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Vacay -- I'm back in London tonight after a glorious 9 days in France and Italy. I'd never been to Lake Garda before, and I have to heartily recommend it. Wish we could post photos in this damn place -- the north end of the lake is absolutely spectacular, with 2200m mountains rising straight from the shore.

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Lake Garda, along w/ the other 2 lakes in that area are among the special places in the world.

i have spent the most time at Lago Maggiore, but concur w/ Scootie about " heartily recommend"

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Googled- looks amazing, thanks for putting this on my list.

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What is an over-rated food?

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watermelon

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Sushi *runs away in fear of being mobbed*

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Given it’s moon festival time, I will say moon cakes. Never been a fan.

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Kale.

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Even cooked like as the leafy ingredient in a good curry? I like that it holds up well when it is part of something bigger.

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Sounds like a sure fire way to ruin a fine curry.

Vile f-cking weed.

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this is the way

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CILANTRO

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A Guinness, this early? Sure!

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Cupcakes

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Blasphemy. The best I had was a tiny bakery in WA, but Lavender Bakery on Solano has been quite good.

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Also good - Cupcakin'. They have stores in

Berkeley - Shattuck Ave (1690 Shattuck Ave; old Virginia Bakery spot), and Telegraph Ave (2391 Telegraph Ave),

Oakland - 907 Washington St (Oakland's Swan Market),

San Francisco - at Chase Center, and

Walnut Creek - 1388 N. Main St

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Coffee

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This is also a correct answer.

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You are confused.

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Still not sure how so many people like to drink that swill.

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like many things with bitter or harsh tastes, like coffee, beer, alcohol, there is a subtle pleasure from the harshness. and there are the side effects like alertness, drunkenness that enhance the experience.

i think it is fair to say it might be over-rated given how prevalent and expensive it has become. that being said, i have a custom made espresso machine that makes the BEST coffee and makes me happy every day.

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The most dangerous thing you have purposely done

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Sep 27, 2023Liked by SGBear

Well, one that comes to mind: Freight hopping. Fascination started junior year of HS from reading a Jack London story. It clicked. Always liked and knew some things about trains and specific lines.

Started by hanging out, at night, in the big Roseville SP yards. Taking rides within the yard. Crossing through strings of cars....over, under, etc. Getting on strings of cars being coupled or decoupled, hearing the "boom" and waiting for the jolt and timing it right to jump up and miss it. Taking some short rides where we knew it would stop or dared ask if "going to stop in Sacramento?". Our small group referred to anyone at home as the designated Railroad Rescue in case (pay phone) things went sideways route wise for a pickup.

Accelerated upon hitting 18. Made four RT trips over the hump to Reno/Sparks One, it was so cold we started a fire in a box car out of desperation. Lucky not to get caught...but eventually it happened and the weekend through Monday Truckee jail. Hauled off the train at gunpoint, & handcuffed, a car carrier and we were both in Ford Mavericks - found the keys under visor and listened to radio. Judge threw the case out (Trespassing) "fellows, you cant do this anymore." That weekend was busy for the jail my partner and I got exposed to people we would not normally hang around.

Later that summer, my partner in the Truckee incident, made it, alone, all the way to Chicago. Quite the story. Took a Greyhound bus back.

Several trips north, to say Dunsmuir and back. One Easter weekend (folks gone) same partner and I shot for Eugene. Got to K-Falls, very cold & spitting snow and decided to go back. $3 for army surplus blanket in K-Falls. Cut a hole in it to rig a poncho with roped belt to secure it. Had a disagreement about what freight to back south on. So I picked one and got on alone. Instead of going to Weed, Mt. Shasta, Dunsmuir etc, it split and went southeast. Snow increasing and dark. It stopped, I saw lights in distance and asked a switchman what town it was....Alturas. So I walked into town. Had $10 on me. Stockmans hotel took pity on me after I asked about a Greyhound to Reno and how much was the faire? $7. They let me stay in a room an woke me up at 5 for the bus. Called RR rescue buddy collect, told the operator not to say collect until a young man's voice came on. And was back home in Sac suburbs by 1, parents got back that evening.

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This is a good story. And yes you were dumb. I worked for UPRR, and we heard many horror stories of people found dead in cars or trainyards, jumpers like you were.

