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 got a Ticketmaster letter than they had a security breach. All off a sudden over the last couple of weeks, I've been getting spam texts, line and whatsapp messages. I think my info got leaked. Time to sign up for the free credit monitoring they're offering. And maybe even lock my credit down.
In the largest prisoner exchange since the height of the Cold War, officials of the United States, Russia, Germany and other countries met on an airfield tarmac in Ankara, Turkey, on Thursday and swapped at least two dozen people — capping months of painstaking diplomacy involving negotiations at the highest levels of multiple governments.
Those released included American journalist Evan Gershkovich of the Wall Street Journal, who was accused of espionage without any known evidence, and Paul Whelan, a former Marine jailed for more than five years after an espionage conviction the United States called baseless, as well as several Russian dissidents who demanded freedom and democracy or criticized the war in Ukraine, including Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post Opinions contributor.
The prisoners were released from the jails of seven countries: the United States, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, Russia and Belarus, the Turkish presidential office said, adding that they were brought to Turkey by seven planes, two from the United States and one each from Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway and Russia.
Russia effectively kidnapped a few of these people on what appears to be drummed up charges. It just means that more people are going to be Brittany Griner-ed in the future to act as currency in a swap. I guess we do it this way rather than march them toward each other across Checkpoint Charley illuminated by car headlights. Note to self: don't travel to Russia
Your last point is what makes me wonder why some people make stupid travel decisions. The one I think about is the couple that traveled to the Iran-Pakistan border years ago and was lured over the border into Iran and became pawns for a prisoner swap.
Sometimes people do stupid things and become pawns. In that vein, I really wonder why Brittany Griner took anything that could be seen as contraband into Russia. Did she not understand who the Russians are? It just boggled this mind.
Sadly, many in "western" cultures do not in fact understand who the Russians, or certain other terrorists, are. It is so foreign to their world, they cannot comprehend what they see as their rights being weaponized. They are dangerous because they not only expose themselves and others to danger, they facilitate it.
Algeria's Imane Kalief is a boxer competing in the women's welterweight division. There is controversy surrounding her eligibility. You see, Ms. Kalief is intersex. She has XY chromosomes but had abnormal gender development. She was raised as a girl. Ms. Kalief was prohibited from boxing under IAB sanction because of elevated testoterone levels and XY chromosome status. However, the IOC uses a different set of rules to determine eligibility, in this case she was allowed to compete because she is a legal female in Algeria since she was intersex and not trans and not taken any hormones to adjust after her sexual development.
Taking good notes was something I was very serious about in high school, and even more serious and got better at during Cal years. Most of my final exam profs allowed us to check notes, so I expect that’s where the habit got ingrained in me.
I keep my work email as a giant project management and archive tool. I tell everyone that everything has to be written down otherwise it's like it never happened. These days - one has to drag up an old email - not as a "gotcha", but it's just a modern reality that the finer details are always forgotten pretty quickly and that everyone's memory is fallible in the long-Covid era
Memory was fallible long before any length of Covid eras, though that did not help. The pace of the information flow as well as the complication of it easily outpaces the capability to retain it, much less recall it.
The US Government announces a plea deal for Al Queda planner Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other accomplices. KSM was arrested in early 2003, shuttled to various sites included Guantanamo Bay and some black sites. He was infamously waterboarded and confessed to planning the 9/11 attacks, Richard Reid shoe bombing, the 1993 WTC bombing, the 2002 Bali Bombing, the Danny Pearl murder, and several other attacks. In 2019, a military judge set a trial date of Jan 2021 for his death penalty trial. This was postponed due to Covid. In 2023, the trail was postponed again as the government work on a plea deal. Now he's agreed to the plea deal to take the Death Penalty off the table. So now, he'll likely spend the rest of his life in jail, unlike what he's been doing - which is spending his life in jail. Something, something speedy trial.
Trump bizarrely agrees to interview at the National Association of Black Journalists conference. It goes off the rails and he only lasts half an hour before his handlers pulled him.
The more I see clips of Trump in action this election season, the more I think that labeling him and JD Vance as "weird" makes sense. They really are weird.
