196 Comments
Nov 23, 2021Liked by Berkelium97

My boss has tentatively agreed to let me title an upcoming piece

DNA Synthesis: Flip It and Reverse It

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This has inspired me to write a whole song on DNA and RNA based on Ludacris's Area Codes.

I've got codes

Genetic coo-odes

In different sugar backbones

Sugar backbones

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Work it!

I wish I could come up with more clever names for my papers. They're often helpfully descriptive and technical, but rather dry.

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At least they're helpful!

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Think of a music album from before high school. Link a song from that album that was never top 40.

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Age of Consent from New Order's Power, Corruption and Laws (1985)

https://youtu.be/8ahU-x-4Gxw

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https://youtu.be/UBxZFadp9Pw

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I knew it! Not in my wheelhouse at all.

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Here's another one by a different group -

https://youtu.be/uFOi0pfroiU

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My favorite Elton John song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDhTLl8_Ynk

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That song (and the album it is on, Honky Chateau) precedes even when I was in high school.

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Great song, btw.

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Albums I listened to before high school or albums released before I started high school?

My pre–high school musical taste was terrible.

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The first and only song I learned on bass guitar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_n8TuSVmOrw

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Tears For Fears - 'The Working Hour'

Though never a radio hit, it's been a consistent live show number. Here's a very good version from 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5_HZT7qhP0

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I don't think I've ever heard "Email My Heart" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHbCK3ETweQ

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Never top 400: Sparks: Saccharine and the War.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeP5yqMHgkY

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(although I bought the album when I was in college, is that cheating?)

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I'm a huge Sparks nerd. Seeing them again in April.

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Where?!?!?!??!

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The Warfield

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Huey Lewis and the News: Bad is Bad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CscPTI8fwA

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Yes, they certainly are bad.

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yeah, but the News were Clover, who were the band for Elvis Costello's debut album (before the Attractions joined). Prob why it's a bit more country-ish, before Steve Nieve's new wave keyboard sound was added.

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The Attractions' first tour of Australia in December 1978 was notable for a controversial performance at Sydney's Regent Theatre when, angered by the group's failure to perform an encore after their brief 35-minute set, audience members destroyed some of the seating.[

He did the same fucking thing at Berkeley Community - never bought another of his albums after that.

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1st time I saw them was at the Greek for the Imperial Bedroom tour (with the Plimsouls).

My guess would be the short sets was channeling the punk ethos of the time?

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He's NOT punk. The Clash played full sets every time I saw them.

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100% agree. And it's not even a hot take.

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Ladies & gentlemen, this week on BOOOOOO!!, we are joined by Cugel!!

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Oh, so now Newellbany wants in on this party?? BOOO!!!

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Newellbany is salty bc Huey’s a San Francisco fan and he’s convinced that Lewis & the News are secretly running an anti-A’s campaign on behalf of the Giants to get the Howard Terminal proposal nixed...even tho there is not an iota of evidence.

Every Giants fans is in on it...biggest conspiracy since Kennedy assassination....

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All true. Also, they're bad at playing music.

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"Whenever You're Away from Me" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3wSOZk7jnk

How many people on the planet can write, choreograph, act, tap, and beautifully sing a retro big band duet that is both done with an homage for Gene Kelly? Also, Gene Kelly was 68 when he danced in this.

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I saw Xanadu when it came out, didn't like it that much. But I completely forgot that Gene Kelly was in it. Which is surprising since I'm a bit of a Gene Kelly fan. Maybe I was distracted by the girl I was with.

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Supply-chain issues

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I have a friend from Hong Kong who moved back to the US last February. He just received his belongings in October. (Funny enough, he moved to Dublin, where my parents live. I sent him my parents favorite Cantonese restaurant)

I worry my belongings will not be received until next Cal football season.

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Seriously affecting my business, getting so many complaints from customers but there's nothing I can do.

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Honestly, I haven't seen too many issues with shortages, rather slightly increased prices.

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Prices for most materials (lumber, masonry, paint, metal components) have skyrocketed.

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It's been sporadic. One week, its peanut butter, the next week, tp/paper towels, then sausage, then its some varieties of bbq sauce. I take it as the effect of the just barely in time supply chain management that has become commonplace over several years, coupled with buyers who try to drive buying habits with zero grasp of the needs of their customer base. A chronic series of problems with shipping container management from ship to port to distribution (in large part because rail shipping has been grossly neglected instead of being developed) is causing various house of cards supply chains to have problems.

