145 Comments
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I am obsessed with a new idea. I am making a mobile work platform. It is different than my desk, which is permanently set up. The idea is to have a platform that I can carry around - to a park table, a coffee hose, my back yard... essentially anyplace I want to work but gain the efficiencies from having a good setup. It's a laptop mount that is raised up to an ergonomic height, a full sized mechanical keyboard and mouse platform, and wiring secured so I am not fidgeting with wires every time I move. I am off to Lowe's because I can feel that I am not going to rest until this itch is scratched.

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Cool idea if you can do it. I also like the coffee hose idea! Make sure you work on both.

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One in. One out.

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A coffee hose? Man I like coffee ever now and then but I don't need a full hose hooked up.

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an interesting idea. How easy to carry/move, storage for mice, pens, etc? I find that I still need a good writing surface, even though so much is electronic nowadays.

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I sketched out a bunch of different models that had lots of options. I am building the first prototype this week, choosing cheap and simple first - and then modifying to add functionality. I am Also trying to balance weight and cost.

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Remember that metal is stronger for the same weight compared to wood.

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MMMMmmmmm... cake for breakfast.

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I endorse this

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I'm about to each a donut, which is just fried cake, yes? and a German pretzel...so lots o' carbs this morning!

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Of course the pan-cake is very traditional for breakfast.

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New Apple Products

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Screw Apple. As a former user, I can sat that they switched from delighting their customers to maximizing profits from each customer when Jobs died. It was a pain to migrate over, but open source and MSFT from here on out.

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My dad is probably going to upgrade from his IPhone 6 this Christmas. Wondering if he should go all win with the latest IPhone or just settle for like the IPhone 11 or something.

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My philosophy is to buy the very best I can afford and the newest. and then use it for 3 years.

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I've stuck with google phones for the last 4 years. Right now I have the Pixel 5 with 128 GB.

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I've also used google phones for 5+ years now. I mostly use the Pixel -a line because they're cheap and I don't need a top-tier phone. I plan to use my Pixel 3a until it dies.

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The one thing I like my Pixel 3 over the 3a is wireless charging. I did see the Pixel 6 needs a new wireless charger.

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I have the Pixel 4a now. Pre-Covid, I favored that I can fit it in my pocket. Now that Covid is endemic and I will likely work from home 80% of the time, I don't need to put it in a pocket. I am going to go for the larger format phone next time.

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I'm currently on the Pixel 3. Went from the Nexus 5x to the Pixel 3. The best Google phone I had was the Nexus 5. I do like the Pixel 3. I think Google is going to stop pushing updates next year to the Pixel 3. From what I can tell I'm not going to like the Pixel 6 since it will be a larger device.

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Three reason to get the latest: 1) Your dad is power user and his current phone is struggling on the apps he likes to use. 2) Getting the most future-proof phone, so he can keep it for a long time. We got the kids 6s' a few years ago as they had a processor that was in the sweet spot as far as future iOS upgrades (started on iOS9 and still compatible with iOS 15. 3) Too much disposable income. Other than that, if he's just a regular iPhone user, get the SE (2020), or if he wants a larger screen, then the 11 for $100 more. Whichever, he should make the purchase soon, inventory will deplete as we get closer to xmas. The SE is still readily available, the 11 ships in about a month.

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I have the 12 Pro that I got last year, and it's miles better than the X it replaced, especially the camera. I think on some carriers (T Mobile, AT&T) you can get the latest phones for pretty steep discount.

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Laps

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Coca Cola 600 from Charlotte is 600 miles/400 long laps. Different kind of lap but my kind of lap.

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Cats

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My white cat is tiny. Not a runt, but she is about the size of a small loaf of Wonderbread. Hence, one of her nicknames is Loafy, especially when she sits with her paws and tail tucked under

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I have a tuxedo cat named Stormy. She has a docked tail due to an infection from an untreated cut.

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We had a stray cat that adopted us many, many moons ago; an orange tabby. When he came to us, his tail was mostly necrotic. Took him to the vet and the tail was docked. Mrs Slug dubbed him "Butterscotch Bob".