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Indeed. We knew it was "dangerous" but in a general way being overcome by youth invincibility. Whilst doing it we got clued into tips and tricks aka rules of the road from meeting, mostly if not all typical bums where we had occasion to interact, mostly while waiting around the yards.

There was only one significant injury. By lark one day three of us went from Roseville east and planned on jumping off at Cape Horn, near Colfax, cause we had to be back that day. We knew Cape Horn well and mostly had seen the trains slow down enough where we figured it would be do-able....having practiced such on slower trains in the yards...both getting on and off. Though the "policy" was always get on and off stopped trains.

Cape Horn came up. Had to figure what the slowest it would get. I recall two of us, Mike and I saying at one spot, 'this is it, slow enough' while Rich said 'no, too fast, wait'. Mike and I jumped...hit the ground, ballast, running/stumbling but we both stayed up. We could see Rich still in the car getting further away then he jumped.....bounced on all fours along the ballast. Ripped jeans, cut hands, cut knees, pretty bloody but okay. Cleaned up in a Colfax gas station and calle RR Rescue to picked up.

This jogged my memory more. After the Greyhound from Alturas to Reno and calling my friend in Sac, I had almost three hours to kill. Dressed as I was, with army blanket tied with rope around me poncho, I walked to the U of Nevada area. Caught the attention of folks of what I was told later must have been Scientologists - I was clueless....went into this old house (they said are you hungry?), had a hotdog on white bread and soft drink. I could not understand what they were talking about. Got nervous and said I had to go....I remember "wait, wait!" just went out the door. And, gad, I got back home, not at 1 or so but closer 4 beating my folks by a couple of hours.

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Driving

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took my 7 yr old backpacking and crossed a river on a fallen tree trunk since the bridge had washed out. luckily her mom was not there to object.

there were some other close calls while hiking or backpacking but this one stands out since a kid was involved.

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Similar, but edge of waterfall with my daughter. Slow water speed, I thought it was safe but in hindsight it was dumb. Wife was there, and was not happy.

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I don't remember it, but my mom always said my fear of the water was from my dad dropping me into the Merced River from a bridge in Yosemite Valley when I was too young to handle it.

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...So many

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Normally I wear protection, but then I thought "when am I going to make it back to Haiti?"

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Bad Idea jeans, baby!

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Drugs

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Bad Idea Jeans

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Jumped from a rock precipice into the McCloud River, about a 4 story leap. It's a fairly large river fed by melting snow from the slopes of Mt. Shasta

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Were you inspired by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid?

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PRO

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[Wojo] Dame Lillard to the Bucks in a blockbuster deal

https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1707097159731138830

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Probably makes them the title fave

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i like Lillard. super fun to watch.

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Why the hate? Just curious. Seems like a good dude who gave plenty of time and energy to making it work in Portland.

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i agree

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Woah. Interesting.

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Philly Eagles taking advantage of the scrum rule, which is legal in the NFL but illegal in NCAA

https://apnews.com/article/eagles-tush-push-jalen-hurts-jason-kelce-lane-johnson-landon-dickerson-c42f4f440c367064a751f86ef84b3486

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It has become a Game Changer for the fantasy value of Jalen Hurts. You're basically bookmarking a rushing TD per game.

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A good old-fashioned maul is very effective at moving the pile. Cal used it in a game at Wazzu (Tedford era) at least once and got about 10 yards out of it.

Mauls are a feature of rugby, which is the foundation from which American football arose. I often wonder why mauls are not employed more often in the NFL or even NCAA football.

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These aren't the droids you're looking for. Move along.

https://twitter.com/CamMellor/status/1573826290750291969

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Atlanta Braves mascot hands out stiff-arms to children like candy. Meanwhile, it's good to see that Chicago Bears mascot block like the actual team.

https://twitter.com/NFLonFOX/status/1706021748313825456

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Raiders DE Chandler Jones says that he was hospitalized against his will by a court order

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/38496675/raiders-chandler-jones-says-was-hospitalized-will

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NFL decides not to fine Mac Jones for cup-checking Jets CB Sauce Gardner. Jones says it wasn't intentional.

https://twitter.com/DMRussini/status/1706411555888275621

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Kaepernick wrote a letter to the Jets asking if he could join their practice squad

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/38497338/source-jets-sign-veteran-free-agent-qb-trevor-siemian

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Overall a sad case of collusion by the owners.

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It was, though at this point I don't blame anyone for not signing a 35-year-old who hasn't played in seven years.