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We've been remodeling since June, and anything you need for that is in short supply: flooring, plumbing, countertops, cabinets, and of course, furniture. Many times we placed orders for something on line that says "in stock", but after you place the order, it tells you "delivery in 6 months." Or, when it is delivered (late!), it's the wrong item. Or only half the order ever shows up.

I'm predicting the same thing will happen to a lot of Christmas gift orders.

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I had one vendor (shades/blinds/curtains) who interviewed me and my wife yesterday before taking us as a client. That's weird, right? Like other things, blinds and such is subject to delivery delays - like 2 months to deliver and another few weeks to get an installation date. She said that Covid has brought out the wingnuts with people going full Newsmax on her. She gets accused of purposely holding back inventory and slowing down installation in cohoots with the Global Cabal to drive up prices and threaten democracy. It shook her faith in people and now she's being cautious.

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Sounds like your blinds person is reasonable.

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That's why most people get what is in stock and hang them themselves.

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Mainly workers are in short supply, since seemingly everyone is remodeling now.

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On one recent trip Costco didn't have any toilet paper (they didn't even have a price display for it, so it looks like they missed a shipment rather than selling out of it). However, they had plenty during my next trip a few weeks later.

Otherwise, I've noticed no change. Maybe the issue is worse on the West Coast?

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saw a clip of the WalMart CEO saying, hey, the Biden administration has been working with us and other companies to free up bottlenecks, and what do you know, it's working.

Imagine that.

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Imagine that, a President and administration responsibly working with companies to resolve an issue is working better than tweet threatening them to solve it.

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Trader Joes in the Bay Area is having issues. Though I don't know if they're supply chain or production issues.

I know that I've been looking for the Gorgonzola Gnocchi that No 2 loves and they haven't had them for a while. Google is saying there is a production issue in S Ca.

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Yeah, they've been out of interesting things lately that they're usually never short on(frozen bananas, please come back).

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Is anybody seeing any shortages of Thanksgiving food?

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We were able to secure all our ingredients yesterday, going to have my first go at roasting a full turkey on Thursday. Any tips on brining a full turkey? It's currently in a salt solution in the bag it came in, but no herbs and spices yet.

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Autumn/Fall

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I flew to Idaho and Kentucky just to see fall foliage this season. It was great.

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Where in Ky?

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stayed in Lexington, and drove around the surrounding areas, plus stopped by few places while driving up north into Ohio for work.

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Ahh...we lived in Louisville for 14 years. Glad to be back in Ca. Beautiful horse farm country outside Lexington.

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I did fly into Louisville, since the flight to Lexington didn't have the seats I wanted, but didn't stay in Louisville. I enjoyed Kentucky that I plan to go back again sometime.

I used to travel very frequently for work, but had not travelled at all for 18 months in the pandemic. When I started travelling again (Idaho, Wisconsin, Kentucky/Ohio), I realized how spoiled I was not to experience any cold weather in SoCal.

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Sure feels like summer here in San Diego.

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I'm outside Atlanta this week where it's been in the 40s/50s and windy, but it looks like it's going to be in full winter mode when I return to MD on Friday (highs in the mid 40s, lows in the 20s). It was 70 degrees one day last week, so I am not ready for a full onslaught of winter.

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brisk this week. At least the forecast for Thanksgiving day is milder for escape walks.

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Bouncing back and forth between chilly and showery and chillier and dry and warmer and mixed depending on the next breath of breeze. Forecast is for a slightly showery Thanksgiving day, followed by a soggier putting up outside Christmas lights day, but a surprisingly warm (upper 50s) and not too wet football day Saturday.

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Mid-30 and breezy when I went out this morning so I had to bundle up a little more.

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Bengali seasons - there are 6 of them, 2 months each and the new year starts approx mid Apr

these are rough translations and months

summer - apr/may

rainy/monsoon - jun/jul

autumn - aug/sep

late autumn - oct/nov

winter - dec/jan

spring - feb/mar

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NYC .. a chilly forecast around here. highs in the low 40s, overnight lows around freezing.

my wife and i are celebrating our anniversary by taking the day off and goofing around in NYC. we have omakase resv at an outdoor sushi counter but there should be heaters and a partially enclosed space

Paris .. mostly the same this weekend with a slight chance of snow!