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DBD AV Club

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Watched The Goonies this weekend, wife and daughter had never seen it, I missed seeing it seeing it until not that long ago, and sort of felt bad, because my son would have LOVED it if he saw it when he was 10 or so.

Anyways, it holds up, is a fun, silly movie, cleverly done.

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Jeff Cohen (Chunk) and I both lived in Unit 3 as freshmen and served on the same committee when we were both seniors.

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Never saw it as a kid, always found it super annoying while watching as an adult. Probably would have liked it if I saw it when I was 10.

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Ya, you should have watched it when you were 10, sy...you def would've liked it. I recently went with my sister and her 8 year old twin boys to the movie at the RADY shell with the San Diego Symphony playing the score live, and the kids loved it...despite it's age.

Seeing it as an adult would be like watching the Neverending Story in your 40's...boooo. ;-)

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Interestingly, I still find Neverending Story fairly watchable. It's got some existential themes.

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I saw it as a kid, and did not understand it at all...still don't, actually.

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I don't know why this popped into my head, but The Joe Schmoe Show was hilarious. Actually I should say Joe Schmoe 2, the 2nd season was brilliant. It aired back in 2004, so not sure if it's aged well or not, but It's a parody of a dating show and is/was super clever. I think you'd appreciate it best if you'd ever been a fan of The Bachelor, then tuned out. I don't think it's available streaming, just saw that dvd prices have come down from the $50's to around $10. Just ordered.

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Started "For All Mankind" last night: for someone who was a kid during the space race, this pure catnip.

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Season 2 is a special season of tv

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I still liked the back nine of S1 more. there were a couple of things in the second half of S2 that were off to me. Like Karen. And the way Ed ended the conflict in the shuttle.

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ya i guess you must've been a kid when the vault separating water from water was made and the sky was created

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🙄

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I envy you...being able to watch FAM "fresh" ;-) I've been trying to get my buddy – who is into Sci-Fi and Ronald D Moore's Battlestar Galactica – to start it, but he's been watching other things. Even tho I tell him to stop that ;-)

Like BSG, the first couple of hours are good, not great, but they establish things. It really takes off (no pun intended) from there.

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Oh that is good. Actually gets better as it goes on

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Anybody watch/watching See on AppleTV+? I watched S1 last year. Better than I thought it'd be. Now that S2 is done, I'm starting to binge it. Saw the first two eps last night. Very good...albeit very violent.

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I've downloaded it to my phone but i have a ton of other stuff to catch up on

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well, interested to hear what you think when you get to it!

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Oh also anyone have any book recommendations? Particularly something light and easy to read at midnight after a 15 hour day

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Have you read Bad Blood?

What sorts of books do you like? Fiction/non, if non, what sort of topics?

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Oh the Elizabeth Holmes book? It is good?

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It's very good. WTF moment after WTF moment, and well laid out and easy to follow.

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I like fiction. Fave author is probably Murakami. But, increasingly am just too tired for anything dense - I did enjoy the new Andy Weir book which is kind of my speed now

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Best book I've read so far this year is We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker. Takes place in a fictional small town on the central coast (you will break your brain if you try to figure out where it could be, because it can't). Small town cop trying to solve a murder, but I wouldn't call it a murder mystery, it's much more personality-driven than that.

I keep a running list of everything I read -- here are all the other books I've read this year that I've starred as being particularly good:

I Am Pilgrim — Terry Hayes

America America — Ethan Canin

Dear Edward — Ann Napolitano

The Boy in the Field — Margot Livesey

Good Company —Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney

The Midnight Library — Matt Haig

Long Bright River — Liz Moore

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Wow, thank you!

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short stories are good for that. i recently read Stories of Your Life by Ted Chiang and really enjoyed it.

it is good if you like sci-fi

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Thx!

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"The Dying Earth" Jack Vance, collection of short stories, I'm in one.

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Thx!

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I randomly started watching Manifest on Netflix. It is ok itself, but it made me think mainly of how the show Lost created a lot of copycats and apparently still is. I was thinking of what other shows are like that - where it spawns a bunch of imitators. I was thinking of Seinfeld and Star Trek

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I recently made it through season 1 of Manifest, but honestly the last 5 or 6 episodes were like watching a Cal game...just a chore. I realized I didn't really give a schitt which way the cliffhanger at the end of S1 went, so it was time to call it.

