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We recently talked about politics in Taiwan, and someone I follow just linked to this lecture on the rise and fall of populism in Taiwan. I'll try to watch it over the weekend, but wanted to share in case it's of interest to you guys. I suspect they'll discuss why Han Kuo-yu aka Korean Fish aka Taiwan's Trump lost in 2020: https://youtu.be/-k5-nChzJgk

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Everybody seems to think I'm lazy; I don't mind, I think they're crazy

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The movie gives her a great villain, too. (The villain is unquestionably hers, not Max’s.) The first time we see Immortan Joe, we see his repulsive back lesions. Then we see his underlings putting plastic armor covered in fake medals over that mottled skin. And we see Joe standing before the people he’s oppressing, bellowing, “I am your redeemer!” As luck would have it, Donald Trump declared his presidential candidacy one month and one day after Fury Road opened in the U.S., and there’s no way Miller saw Trump coming. But I can’t watch that scene now without thinking of Trump, his bearing strikingly similar, declaring, “I am your voice!” at the Republican National Convention a year later.

There’s so much Trump in Joe: the overbearing and vainglorious rhetoric, the hogging of all natural resources, the willingness to treat people like property, the disappointing offspring. They both command hordes of crazy-eyed, pale-skinned young male psychos, and they both boast nature-defying nimbuses of hair. The real differences, as far as I can tell, are Joe’s actual leader charisma and Joe’s willingness to ride into battle himself. (Admittedly, the fact that Steve Mnuchin, Trump’s vampiric treasury secretary, was a Fury Road executive producer complicates this whole parallel. I don’t know what to do with that. Even pieces of shit can, I suppose, be involved with great things from time to time.)

https://www.avclub.com/mad-max-fury-road-might-already-be-the-best-action-mov-1820691831

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https://twitter.com/D_Hawk/status/1350166940157960194?s=20

"If it wasn't my job I would have done that for free. It was absolutely my pleasure to crush a white nationalist insurrection." -- The cop who was beaten, gouged, smashed in a door by Capitol rioters.

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Hmmm just saw this thread on "mentrification" https://twitter.com/fireh9lly/status/1350019810424459264?s=20

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🙄 someone with too much time on their hands.

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I dunno, I think some of the posts are a little overstated (don't necessarily agree about the Star Trek and Beatles examples), but there's something to the complaint more broadly.

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This snowboarder's recent experience...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOE9b60TsT4

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I'll have to forward this to my son.

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When you get up in the morning and the light is hurt your head

The first thing you do when you get up out of bed

Is hit that streets a-runnin' and try to beat the masses

And go get yourself some cheap sunglasses

Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah

Spied a little thing and I followed her all night

In a funky fine Levis and her sweater's kind of tight

She had a west coast strut that was as sweet as molasses

But what really knocked me out was her cheap sunglasses

Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah

Now go out and get yourself some big black frames

With the glass so dark they won't even know your name

And the choice is up to you cause they come in two classes

Rhinestone shades or cheap sunglasses

Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah

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Gah. should have checked the lyrics site for missed words.

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Today in Covid

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I've seen enough documentaries to know that a face-hugger can still get through this.

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Ha! Recently re-watched that movie for the first time since it came out - true story; I went to see it with my gf and a friend & his wife and when the little fellow showed up, both of the women bolted for the theater lobby.

Obviously, now the FX don't look quite as special - but I still think it's a great movie.

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He's a funny guy.

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Besides my fear of death, this is why I am still a recluse

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-lungs-scarring-smokers-lungs/

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that's a little bit jazzier than the graveyard my daughter's dorm room looks onto.

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Heh

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Alan Rickman

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Pretty good Sheriff of Nottingham too

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Maybe, but that's not a very good Robin Hood movie, and to quote Cary Elwes "Unlike some other Robin Hoods, I speak with an English accent".

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It had some moments, such as introducing the then-cutting edge "arrow head cam"...

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Cary Elwes is a solid actor. "have you ever tried piracy?"

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Villain in the best Christmas movie ever. Also "Spock" in the best Star Trek movie ever.

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YES. By Grabthar's hammer, by the suns of Warvan...you shall be avenged.

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Tim Allen gives a Galaxy Quest 2 update: 'It's a fabulous script'

https://ew.com/movies/galaxy-quest-2-tim-allen/

Galaxy Quest fans have never given up and never surrendered on the prospect of a sequel to the beloved 1999 sci-fi comedy – and neither has star Tim Allen.