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After being in the 70s and 80s through October and into November, it's finally cooled off, leading to late arrival of fall. The trees are just now dumping their leaves. Feels like I should be having an apple cider...

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I beat you to the cider. I bought some regular cider at the farmer's market and also have a six pack of hard cider. The hard cider is from a Virginia cidery (Bold Rock) that makes one with a granny smith blend that I really like.

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DBD AV Club

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Watched the first ep of Dr Brain – AppleTV+'s first Korean show – last night. Wasn't great, but interesting enough to finish (it's only four eps).

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Last Action Hero (14/19, Netflix, WB). Purposely campy high-concept film that I couldn't have bothered to watch when it came out but was just what I needed when I was in bed with booster symptoms. It was the Taco Bell Burrito Supreme of movies. It wasn't good, but it was delicious. It won't make sense for kids because its who shtick is being referential to Arnold's other films.

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IT'S A BAAAMMMBBBB!

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DBD Turkey Day Test Kitchen

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A friend is coming over but is vegetarian. I'm making a Cornish game hen for myself and picked up sweet potatoes and plenty of veges at the last farmer's market of the season last Saturday so I think we'll be OK. Friend is responsible for dessert and wine.

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Deep fried turkey, honeybaked ham, sausage mushroom & sourdough stuffing, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, who TF knows about veggies -- something green I'm sure, parker house rolls, pumpkin pie, spice cake for the pie haters. Assortment of deep fried appetizers -- shrimp, onions, zucchini, mozzarella sticks, mushrooms.

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The question is how many types of cheese will you put out for the appetizers?

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I'm in charge of stuffing, mac, rolls and pie.

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What time should we be over?

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The best thing that goes with turkey is black fleece.

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Hiking and skiing.

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Smoked/roasted turkey

Mashed potatoes

Preacher potatoes

Green beans w/garlic and onion

Apple/pear pie

Pecan pie

That's a pared down menu for a pared down group of three.

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Spiral ham, Popeyes Cajun turkey, mashed potatoes, yams, cranberry thing my mom makes, Mac and cheese (good stuff, not Kraft) and some roasted vegetables. Julian (small rural town in San Diego) apple pie and ice cream for desert.

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Ham with apple cider sauce, roasted sweet potatoes, roasted heirloom carrots with spring onions, kale salad with pecans, monkey bread?, bourbon apple galette.

& I'm thinking Chateauneuf du Pape, maybe start with a Rose Champagne

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Turkey, mashed potatoes (maybe roasted garlic), gravy, stuffing, steamed veggies (corn, carrots & asparagus), rolls, bread pudding with vanilla sauce, pumpkin pie, chocolate chip and plain snickerdoodles.

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Very similar very traditional menu. Turkey, dressing, baked yams, mashed potatoes and gravy, probably green beans, lots of rolls, pumpkin pie. And then lots of leftovers. It's a formula that's worked great for generations, so why not keep it rolling. Further, after already having bought a turkey, then got a 2nd one thrown in by the grocery store in their customer appreciation deal, so we will probably do turkey again in a week or two. No down side that I can see to that!

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Heh, in before G.O.: Turkey is trash meat!

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I've taken a liking to Bristol Farms' turkey and hatch chili potato cakes.

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Getting ready to evict him, huh?

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What a thing to say, how sexist of you! 🤣

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Peking Duck, roasted chicken, salmon, egg rolls, maybe chinese stuffing, various veges.

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Mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans w/ bacon balsamic glaze, roasted brussel sprouts, gravy, cranberry pumpkin pie and 4.4 pounds of turkey per person.

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Correction: 5.4 pounds per person.

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Got you beat - 7.86666 pounds per person. Our turkey is 23.61 pounds, 3 persons.

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This happened because we're smoking/roasting a frozen turkey bought last December and our Thanksgiving Day attendees are me, Mrs Slug, and our youngest, Double D. CJ is at his gf's parents on Turkey Day. CJ and Elle (his gf) will join me, Mrs Slug, and Double D on Saturday to celebrate someone's birthday (which is actually on Thursday, but they're really cool about celebrating later because it reduces everyone's stress levels which are already high due to the holiday).

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Happy early birthday!

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Thanks!

