. From the permanent move from rugby to football in 1915 through the 1952 season the University of California was mostly a great football school (Smith's Wonder Teams, Allison's Thunder Teams, Pappy's first six years which included three Rose Bowls). From 1953 on the Bears have mostly been either bad or mediocre. If you're a fan of the Sturdy Golden Bears you're either a masochist, an enteral optimist or you found something about yourself, something deep in your heart that is reflected by the Blue and Gold that won't let you go because you don't want it to.
Well said.
I would say - for Cal - it's like single digit percentage. Only a precious few can ignore bandwagoning with a more successful team to enjoy the delicious torture of being a Cal fan. To that end, I respect the heck out of non-alum Vandy fans... and you. Growing up, the most die hard Cal fan I knew went to SJSU.
Thanks. I also respect Cal alums who don't simply ignore the football team as so many do. Support for your fellow students/alums when they represent their school is something to be, well, respected.
In my case, it was ingrained in childhood. I've also created 2 mini-mes in regards to Cal football. Not so much with rugby; that's a different thing because they both were part of the Cal Poly Mustangs rugby team, which is a club sport at Cal Poly SLO.
It’s time once again for Oski Disciple’s question of the day.
Do you think fish ever feel like toweling off?
Fish that are out of the water will, after some time, feel like using a wet towel to apply water. They still use the phrase "towel off" rather than "towel on" since they are toweling off the dryness.
perhaps not according to one of my favorite kids songs by the Laurie Berkner Band, The Goldfish
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cg-wnQKRHTs
Then the little fish got so very, very tired
That they came back to the rock
They put down their heads
And they put down their tails
And they took a little nap
And when they woke up
They were a little bit dirty
So they took a shower
And they washed their hair
And they washed their ears
And they washed their tummies
And they washed their very long, fishy beards
And they washed their noses
And they washed their toes-es
And then they said
"Wait a minute, we're fish!
We don't take showers!"
Let's go swimming, let's go swimming
Yeah, let's go swimming
Let's go swimming, let's go swimming
In the bottom of the ocean
I've only had two fish ever express such desires, and perhaps half a dozen who warned me of the dangers of dropping too much acid
DBD Street Journal
OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY
Shyamala Gopalan and Donald J. Harris, who met as doctoral students at UC Berkeley through the Civil Rights movement. Kamala was born in Oakland and raised in Berkeley, living with her mom after her parents divorced when she was 7. Kamala was bused to North Berkeley as part of the desegregation programs. Harris attended Howard with BAs in poli sci and economics, but went to UC Hastings for law. Her career ladder included stints as deputy DA in Alameda County, California assembly commission work, assistant DA in SF, SF City Hall, DA of SF, AG of California, US Senate, and Vice President. She has zero experience as a reality TV show host and has not run any companies into bankruptcy.
Kamala Harris attended Thousand Oaks Elementary in Berkeley (on Colusa Ave, about a block off of Solano Ave.).
i think she went to Berkeley High too
Wikipedia disagrees. Kamala's mother got a position at McGill University when Kamala was 12. Along with her sister, kamala moved with their mother to Montreal, and she graduated from Westmount High School in Westmount, Quebec in 1981.
shows what i know. i must have misremember it some how
'sokay. I'm finding that my memory isn't quite as infallible as I thought it was.
In an unprecedented move, the sitting president proves that HAG and HSB have friends who are well connected
Maybe the GOP isn't quite so unified as they would have you believe. From WaPo -
Pence thanks Biden for making ‘the right decision for our country’
Former vice president Mike Pence on Monday praised President Biden’s decision to drop out of the race and thanked him for “putting the interests of our Nation ahead of his own.”
Pence’s statement, which was posted on X, stands in sharp contrast to those made by his Republican colleagues — some of whom have attacked Biden’s record and claimed that his withdrawal from the race invalidates the votes of millions of Americans.
Pence also called for unity as the country faces an intense campaign season that has been talked about in existential terms on both sides of the political divide.
“After the assassination attempt on President Trump and President Biden’s decision to end his campaign, now is a time for leaders in both parties to project calm and send a message of strength and resolve to America’s friends and enemies alike that, whatever the state of our politics, the American people are strong and our American military stands ready to defend our freedom and our vital national interests anywhere in the world,” Pence wrote.
Thank Gawd.
This is more than just changing out the candidate at the top of the ticket; this flips the script because Trump is now the older major party candidate in the 2024 presidential race, even if Joe Manchin III were to get in.
I think Kamala Harris will be the Democrats' nominee. I also think this is a necessary change not just for the party but also for the nation as a whole. We must move forward. The campaign can now truly be about this nation's future and not just about point-counterpoint about grievances and trying to stop the advance of time.