This show suffered by being on broadcast tv, IMHO...it really needed the holy trinity of premium cable, which is adult content, sexual situations and nudity...perhaps the latest and final season, which will be done by Netflix, will introduce some much needed passion into the show, as the premise was intriguing. But in the end, it was too silly with campy dialogue and characters doing absurdly stupid things just to move a plot arc along....

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Manifest has an interesting premise, but I was done with it after about 3 eps.

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Yeah it is not great.

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Seinfeld? Other than Curb, I can't think of anything - I'd say The Office has tons more imitators.

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FET: New Curb Your Enthusiasm season starts on Sunday. I can't wait.

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really?!? I finally finished S9 and started S10.

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I think Friends was a Seinfeld imitator

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Maybe also Mad About You.

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That's another good one.

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I think so too, in a lighter tone, but that's the only one.

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There were several other "young professionals in the city" sitcoms also surrounding Seinfeld and Friends at the time: The Single Guy, Caroline in the City, etc. You could argue that these were kind of hybrid inspired by both Friends and Seinfeld, but they were definitely trying to keep that vibe going.

Another long-running show is It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, which seems to me to be doing the Seinfeld thing, only even more extreme.

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The "young professionals in the city" sitcom pre-dates Seinfeld, and isn't what made it different. I can see Sunny as being inspired, but only Friends was a direct and timely (pale) imitation.

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Oh good call, Sunny is def inspired by Seinfeld but cruder/edgier and more absurd

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True re the Office, that is a good one

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Our Crumbling Democracy

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WTF, dude. What a putz.

https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1449890852218806272

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We should go back to the days when manly men like the founding fathers wore powdered wigs and rouge.

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US Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R) [NE-1] to be prosecuted by the FBI for making false statements regarding foreign donations.

https://twitter.com/lachlan/status/1450448737407578115

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Today in Covid 19

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Collin Powell dead at 84. I wish they covered more of him in U.S History textbooks, seems like a real glossed over figure.

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he was a nice man who also happened to be a war criminal who lied to get us into wars in the Middle East.

(also my history classes in high school got to the civil rights era and that was it)

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Impressed your high school history class got that far! Mine would get to about WWI and stop. CA public schools baby!

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My kids's history classes covered a lot more recent times than mine did. Funny how that works.

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There is that stain. Whether he was cajoled into making statements about WMD's or did it voluntarily, is unknown. The amount of "collateral damage" was extreme.

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Pro

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The NBA season tips off tonight

A handful of changes in rule interpretations should limit the number of wacky, comical attempts to draw fouls that have grown increasingly prevalent in recent years (jumping into defenders after pump fakes, kicking out the legs on a shot to try to initiate contact).

More on the rule interpretations here: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-fouls-you-wont-see-on-3-point-shots-this-season-and-some-you-still-will/

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There are so many articles about Curry, but I feel like he rarely got those follow through calls. Harden and Trae Young though get shitloads of dumbass calls

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Curry didn't really start trying to draw them until last season. He learned that Harden was always going to get away with it, so may as well join in.

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The arm swing through was popularized by KD. Curry is the pump fake and jump into defenders flying by. Harden uses a lot of everything - especially the hold the ball out and throw one's head back. CP3 started the beat the man, then put on the brakes and let the defender run into you and throw a shot up, but Trae Young took it to the next level.

The thing all of these players have in common is they're among the best scorers in the game - ever - AND they're all really smart. It makes sense they would exploit an advantage and put themselves on the line since they're all like 85% and up free throw shooters too. I think they'll adjust just fine to the non-calls. and find some other rules exploit - because that's what the best players do.

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But as a fan of the NBA, I HATED these bullshit, phony fouls. They should call the foul on the flopper.

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SJ Sharks' Evander Kane suspended for 21 games for submitting a fake vaccine card.

https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-nhl-sports-health-hockey-a5d03ef5d681b7ee2db6ab3d8270c096

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Bills lose to the Titans on a controversial 4th down play call

https://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2021/10/18/22733941/bills-titans-4th-down-josh-allen-monday-night-football

Personally, I think the Bills were right to go for it. Josh Allen just picked the wrong angle and kind of slipped a little in making his sneak attempt. It happens.