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I'll be sure to pass your well wishes along! ;-)

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Menu 1:

Salad, steak, chicken, prawns, potato au gratin (done by me), mac and cheese (done by me), grilled mushroom, creamed spinach, creamed corn, pumpkin pie (by me)

Menu 2:

Southern style green beans, mashed potatoes, turkey, gravy, cranberry, sticky rice canto stuffing (by me), cheddar + pistachio roast shallot dressing salad (me), mac and cheese (me), traditional stuffing (me), pies, cauliflower gratin, and more

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Multo-yums!

Lots of food seems like lots of guests. Hope everyone appreciates the huge effort.

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You have 40 people over?

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First dinner is 7, second dinner is 12. Not hosting here (or ever - my apartment only fits 5 comfortably for dinner. Maybe 8 for a movie.

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Our Crumbling Democracy

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The "Good people on both sides" trial:

Prominent white supremacists Richard Spencer, Jason Kessler and Christopher Cantwell and others engaged in a conspiracy in advance of the deadly Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville in 2017, a jury has ruled.

The jury did not reach a verdict on two federal conspiracy charges, but did find that every defendant was liable for civil conspiracy under Virginia law.

The jury then awarded $500,000 in punitive damages against all 12 individual defendants, and $1 million against five white nationalist organizations on that conspiracy count. Other damages followed on further counts.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/11/23/charlottesville-verdict-live-updates/

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House 1/6 commission subby-pee-nad Alex Jones and Roger Stone. If Alex Jones goes, his stuff should be entertaining.

https://apnews.com/article/steve-bannon-donald-trump-capitol-siege-election-2020-subpoenas-26b7a6d0fb7356bbf8089b5ce0c64df5

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I imagine he is going to go.

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Biden administration releases 50m bbls of crude to reduce the market price of oil.

https://apnews.com/article/biden-oil-strategic-reserve-gas-prices-a7e0802b299cd627c7ffdeeb0e50bd2c

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I thought that Biden was also able to convince other countries like India and China to use their oil reserves as well in an effort to ease global demand.

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A couple months late, as has often been the case with the current administration, as this has been an obvious problem since summer. But better late then never.

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I think they thought that gas prices would go decrease in winter, as they tend to do as people drive less during the fall/winter but that hasn’t been the case. At any rate, they should have done this at least a month ago.

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I suppose now the complaint will be that they are bad at national security

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They're not wrong. The national reserve shouldn't be a market intervention tool for political gain. It should be for our national survival for anything remotely like the previous oil embargos.

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They are wrong because if they truly wanted to protect this country from oil embargos they should have developed and invested in alternative energy sources starting about forty years ago.

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exactly. I've always thought Al Gore's response to 9/11 would have been massive investment in alternative energy sources, best billed as national security investment. W could have done same, but told us to go shop at the mall instead.

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But that's a 40 year project that doesn't have any impact on the immediate problem.

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Only because of recalcitrance by those who buried their heads in the sand, or worse deliberately profited off destructive policies, for forty years. My point is that those people cannot now complain about natural security as far as oil resources are concerned.

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Preach!

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it's 8% of the reserve, which doesn't diminish your point about it being a stunt, but doesn't leave me worried about whether the lights will stay on. Enough to get OPEC's attention, at any rate.

The fact that as a country we're crying like a bunch of fucking babies about gas prices getting near $4 / gallon (with regional variations is just another example of 1) us not being serious generally, and 2) us not being serious about our energy usage policies. Literally the only thing I ever agreed about with Charles Krauthammer was that the floor price for gas should be at least $4 / gallon, and federal income tax adjusted to offset the hit on lower income taxpayers.

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Except that floor would put most small businesses and families out of business, at least in most of the west, if they haven't already. Energy costs are the biggest contributor to the labor and supply chain issues, and if the Democrats want to lose the next couple of elections, not dealing with it will ensure it happens.

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I'm a little skeptical about that claim, to be honest. I'm not one to say that technical solutions have to be universal (the more rural the area, the less suitable battery powered cars are), but pretty much everywhere outside of the middle east and Venezuela has high gas prices which they somehow manages to absorb without decimating small business.

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The buying spree of unnecessarily large pickup trucks and 7-seat SUVs/crossovers is leading to lots of tears at the gas station lately

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Yes, this. If you don’t like paying $4/5 dollars a gallon, go buy an EV and you won’t have to worry about the price of a gallon of gas. Go further and add solar and battery storage to your house and you never have to worry about paying to have your car charged.