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Brewers clinch NL Central via this play

https://twitter.com/MLBWalk_Offs/status/1706853341341667662

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Oh man, was watching the game, tough one! I can’t ride Seiya too much though as he’s been our best player the past couple months.

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Padres mercifully eliminate the Giants from the playoffs with a 4-0 victory.

https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2023/9/26/23891917/giants-padres-recap-juan-soto

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The writing had been on the wall for the Giants for more than a month.

The target for the Giants is next year or the year after that. If the farm system rebuild has truly been working, they should have a good core by then. If not, it's time to make changes in the front office. All they've been doing in the meantime has just been stopgap patchwork stuff.

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This is about the best thing to happen this season for the Padres and it’s fans.

I am happy it was the Pads that officially eliminated the Giants.

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Seems unnecessarily harsh.

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I’m a Padres and Cal fan, I’ll take whatever I can get in terms of enjoyment from my underachieving teams.

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That's sad,

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If Cal were to actually beat USC or UW or Oregon to knock them out of the Pac12 championship game, would you not celebrate and enjoy that?

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Fire Farhan. Fire Kapler. Fire everyone.

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Welcome aboard the train, oh Venerable Slug...I've had a seat saved for you in First Class since February.

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I would like to fire Farhan for sure. I am less certain about firing Kapler. He's pretty much had a shit sandwich to work with, I'm not sure someone else would have eked more wins out of that tragic lineup.

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It was all good just a few months ago…

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I think the success in 2021 set the Giants back a few years. I wonder if they do their usual just under .500, would they have started the rebuild in 2022?

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And a big catalyst to the Giants' success in 2021 was Brandon Crawford's career year. It made everyone else on the roster better.

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Not too mention farfarfar better-than-expected production from Belt, Longoria, Buster, plus career-outlier years from Jake McGee, Late Night LaMonte and Donny Barrels.

Possibly the biggest fluke season in the history of Major League Baseball.

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No, it wasn't. They were just lucky they weren't below .500 because of a ridiculous 10-game winning streak in June and a 7-game winning streak in July wrapped around the All-Star break.

I'm convinced that the analytics approach is shite when you've got a front office and a manager who rely on that approach and discount the mood of the team. I think Zaidi and Kapler don't pay nearly enough attention to motivation and goals. Analytics are not an end in itself; it should be. at most, an element in decision-making, not the basis of decision-making.

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I was joking and it is a line from a JayZ song.

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My bad. I am unfamiliar with Jay Z's work.

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DBD AV CLUB

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This season of Reservation Dogs is SO good, looking forward to watching the finale

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Writer's strike over so John Oliver should be back soon. Hurrah!

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Episode 7 of Ahsoka was fantastic. This whole season has been great. Disney should have adapted this show into Episodes 7-9 instead of the garbage they threw up on the screen.

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good to hear.

i am a little behind. still only halfway thru season 3 of Mando.

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Oppenheimer (17/19, WB). Christopher Nolan did a pretty darn good job writing a story in different time story-arcs that are woven together, creating drama and surprises in a movie that we frankly already know what happens when told from front to back. Everyone's acting was superb, which will surely get Oscar nominations for Murphy, Downey Jr, and Blunt. It's pretty amazing that you also literally have a recent best Actor Oscar winner literally as a clipboard holder in the film. Nolan will probably also get nominations for direction and screenplay. And the sets were perfect. The shots in the Faculty Club and in various Craftsman-style houses made me a little homesick for Berkeley.

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my punch-up: whenever berkeley was not on-screen all the other characters should have been asking "where's berkeley"

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Can we put it in more of a hip-hop context?

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I thought it was Cal Berkeley?

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the back stairs leading to the physics building (formerly LeConte Hall) were the most nostalgic for me.

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OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY

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ELSEWHERE IN COLLEGE

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Henry Ikakihifo is currently at Nevada, but he is denied waiver to play immediately and the coach is upset.

https://nevadasportsnet.com/news/reporters/ken-wilson-not-pleased-with-ncaa-denying-waiver-petition-from-cal-transfer-henry-ikahihifo

He played 12 games as true freshman and 8 games as sophomore at Nevada (2019 & 2020), then transferred to and played 10 games at College of the Canyons (2021) and 11 games at Cal (2022). There's Covid waiver so he can play another year, and this will be the first time transferring from D1 to D1, but denied. Transferring too many times?