It also has the effect of allowing the electorate to see Trump & Vance for who they are instead of pushing people to dig in their heels. I think the pundits are underestimating the effect of this tactic and its likely impact on the campaign.
Yeah. I always thought Kamala was more identified as black than Indian. In any case, the weirdness is to say something like that in the setting he was in.
That's my recall of her from early on when she ran for San Francisco DA. It was only after she ran for California AG that I learned her mother was from the Indian subcontinent.
Yeah, no. A columnist for WaPo noted that TFG wasn't there to persuade any of the NABJ attendees. He was playing to a different audience, the folks who snicker at stupid and weird ish.
I think Trump is limiting himself and leaving a huge opening for Harris to exploit. It's really very simple: Trump can be pounded for having no policy substance in his campaign. If Harris simply shows up as understanding and reasonable while outlining the big challenges ahead for the nation, she can seal the deal by October.
The Athletics dropped the second game of the series against the Giants, losing 1-0 and splitting what is likely the final Bay Bridge Series. Would have been nice to end on a high note but what can you do?
San Francisco Giants fans know that when Logan Webb pitches, he’s usually not going to get much run support. He didn’t on Wednesday night either, but a Brett Wisely sacrifice fly was enough for Webb to defeat his old teammate Ross Stripling and the Oakland Athletics, 1-0.
The good thing is that this was a two-game series and the Dodgers got a chance to get out of town before blowing more of their division lead. That’s the general feeling following a 8-1 blowout loss to the Padres at Petco Park.
ACC sucks... a couple funny bounces and a healthy roster and Cal could surprise.
Taking off my blue and gold glasses, I still think our floor is 5-6 wins. UC Davis, SDSU, Syracuse, Oregon State, Wake and Furd should be safe W's. Auburn, Pitt and SMU are highly winnable while NC State, Miami and Florida State will be the most challenging but those first 2 are at home. Only FSU is a sure loss IMO
I agree with this. I would only add that NC State may be vulnerable with Grayson McCall as the presumptive starter. McCall was lights out at Coastal Carolina, but he's got to play against tougher opponents than the Sun Belt and Coastal Carolina really only had a few tough games - where McCall did okay but not great. Likewise, most people have SMU's finishing higher than us in the ACC. But SMU will face us in the last game of the seaon and I think their fantastic 2023 season was due to its cupcake schedule rather than comparable skill to Cal. We'll also see a bunch of QBs we saw last season - Cam Ward (WSU -> Miami), DJ Uiagalelei (Oregon State -> FSU), Gevani McCoy (Idaho -> Oregon State).
I think 5 wins is the floor (UCD, SDSU, OSU, Wake, Sy, Furd) and 10 is the ceiling with 7 wins being my median scenario with losses to Auburn, FSU, Miami, Pitt, NC State before winning the final five games, qualifying us either for the Las Vegas or Los Angeles Bowl.
As Cal's offensive coordinator and offensive line coach, Mike Bloesch has a rare dual role on the Golden Bears' staff. But when he took the field Wednesday for his first training camp practice with both of those responsibilities, he felt right at home.
"I think one thing that makes me different than some of the offensive coordinators is that I truly understand what all 11 guys are doing to a tee," Bloesch said. "There's not a lot of guys like me around the country who are both the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach, and I have a ton of respect for all of those guys because it's not easy."
PARIS - California men's swimming took the spotlight Wednesday as Jack Alexy (USA) competed for a medal in the 100-meter freestyle while three Golden Bears advanced to the 200m backstroke semifinals with a chance to advance to the finals.
That is a motto that recent graduate and former California women's gymnastics team member Elise Byun has adopted, among others.
Byun came to Berkeley in the Fall of 2020 after an impressive junior career when she was a two-time Junior Olympics national qualifier that was no stranger to the podium. As a Bay Area native and member of Airborne – a local gymnastics club that has produced Bears before – Byun understood what the academic and athletic expectations were for the university and the women's gymnastics program.
Cal ILB Liam Johnson - a fifth year transfer in from Princeton and previous Ivy League DPOY - was a presumptive 2nd stringer but a quality rotation piece - is in a foot cast/scooter. No timeline to return, but that's not good.