The project had been gaining momentum toward a greenlight when the project's costar Alan Rickman died in 2016. As fans know, Allen played hammy actor Jason Nesmith (a.k.a. the Kirk-esque Commander Peter Quincy Taggart) and Rickman played the Shakespearian-trained Alexander Dane (a.k.a. the Spock-like Dr. Lazarus) in the Star Trek spoof.

"It's a fabulous script," Allen tells EW, "but it had a hiccup because the wonderful Alan Rickman passed. So it all got very sad and dark because [the script] was all about [Lazrus] and Taggart. It was all about their story. It doesn't mean they can't reboot the idea, and the underlying story was hysterical and fun."

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I think it's more of a love letter than a "spoof", frankly.

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Have you seen Never Surrender: A Galaxy Quest Documentary? It's great.

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Back when I lived in San Diego, I attended the screening of Galaxy Quest at the Copley, with the SD Symphony providing the live score. It coincided with Comic-Con, so the crowd was completely jacked. A thoroughly enjoyable night out on the town, back when you could do that type of thing.

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That sounds fantastic. Is it streaming anywhere?

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Prime I think, and they created it as well.

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It's created by the same people who make Honest Trailers, so this documentary never got a real theater release but just a $5 or $10 YouTube or Vimeo fee initially before being released on Prime.

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I have! And yes, it is great.

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I wholeheartedly agree.

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To Sleep, Perchance to Dream...

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Rank 'em: mango, passion fruit, papaya, a chaste kiss on the cheek from Fire Starkey

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Passion Fruit, Mango and then Papaya (but only if spritzed with lime)

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uhhhh, you left one out, bro

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I should have used numbers

1. FS

.

.

.

98. Passion Fruit

99. Mango

100. Papaya

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none of the above - mostly because, having met FS, I fear I would be unable to resist

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so true

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1. passion fruit

...

...

...

99. The rest

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When I had a business trip in Taiwan we stayed at the Grand Hyatt. Amazing hotel catered towards the rich Chinese tourists. Their breakfast buffet is unlike any other hotel buffet I've ever seen. Each morning I'd probably eat at least 4-5 whole passion fruits. They were amazing. I Think I'd list 1a - Mango. 1b - Passionfruit.

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really

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This, but mango instead of passion fruit.

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nothing chaste about my kisses. They are definitely "exploratory" at minimum

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are you saying all 4 of them require using your tongue to taste?

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How much sleep do you get per night on average?

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anywhere from 3 - 8 hours a night, depending. Last night was a 0530 - 0830 kind of night and I am a bit foggy this afternoon

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Still keeping those USC party animal hours, I see.

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if only

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not enough

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7ish hours, give or take

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6-7 occasionally 8.

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6 hours

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7-8, usually 7, sometimes 8

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6-7 on weeknights.

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Same for me. With work from home eliminating commute time, I find I'm consistently getting to bed earlier.

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7.5-8

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8 hours.

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Which players are on your all-Wilcox Cal football team?

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QB: Garbers

RB: Laird

WR: Noa, Remigio, Duncan

TE: Moore (he's a much better blocker than Tonges and therefore more valuable)

OL: Curhan, Ooms, Mekari, Mettauer, Gibson

FB: McMorris

DL: Looney, Bequette, JOHNSON

OLB: Goode, Davison

ILB: Weaver, Downs

DB: Beck, Bynum,

Safeties: Davis, Hawkins

K: Anderson (god, I miss having a good kicker)

P: Klumph

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why can i not remember for the life of me who Gibson is.

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Ryan Gibson. Was a guard from early in Wilcox's regime. He gets the nod from me because he wasn't a problem when he played. Didn't get beat, but didn't blow anybody away. This contrasts with other guards that y'all might be more familiar with but had more frequent gameday problems. His mom sat next to me @ UNC.

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Ok now i feel like i remember if my memory serves me right he wore 74 right?

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Weaver, Bynum, Beck, Garbers, Laird

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And Davis

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Elsewhere in college

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Recent reports both locally and nationally about the Defensive Coordinator vacancy at Oregon both begin with a name that should sober onlookers across the conference - Tosh Lupoi.

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My reservations about Sark as UT's coach have been assuaged. He hired Jeff Banks away from Alabama for $1m/yr to coach special teams and to primarily recruit (he's pretty much the best in the biz). The reason why I am happy? Bank's is crazy AF. He has a girlfriend who is a stripper and has an Instagram account named "pole assassin" and apparently she has a pet monkey named Gia. The reactions have been off the charts. I dont even care what happens on the field anymore, this is amazing. All Gas, No Brakes indeed...