Apropos: Biden finally convinced by his two closest advisor that he couldn't win as he was losing in the six swing states. The DEMs needed to do something drastic.
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/07/21/why-biden-dropped-out-00170106
I am interested in the political science behind the mainstream DEM choosing Kamala as the front runner as the successor considering her polling is not much better than Biden's. And in some cases, she does worse. This article has a good summary of the polls.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2024/07/21/heres-how-kamala-harris-performs-in-polls-against-trump-as-biden-drops-out-and-endorses-harris/
There is not one single named Dem whose polling was materially better than Biden's. The Dems who won in the polls were named "Generic Democrat" and "Younger Democrat." Insert the name of an actual person, and the advantage disappeared. IMO the real advantage of this move is that it shuts up the "Joe is too old" issue and now we move onto whatever other issue Republicans and disaffected Dems gin up.
firstly, there is no science to political science, which I feel comfortable saying w/ 2 degrees in the subject.
Secondly, every non-generic candidate polled as an alternative to Biden did worse than "anonymous unicorn candidate who somehow has no negatives."
My $0.02 which is worth even less than that on the open market: the argument for Harris is, imo, that she's the Vice President. There is no other better candidate ready to go, she's part of this administration, she's a known quantity. Speaking only for myself, I am absolutely for her as a candidate as opposed to whoever was picked by party insiders and big money donors who conspicuously lack a track record of winning elections. All this talk about "there should have been an open primary" is for rich cunts who don't like the idea that their "leverage" didn't translate into king-making, and long time democratic politicians who discovered their political courage about challenging an incumbent when there was no apparent downside. Tough shit assholes, get helping or fuck off.
Here's another data point re: the political science of choosing Kamala Harris as the next Democratic nominee for president. From WaPo within the last ten minutes:
"Sunday was the best fundraising day in at least four years for the Democratic platform ActBlue. It took in $67 million, according to the ActBlue Ticker Tracker, which tracks the platform’s online ticker of contributions. An hourly analysis from the Ticker Tracker showed Democrats raising $84 million via ActBlue between when Biden endorsed Harris and 11:45 a.m. Monday."
One other observation - polling should inform discussion; it should not be a substitute for it.
At some point, the nation has to be able to move on from one of the most consequential generations in its history - the Baby Boomers. This is that move, even more than the election of Obama was in 2008. Without that passing of the torch to Kamala Harris and others who are younger than the Boomers, 18 to 39-year-olds would be discouraged from participation in this and subsequent elections.
This is why I am highly skeptical of the calls for an open convention. It seems to me this is of an effort to keep the nomination away from Kamala Harris and from younger generations of voters. It sounds like a highly anxious older cohort is upset and angry at the sequence of events leading to this historic moment and wanting to exert a final last gasp of power as the light dies. Can't say that I don't understand, because I do. But even I, hoping to become a grandfather myself within a few years, want to see the next generation exert their influence and vision on the political stage.
My generation has had its time, its shot at making the world better. It's time we demonstrated that we have confidence and faith in the next group to do what's necessary to preserve democracy and advance a more perfect, a more just society.
By some measures, Kamala Harris is technically a Boomer.
The baby boom lasted until 1965:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-20th_century_baby_boom
She was born in 1964:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamala_Harris
(Though personally, I think people born in the early 60s are really more like Gen-Xers, even if they were technically part of the boom when they were born.)
This discussion arises every once in a while. Another argument can be made that the Boomer generation had its cutoff in 1956 which was a full decade on from the start of the Boomer demographic and the Greatest Generation had moved into its 30s.
I was born in 1959 and I've never felt a part of the Boomer generation, especially since I am typically 8-10 years younger than many Boomers I did know growing up. The 1960s and VietNam were their coming of age moments. Mine was the 1970s and Watergate.
I would imagine that Kamala and her cohort may have been even a bit more distant from the Boomers with Three Mile Island and the Iran hostage drama being their coming of age moments.
IMO the real reason for picking Harris is expedience: everyone else would need time to ramp up as a national candidate, time they don't have now. Harris has been on the national stage for a while and would have access to the Biden campaign funds (having already been on the ticket).
Yeah, Biden should have dropped out a while ago so there could have been a real primary, but he didn't and here we are.
Your first paragraph is spot on. There really isn't time to mount a full-on campaign for the nomination now that the convention is exactly 4 weeks away.
Biden should never have announced for re-election. He should have kept to his 2020 promise to serve as the transitional president and simply stated that he would stay out of the campaign and not offer an endorsement until a nominee was selected.