Hackers
I got a Ticketmaster letter than they had a security breach. All off a sudden over the last couple of weeks, I've been getting spam texts, line and whatsapp messages. I think my info got leaked. Time to sign up for the free credit monitoring they're offering. And maybe even lock my credit down.
US-RUSSIA RELATIONS
Evan Gershkovich, others freed by Russia in landmark prisoner swap
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/08/01/russia-us-prisoner-swap/
In the largest prisoner exchange since the height of the Cold War, officials of the United States, Russia, Germany and other countries met on an airfield tarmac in Ankara, Turkey, on Thursday and swapped at least two dozen people — capping months of painstaking diplomacy involving negotiations at the highest levels of multiple governments.
Those released included American journalist Evan Gershkovich of the Wall Street Journal, who was accused of espionage without any known evidence, and Paul Whelan, a former Marine jailed for more than five years after an espionage conviction the United States called baseless, as well as several Russian dissidents who demanded freedom and democracy or criticized the war in Ukraine, including Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post Opinions contributor.
The prisoners were released from the jails of seven countries: the United States, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, Russia and Belarus, the Turkish presidential office said, adding that they were brought to Turkey by seven planes, two from the United States and one each from Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway and Russia.
Russia effectively kidnapped a few of these people on what appears to be drummed up charges. It just means that more people are going to be Brittany Griner-ed in the future to act as currency in a swap. I guess we do it this way rather than march them toward each other across Checkpoint Charley illuminated by car headlights. Note to self: don't travel to Russia
Your last point is what makes me wonder why some people make stupid travel decisions. The one I think about is the couple that traveled to the Iran-Pakistan border years ago and was lured over the border into Iran and became pawns for a prisoner swap.
Sometimes people do stupid things and become pawns. In that vein, I really wonder why Brittany Griner took anything that could be seen as contraband into Russia. Did she not understand who the Russians are? It just boggled this mind.
Sadly, many in "western" cultures do not in fact understand who the Russians, or certain other terrorists, are. It is so foreign to their world, they cannot comprehend what they see as their rights being weaponized. They are dangerous because they not only expose themselves and others to danger, they facilitate it.
Sadly, I think this is true.
OLYMPICS
Algeria's Imane Kalief is a boxer competing in the women's welterweight division. There is controversy surrounding her eligibility. You see, Ms. Kalief is intersex. She has XY chromosomes but had abnormal gender development. She was raised as a girl. Ms. Kalief was prohibited from boxing under IAB sanction because of elevated testoterone levels and XY chromosome status. However, the IOC uses a different set of rules to determine eligibility, in this case she was allowed to compete because she is a legal female in Algeria since she was intersex and not trans and not taken any hormones to adjust after her sexual development.
https://olympics.com/ioc/news/joint-paris-2024-boxing-unit-ioc-statement
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/aug/01/angela-carini-abandons-fight-after-46-seconds-against-imane-khelif
UK backstroke swimmer DQd after swimming too far underwater. The article is disingenuous because it is a well known rule; he just cut it too close
https://metro.co.uk/2024/07/31/team-gb-swimmer-luke-greenbank-disqualified-breaking-little-known-rule-paris-olympics-21334958/
Does anyone else hear MarSHAWN every time the swimming announcers say Marchand? Cal brain translation..
It’s time once again for Oski Disciple’s question of the day.
Why is that — checks notes —people are always checking their notes these days? Doesn’t anyone remember anything anymore?
Are you kidding me? I am 57 years old. I'm lucky if I remember to put on shoes.
Just wait another decade+. :)
Taking good notes was something I was very serious about in high school, and even more serious and got better at during Cal years. Most of my final exam profs allowed us to check notes, so I expect that’s where the habit got ingrained in me.
It's an effort to make sure - checks notes - that we get stuff right before opening our mouth (or pounding our keyboard).
Also, a little drama often helps.
No.
I keep my work email as a giant project management and archive tool. I tell everyone that everything has to be written down otherwise it's like it never happened. These days - one has to drag up an old email - not as a "gotcha", but it's just a modern reality that the finer details are always forgotten pretty quickly and that everyone's memory is fallible in the long-Covid era
Memory was fallible long before any length of Covid eras, though that did not help. The pace of the information flow as well as the complication of it easily outpaces the capability to retain it, much less recall it.