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Given Sark's history as a HC, and this characterization, what could go wrong?

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Even if it's not successful, it'll be entertaining.

I've been thinking about Cal men's basketball the past couple of days. It hasn't really been fun for most of the last 4 years now.

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We're a subpar WAC team....it's approaching the "borderline un-watchable" territory, tho the 'fisticuffs-with-your-asst. coach, stunning ineptitude' level of the Wyking era is missing, thankfully.

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We are about as good as we were before Kevin Johnson showed up in 1983. That is, awful in every way.

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The Pac-12 played 5 games yesterday. None were competitive.

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I wonder if there would be less parity this year because it's so much easier for teams not in contention to just check out mentally, not playing in front of fans, etc.

But the 4-5 decent (top 25 nationally) Pac-12 teams didn't have to face one another yesterday (Oregon is also shut down due to COVID).

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I think we should be relegated.

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Tournament selections will confirm what FB already told us, that the conference already has been.

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Hmm, don't the projections generally have five Pac-12 teams in the tourney?

Granted they're not generally projected to get any 1 or 2 seeds.

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We'll see how many get to the round of 32.

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That's not about selections though.

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Interesting college football value chart I stumbled upon.

https://graphics.wsj.com/table/NCAA_2019

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OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY

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Lawmakers who interacted with the pro-Trump protesters who rioted at the Capitol last week could face criminal charges and will almost certainly come under close scrutiny in the burgeoning federal investigation into the assault, former prosecutors said.

“This is incredibly serious,” said Ron Machen, a former U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C. “Although you would need compelling evidence before charging a member of Congress with anything related to the breach of the Capitol that day, this has to be investigated.”

Unlike with the president, there’s no Justice Department policy shielding members of Congress from legal accountability while in office.

“I’d say those are potentially viable prosecutions,” added Peter Zeidenberg, another former federal prosecutor in Washington. “I’d say those guys should be worried.”

Yes, they should be worried.

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/14/lawmakers-capitol-attackers-legal-459519

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Trump approval cratering, even down to 29% in the Pew poll.

https://twitter.com/NateSilver538/status/1350103796945477632

https://twitter.com/Nate_Cohn/status/1350099739946090497

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Republicans still living in a different universe though:

"51% say GOP leaders didn't go far enough in nullifying election

56% say Trump bears zero blame for the insurrection

66% say he has acted responsibly"

https://twitter.com/ThePlumLineGS/status/1350109485482844160?s=20

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Quite true, but even there we've seen some erosion.

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Security in DC continues to increase. I went over near the Lincoln Memorial end of the Mall and could run through a limited area but there were National Guard checkpoints all over for people wanting to drive in the area. Between the Mall and George Washington Univ. there were guardsmen almost every block with their automatic weapons over their shoulders. Kind of weird to see that and then a group of homeless in their tents across the street.

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DCPD officer describes what it was like to battle the mob at the Capitol door. Hodor.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/01/14/dc-police-capitol-riot

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Senator Tuberville is a little deficient in government/civics knowledge

https://twitter.com/AaronBlake/status/1349916722833326081

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His election to Congress made me wonder about what other college football coaches have also served there or otherwise became politicians. The only one that comes to mind is Tom Osborne from Nebraska, but I'm certain that there's more.

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Don't forget a professional wrestler as well.

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Here's a football player, not football coach: https://twitter.com/ChadPergram/status/1347077563240349701

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He's a little deficient in brainpower

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He has a recognizable name and a former career in the most revered industry in the state, which in Alabama made him electable.

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He had an R by his name, which in Alabama made him electable.

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Correct. Being a famous football coach got him through the primary.

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There it is

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I mean, a literal child molester nearly won a couple years ago because he had an R by his name.

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and morality

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Shunned from Polite Society, Ivanka and Jared Face Post-Insurrection Reality...

https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/15/politics/ivanka-trump-jared-kushner-next-steps/index.html

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This is a bit of a rosy eyed look at their 'demise'. And they will only be shunned from NY polite society for a few months or a year at most. Once the problems of their administration are out of the news, their time in the cold will be over.

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PRO

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Wayne Rooney retires

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Jets hire Robert Saleh (49ers DC) as HC

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First Muslim head coach in the NFL

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CAL

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Gabe Cherry. We hardly knew ye

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Graduates in 3.5 years with a major in film.

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GO Bears....

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Where would you propose the Bears go? (The obvious short-term answer is Salt Lake City, for their next scheduled game loss, but then where?)

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I think it's fUCLA next at Haas for the requisite beatdown.

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