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Eh, I thought it was more that the O-line guy to his left got blown up.

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Yep, they had no chance because that LT got bulldozed immediately

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Exactly. Jeffrey Simmons made the play. Tip of the cap...the playcall was fine - you want your 6'5", 255 pound MVP candidate QB getting the ball...his feet came out from under him, and Simmons just overpowered the LT and made an individual play.

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Yeah, he ran right into that side when maybe he should have just followed the center.

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And today, we have Buehler vs Morton in the middle of the afternoon. Another reason why baseball lags. Would the NFL have Brady vs Rodgers for a trip to the Super Bowl on at 2 PM on a Tuesday?

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Apples vs oranges, my man. Apples vs oranges.

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We get the ultimate in the insanity of the NL not having the DH. You have heard of the intentional walk? Well Atlanta sent Morton up with the bases loaded with orders to strike out on purpose to avoid a worse outcome, hitting into a DP.

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Sending Morton up with orders to strike out is good strategy. A DH is not guaranteed to ground into a double play.

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Not guaranteed to not ground into a DP, but the odds are a lot better that one wouldn't, random Justin Turner antics not withstanding. It was "good" strategy in a bad situation that the sport should not be creating.

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Just to add evidence to make my point, Justin Turner grounded into a DP to end the Dodger half of the 5th inning.

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Then Dave Roberts burns a reliever who threw 1 pitch, and a better defensive player than the one he has in CF, as a pinch hitter, because the pitcher was due up.

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Roberts reacted to a bad situation.

Buehler gave up 4 runs in the Braves half of the 4th. If the NL was using the DH, how would it change Roberts' decision to pull Buehler for a reliever? And how would it get the Dodgers any closer to the Braves, who now lead 5-2?

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Spoiler alert: the Dodgers win.

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3 salamis in 10 innings of play

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A Red Sox-Braves WS would be so random. The expanded playoff format gives in the sense of a more exciting regular season, but takes away in the sense of these sometimes shrug worthy endings

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Other College

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Nick Rolovich fired for cause due to not meeting Washington State employee government covid vaccine mandate. I could see him becoming an assistant for a team like FSU or South Carolina in order to revitalize those offenses.

Personally I'm indifferent to the situation. I don't know him personally, don't care for him, don't care for Wazzu football (especially after 2 weeks ago). Also being a football coach (outside of film and press conference) could realistically be easier to just do daily testing/masking as opposed to sports like basketball and baseball but it is a state mandate at the end of the day and it goes to show some people won't put with on and off the field ineptitude.

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Oct 19, 2021Liked by BentPawn

wading through that front page Rolo post makes my head hurt. Specifically GB49.

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I can see why

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Oh my God!!! Oh no! I feel pwned... Anyways, I wonder if I should have eggs or a protein shake for breakfast.

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Meant basketball and volleyball not baseball. baseball fits under football

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This was a part of the state-wide deadline in both Northwest states to comply with a condition of employment for public and public-contacting employees. Today we are hearing about all the terminations, and how they are impacting services. This is a self-created crisis, where a known requirement with a known deadline has existed for months, and the means of mitigation is and has been readily available. I fail to find any reason for sympathy for those who have failed to act responsibly.

I do have a concern that we have become so dependent on people who are required to use good judgement in applying all available reviewed and indicated measures to improve outcomes have demonstrated poor judgement in not doing so.

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Totally with you. Also the faux morality of individual freedom angle (especially when with some religious twist) disgusts me. You live in a community; you owe obligations to the community. JFC

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I'm not a religious buff, so wondering what religions would give you an exemption that would satisfy a local government...Christian Scientist?

Wiggins had his denied as well, and then went and got the shot so he could play for the W's....so much for standing firm...

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It’s nonsense. No sect of Christianity prioritizes “do whatever the fuck you feel like” (not get shot) over “help others, especially the vulnerable” (get shot). It makes zero sense. People are just using religion as a pretextual cloak for acting like a selfish jackass.