No!
Name a song with a non-traditional instrument
Paul Simon's You Can Call Me Al and the awesome pennywhistle.
Beatles: Norwegian Wood
It was one of many songs the Fab 4 used the Sitar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_V6y1ZCg_8
By non-traditional I take it that you're referring to an instrument NOT often found in a symphony orchestra. One such list exists here - https://www.sfsymphony.org/SanFrancisco/media/SanFrancisco/PDFs/Music%20connects-%20kids%20activities/Meet-Instrument-Families-3-11-17.pdf
OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY
The US Government announces a plea deal for Al Queda planner Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other accomplices. KSM was arrested in early 2003, shuttled to various sites included Guantanamo Bay and some black sites. He was infamously waterboarded and confessed to planning the 9/11 attacks, Richard Reid shoe bombing, the 1993 WTC bombing, the 2002 Bali Bombing, the Danny Pearl murder, and several other attacks. In 2019, a military judge set a trial date of Jan 2021 for his death penalty trial. This was postponed due to Covid. In 2023, the trail was postponed again as the government work on a plea deal. Now he's agreed to the plea deal to take the Death Penalty off the table. So now, he'll likely spend the rest of his life in jail, unlike what he's been doing - which is spending his life in jail. Something, something speedy trial.
Trump bizarrely agrees to interview at the National Association of Black Journalists conference. It goes off the rails and he only lasts half an hour before his handlers pulled him.
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/07/31/trump-nabj-interview-quotes-00172165
The more I see clips of Trump in action this election season, the more I think that labeling him and JD Vance as "weird" makes sense. They really are weird.
It also has the effect of allowing the electorate to see Trump & Vance for who they are instead of pushing people to dig in their heels. I think the pundits are underestimating the effect of this tactic and its likely impact on the campaign.
Yeah. I always thought Kamala was more identified as black than Indian. In any case, the weirdness is to say something like that in the setting he was in.
That's my recall of her from early on when she ran for San Francisco DA. It was only after she ran for California AG that I learned her mother was from the Indian subcontinent.
I saw some clips of the interview last night. Wow he was in rare form. Not sure it was the best way to get the black journalists on your bandwagon.
Yeah, no. A columnist for WaPo noted that TFG wasn't there to persuade any of the NABJ attendees. He was playing to a different audience, the folks who snicker at stupid and weird ish.
So disgusting he thinks he is gaining votes from that "different audience"- very depressing if indeed it works.
I think Trump is limiting himself and leaving a huge opening for Harris to exploit. It's really very simple: Trump can be pounded for having no policy substance in his campaign. If Harris simply shows up as understanding and reasonable while outlining the big challenges ahead for the nation, she can seal the deal by October.
fingers crossed
PRO
The McGuire/Quantrill yell-off that Scootie was talking about gets the Jomboy treatment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQqb_l0Y7Ak
Athletics shut out, fall to Giants 1-0
https://www.athleticsnation.com/2024/7/31/24210909/athletics-shut-out-fall-to-giants-1-0
The Athletics dropped the second game of the series against the Giants, losing 1-0 and splitting what is likely the final Bay Bridge Series. Would have been nice to end on a high note but what can you do?
They did.
Webb gem leads Giants to 1-0 win
https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2024/8/1/24211061/logan-webb-gem-leads-sf-giants-to-1-0-win-athletics
San Francisco Giants fans know that when Logan Webb pitches, he’s usually not going to get much run support. He didn’t on Wednesday night either, but a Brett Wisely sacrifice fly was enough for Webb to defeat his old teammate Ross Stripling and the Oakland Athletics, 1-0.
Padres crush Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers
https://www.truebluela.com/2024/7/31/24210978/clayton-kershaw-bad-dodgers-padres
The good thing is that this was a two-game series and the Dodgers got a chance to get out of town before blowing more of their division lead. That’s the general feeling following a 8-1 blowout loss to the Padres at Petco Park.