But that didn't happen. And no Democrat, excepting Dean Phillips, challenged President Biden for the nomination. In a strange way, Phillips may have served a purpose. He showed us that the party was united with President Biden in defeating Trump. The quick coalescence around Vice President Kamala Harris in the aftermath of Biden's retirement announcement reinforces the point.
Conventional wisdom tells us that when a strong challenger takes on an incumbent for the presidency, the challenger not only gets their butt kicked, their candidacy also weakens the party in the general election. See the 1980 Democratic presidential primary wherein Senator Ted Kennedy challenged President Jimmy Carter for the 1980 Democratic nomination.
I'm highly skeptical of any polls purporting to show the state of the race under the following conditions -
poll was conducted before Biden's retirement announcement
poll is conducted before a presumptive Democratic nominee is named (meaning the candidate has a majority of delegates)
There's lots of fluidity in the polity right now. Enthusiasm and turnout among certain segments of the electorate can shift and re-shape the race in fundamental ways which can't be seen right now. Engagement of younger voters, especially, could be crucial.
Also: polls are mere snapshots in time. YMMV.
I wonder if the polls are missing turnout. that Biden just couldn't mobilize enough voters and Harris could, especially in POC communities.
https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2023/07/12/voter-turnout-2018-2022/
I do think the polling indicates that she has more upside. There are probably other Dems who also would, but she is more of a known entity than the others.
PRO
Warner Bros. Discovery to match Amazon Prime offer for NBA rights
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/40618495/warner-bros-discovery-match-amazon-prime-offer-nba-rights
Turner Sports intends to continue its longtime relationship with the NBA.
Warner Bros. Discovery informed the league Monday that it will match the $1.8 billion per year offer by Amazon Prime Video. Turner has had an NBA package since 1984, and games have been on TNT since the network launched in 1988.
Bullpen blows finale as Angels top Athletics 8-5
https://www.athleticsnation.com/2024/7/21/24203073/bullpen-blows-finale-as-angels-top-athletics-8-5
The A’s blew an excellent chance to collect a sweep today, blowing a late lead to drop the series finale to the Angels 8-5.
The pitching matchup for today’s finale was A’s rookie righty Joey Estes versus eight-year veteran Carson Fulmer. Both teams threatened over the first couple frames but came up short, partially due to the defense of the A’s
Team USA was behind for much of their game against South Sudan. South Sudan had 8 seconds left - missed a short driving shot plus a missed put-back slam and couldn't win.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52LajMKCCS8#t=5m13s
We were watching that game with about 6 min left. South Sudan had their chances. US took some ill-advised shots. Guess they're still trying to figure out the rotation.
Birdsong soars
https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2024/7/21/24203273/mlb-final-giants-rockies-7-21-2024-recap-hayden-birdsong-jorge-soler
An overall disappointing start post-All Star, and a frustrating series loss in Colorado ended, well, with a song.
Hayden Birdsong scribbled all over the history books in his fifth career start with a 2-hit, 2-run, 12-K gem to lead the San Francisco Giants to a 3-2 win over the Rockies.
Dodgers home runs finish off home sweep of Red Sox
https://www.truebluela.com/2024/7/21/24202898/dodgers-home-runs-red-sox-sweep
LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers fell behind before even getting to bat, but then simply powered their way through it, hitting five home runs to finish off a sweep of the Red Sox, 9-6 on Sunday evening at Dodger Stadium.
DBD AV CLUB
Twister (1996). Wife wanted to go watch the sequel and perhaps experience the source material for the ride that we enjoyed at Universal Studios by watching the 1996 original starring Bill Paxton, Helen Hunt, and Cary Elwes. Twister was the #2 grossing film of 1996 and I remember enjoying the heck out of it when watching it in a movie theater in Hong Kong. We rented it on Prime. While the Oscar-nominated special effects and sound hold up, there is no denying that the script is merely a vehicle for the FX, so the movie kinda sucks as a story with a lot of continuity issues (eg, characters would be filthy/wet and then suddenly be clean/dry) that jolted me out of the story. 10/19 WNB
Yes, it has good spectacle for its time, but the story and characters are paper-thin. Barely existent, really. The movie relies a lot on the actors' charisma to carry it.
97 was living in SE AK and needed a break. Flew to Denver, early next morning drove up to Rocky Mtn NP for the high drive. Felt like shit due to altitude thus no day hikes. So headed to Black Hills at peak aspen time for a few days.
On a whim I drove to Lincoln NE and walked around campus. I noticed, at any bookstore in town, tremendous piles of books on tables as something featured......Tom Osborne author. I asked if they sell many and the reply was, "thats why he have so many on hand."
Went and saw Twisters which had been running for a while....for like $2.
CAL
Go Bears!!!
ELSEWHERE IN COLLEGE