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The right wing Jesus prioritizes this. And it's a large portion of what the US populace believes in.

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Even the Christian Scientists have come out saying "you can get the vaccine".

https://www.christianscience.com/press-room/a-christian-science-perspective-on-vaccination-and-public-health

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also if catholics don't like the pope telling people to get vaccinated, they also won't like this other stuff he said last week:

https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/pont-messages/2021/documents/20211016-videomessaggio-movimentipopolari.html

I ask all the great pharmaceutical laboratories to release the patents. Make a gesture of humanity and allow every country, every people, every human being, to have access to the vaccines. There are countries where only three or four per cent of the inhabitants have been vaccinated.

In the name of God, I ask financial groups and international credit institutions to allow poor countries to assure “the basic needs of their people” and to cancel those debts that so often are contracted against the interests of those same peoples.

In the name of God, I ask the great extractive industries -- mining, oil, forestry, real estate, agribusiness -- to stop destroying forests, wetlands and mountains, to stop polluting rivers and seas, to stop poisoning food and people.

In the name of God, I ask the great food corporations to stop imposing monopolistic systems of production and distribution that inflate prices and end up withholding bread from the hungry.

In the name of God, I ask arms manufacturers and dealers to completely stop their activity, because it foments violence and war, it contributes to those awful geopolitical games which cost millions of lives displaced and millions dead.

In the name of God, I ask the technology giants to stop exploiting human weakness, people’s vulnerability, for the sake of profits without caring about the spread of hate speech, grooming, fake news, conspiracy theories, and political manipulation.

In the name of God, I ask the telecommunications giants to ease access to educational material and connectivity for teachers via the internet so that poor children can be educated even under quarantine.

In the name of God, I ask the media to stop the logic of post-truth, disinformation, defamation, slander and the unhealthy attraction to dirt and scandal, and to contribute to human fraternity and empathy with those who are most deeply damaged.

In the name of God, I call on powerful countries to stop aggression, blockades and unilateral sanctions against any country anywhere on earth. No to neo-colonialism. Conflicts must be resolved in multilateral fora such as the United Nations. We have already seen how unilateral interventions, invasions and occupations end up; even if they are justified by noble motives and fine words.

This system, with its relentless logic of profit, is escaping all human control. It is time to slow the locomotive down, an out-of-control locomotive hurtling towards the abyss. There is still time.

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Cal

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Cal basketball. Don't even want to think about this but I guess our best players are Anticevich, Kelly, and Celestine? Good lord help me if I have to see Lars Thiemann see any action over DJ Thorpe, I might have to go searching Gruden email style for Mark Fox.

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Thiemann is not a Pac-12 level player.

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He isn't even a high school varsity player

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Ouch, well maybe in Germany...

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Impossible Germany, unlikely Japan....

Wilco lyrics...seeing them tomorrow at the SB Bowl...

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Thiemann is dreadful...nice enough kid, but I've never seen a 7'-er have less of an impact on the action in 15+ mpg nightly...just brutal.

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Let's see what happens with the frosh, a couple of whom might be ready to contribute. Still, it will be tough to escape the basement.

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Alajiki adds MUCH needed athleticism, and could be an impact player early if he can shoot the ball at all. Potentially our most athletic player since Jaylen.

Anwanyu was pretty highly recruited and getting him was somewhat of a surprise. He seems a titch undersized for the post, tho, which is where we need him...but he could flash a little early.

I have zero faith in overrated Bishop O'Dowd guys to be anything more than rotational pieces, so I have little expectations for Roberson, but maybe he'll surprise...Bowser before him is a project, and even Rabb was rather disappointing in that he was a tweener who really didn't do anything well at the P12 level.

I was hoping Anticevich & Foreman would move on bc their minutes would be better served going to Kuany, Thorpe, Bowser...GA and MF tho are pretty average players and it'll be interesting to see what impact they have without the big dog Matt Bradley.

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Man, we need rotational pieces too.

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That’s my point tho T...all we have is rotational pieces.

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I don't think we have 8 rotational pieces. I would be happy with 8 rotational pieces - Pac-12 level players. You could win 8 games in conference with that, even without a star.

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