Phoenix ends 13-game winless streak by beating the Rockets by three [checks notes]... runs. Wait. What sport are we playing?
https://www.bbc.com/sport/cricket/articles/c6p2y675yr1o
CAL
[WFC] Cal receives two first place votes in ACC preseason media poll, picked 10th
https://writeforcalifornia.com/p/cal-bears-football-acc-preseason-poll-2024
170 ACC media members voted in their preseason poll.
Two of them think the California Golden Bears will win the ACC.
What lords. What fortune-tellers. Build the monuments.
The plurality of the remaining media members has Cal in the soft middle of the conference.
I want to know who voted Cal #1 and administer a saliva test.
ACC sucks... a couple funny bounces and a healthy roster and Cal could surprise.
Taking off my blue and gold glasses, I still think our floor is 5-6 wins. UC Davis, SDSU, Syracuse, Oregon State, Wake and Furd should be safe W's. Auburn, Pitt and SMU are highly winnable while NC State, Miami and Florida State will be the most challenging but those first 2 are at home. Only FSU is a sure loss IMO
I agree with this. I would only add that NC State may be vulnerable with Grayson McCall as the presumptive starter. McCall was lights out at Coastal Carolina, but he's got to play against tougher opponents than the Sun Belt and Coastal Carolina really only had a few tough games - where McCall did okay but not great. Likewise, most people have SMU's finishing higher than us in the ACC. But SMU will face us in the last game of the seaon and I think their fantastic 2023 season was due to its cupcake schedule rather than comparable skill to Cal. We'll also see a bunch of QBs we saw last season - Cam Ward (WSU -> Miami), DJ Uiagalelei (Oregon State -> FSU), Gevani McCoy (Idaho -> Oregon State).
I think 5 wins is the floor (UCD, SDSU, OSU, Wake, Sy, Furd) and 10 is the ceiling with 7 wins being my median scenario with losses to Auburn, FSU, Miami, Pitt, NC State before winning the final five games, qualifying us either for the Las Vegas or Los Angeles Bowl.
W4C didn't even get a vote in this poll, but that doesn't preclude Rob from being on drugs.
[FB] Back In Camp: Football
https://calbears.com/news/2024/7/31/back-in-camp-football.aspx
As Cal's offensive coordinator and offensive line coach, Mike Bloesch has a rare dual role on the Golden Bears' staff. But when he took the field Wednesday for his first training camp practice with both of those responsibilities, he felt right at home.
"I think one thing that makes me different than some of the offensive coordinators is that I truly understand what all 11 guys are doing to a tee," Bloesch said. "There's not a lot of guys like me around the country who are both the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach, and I have a ton of respect for all of those guys because it's not easy."
[OLY] Alexy Places Seventh In 100-Meter Freestyle
https://calbears.com/news/2024/7/31/olympics-alexy-places-seventh-in-100-meter-backstroke.aspx
PARIS - California men's swimming took the spotlight Wednesday as Jack Alexy (USA) competed for a medal in the 100-meter freestyle while three Golden Bears advanced to the 200m backstroke semifinals with a chance to advance to the finals.
[WGYM] The Obstacle Is The Way
https://calbears.com/news/2024/7/31/the-obstacle-is-the-way.aspx
Sometimes the obstacle is the way.
That is a motto that recent graduate and former California women's gymnastics team member Elise Byun has adopted, among others.
Byun came to Berkeley in the Fall of 2020 after an impressive junior career when she was a two-time Junior Olympics national qualifier that was no stranger to the podium. As a Bay Area native and member of Airborne – a local gymnastics club that has produced Bears before – Byun understood what the academic and athletic expectations were for the university and the women's gymnastics program.
Go Bears!!! (We've got the Axe!)
Cal ILB Liam Johnson - a fifth year transfer in from Princeton and previous Ivy League DPOY - was a presumptive 2nd stringer but a quality rotation piece - is in a foot cast/scooter. No timeline to return, but that's not good.
Cal DT Ethan Saunders medically retires. Also, it was revealed that Mendoza fractured his sternum in during the Bowl Game
DBD AV CLUB
ELSEWHERE IN COLLEGE
Houthi pirates may be Kentucky Wildcat fans
https://www.wdrb.com/news/denny-crums-custom-granite-headstone-dumped-into-red-sea-by-houthi-pirates/article_325d51f4-4b75-11ef-b28e-2753d2def5df.html