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Penix and Caleb WIlliams are tied as the odds on favorite to win the Heisman. Cal is doing its part.

https://sports.betmgm.com/en/blog/college-football/heisman-trohpy-odds-favorites-to-win-bm06/

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Our old friend Jack Plummer is 10th in the rankings. Too bad he didn't want to stick around, he could have had a Davis Webb-esque year (minus the thumb injury) under Spav

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He wanted to stay but Spav wanted his own QB.

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Wait really? Oh boy. Someone needs to teach Spav what BATNA is. Maybe he should take some classes at Haas. What a goof

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Yes. Plummer wanted to stay but was told he would it be guaranteed to be QB1 and would have ti battle it out with Spav’s guy, so he left. JMike really like Plummer and when Plummer left, he left. It had nothing to do with Ucla opening up the checkbook. JMike had a very generous and comparable NIL package at Cal had he stayed. He just simply stopped returning calls and left.

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Did Spav think he had a recruit that didn't work out? I thought Plummer went to Louisville due to being recruited by his former Purdue coach?

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No. Spav showed him the door. J Mike went through it as well, as a result.

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UGH.

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whoops

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CAL

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Go Bears!

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Beat Sparky!!!

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Jaden Rashada and Drew Pyne ruled out. Trenton Bourguet will start against Cal. Bourguet has been a career backup, but started a bunch of games in 2022 after starter Emory Jones went down with an injury. He's quite accurate, but averaged a pick per game. He should be a dangerous opponent.

https://twitter.com/chriskarpman/status/1706734120058208752?s=46

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So you’re saying an unknown is about to have a career day vs Cal…?

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we are nothing if not generous

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And predictable.

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Some dude says Berkeley rents are falling. He shows his work and doesn't just rely on some BS anecdotal evidence.

https://darrellowens.substack.com/p/berkeley-rents-fall-amid-construction

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Sep 27, 2023·edited Sep 27, 2023

Not surprising when you increase the supply of rental housing by building new housing stock. But this doesn't excuse Berkeley's history of rent control. The best form of rent control has always been building (increasing) the amount of housing stock. Berkeley's rent control (Measure G) amounted to draconian measures that encouraged landlords to remove housing stock from the rental market by moving in to the property or selling to someone who would move into the property. Measure G did make it hard for landlords to occupy property they owned *and rented*, which is how California ended up with the Ellis Act. Measure G also put controls on what could be charged after a change in tenants. The Ellis Act changed that by making vacancy decontrol legal, superseding Measure G in this regard.

If building new rental stock brings down rents in older housing stock, then rent control will be functionally obsolete. The Rent Board will only serve to be a political arm of tenants wishing to punish landlords.

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Dumb, so dumb.

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I used to have a rent controlled apartment at Hearst and Euclid junior and senior year. It was $395 a month

I took over the lease from the previous guy by paying a hefty finders fee. Long ago...ummm....about 30 years.

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$220? One bedroom

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Darrell is legit. And of course, this is what happens when you add tons of apartments to a housing-constrained city

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[WGolf] Bears continue to roll on Molly, hang on for the co-victory with Oregon.

https://calbears.com/news/2023/9/26/womens-golf-record-breaking-bears-win-molly-invitational.aspx

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On this day in 1941 in Memorial Stadium the Golden Bears defeated St. Mary’s 31-0. Cal would go on to win only three other games all season but they were against U$C, UCLA and Furd. This would be one of only six seasons in which the Bears beat all three of their rivals but the only one of those in which they did not go to the Rose Bowl. It is surely the best losing season in Cal football history. September 27, 1941 is especially significant because it marked the debut of Oski — our lord and savior.

DBD celebrates 100 years of football in Strawberry Canyon with this daily feature appearing throughout the football season.

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It's kinda sad that USC and UCLA's departures to the Big Ten won't have a meaningful impact on our odds of beating all three CA schools in the same year. It hasn't happened in 65 years, and that doesn't look to change any time soon

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For decades I've had two dreams for Cal football: going to the Rose Bowl and beating our three rivals in the same season. The former seems impossible and the latter will effectively will be starting next season. Sigh.

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We'll beat our 3 rivals next season: UVA, UNC, and Stanfurd.

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I don’t know, UNC seems pretty good.

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I think Drake Maye is a RS-Soph so I think he's draft eligible.

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