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🎻

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but...but...now we have fewer barrels in reserve...

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Which can be replenished once the immediate problem is alleviated.

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Court filing to challenge Ohio redistricting law that gerrymanders state to be 13-2 GOP/DEM.

https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/politics/2021/11/22/redistricting-eric-holder-backed-lawsuit-challenges-ohio-congressional-map/8710272002/

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Defense Attorney for people who allegedly murdered Ahmad Arbery -- who has frizzy hair, a gross neck wattle, and has a smelly butt -- used Ahmad's toenails as evidence of his bad character. Ahmad's mom can be heard whispering "wow" before having to leave the courtroom in anger.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/defense-claims-ahmaud-arbery-partly-005900415.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejYiN9uZ84Y&t=110s

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total leg rinser

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God Damn Rittenhouse

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When security and safety collide, apparently safety wins

https://twitter.com/MacFarlaneNews/status/1462918564969697286

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Today in Covid 19

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see pro cycling ..

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Pfizer Phase III trial shows 100% effectiveness in preventing INFECTION in 12-15 year old children. Ask your doctor if "Comirnaty" is right for you and your family. Come here, Natty? Co meer naw tea? Comey are Naughty?

https://www.statnews.com/2021/11/22/pfizers-covid-19-vaccine-was-100-effective-in-in-kids-in-longer-term-study/

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Pro

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Jay Glazer from Fox Sports: Antonio Brown's fake vaccine card may have come from the Buccaneers.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/the-antonio-brown-fake-vaccination-card-story-quickly-loses-steam/ar-AAR0f4f

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The most Antonio Brown thing that Antonio Brown has been involved in.

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oops

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Doug Jones, former closer for Astros/Guardians, dead from Covid at age 62.

https://www.chron.com/sports/astros/article/Indians-Astros-closer-Doug-Jones-dead-COVID-19-16642367.php

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. . . and no mention of whether he was vaxed or not, though I'm sure we can surmise.

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I was thinking the same thing. No mention of him being vaccinated, so we can surmise he wasn’t.

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It's November 23rd and I'm supportive of Howard Stern calling Aaron Rodgers a "fuckhead"

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/howard-stern-aaron-rodgers-covid-19-vaccine_n_619c960fe4b044a1cc0c0f2f

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Cycling

Peter Sagan apologises after fine for injuring a police officer and COVID-19 curfew violation

Sagan’s lawyers justified his actions saying he feared he would be "forced to be vaccinated."

However, Sagan made it clear he is not against COVID-19 vaccination. He tested positive for COVID-19 at a pre-season training camp in Gran Canaria, Spain in early February of 2021.

He told Cyclingnews he has since had a follow-up vaccination during the summer and now has a complete COVID-19 pass.

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/peter-sagan-apologises-after-fine-for-injuring-a-police-officer-and-covid-19-curfew-violation/

maybe Peter Sagan is the Aaron Rodgers of pro cycling . none of the excuses make a lot of sense since he is vaccinated (maybe) ...

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Cal

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In news that should come as no surprise: it’s year 3 & Mark Fox appears no closer to fielding a competent basketball team...while these guys play hard, at the end of the day, there is a serious lack of P12-caliber players on the roster.

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I love Foreman. He is tenacious and always fights. But he is an undersized defender who is too streaky as a shooter. He needs to be benched to give more minutes to the youngsters to see if they develop. And, I may be aboard the Lars train soon. In very limited time, it looks like he's gained coordination and how to use his big body.

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Well, good thing there is no shortage of room aboard the Lars train...you should have zero trouble getting a seat right there in first class.

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I am going to save this comment and hopefully can use it for my own amusement later in the year.

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pqtm

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Still has stone hands, however.

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Go Bears!

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Cal depth chart out for UCLA.

Craig still out.

Still a starter: Rutchena,

Puskas gets upgraded to an "or" second string ILB

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Apropos: big bear on prowl this week, known to eat bruins

https://www.the-sun.com/news/4128514/cannibal-bear-the-boss-canada/

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A garbage content creator, but it's favorable so I'll take it.

https://twitter.com/BigGameBoomer/status/1462823749410033677

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Two Cal players win weekly Pac-12 FB honors. First time any Cal recipients this season.

https://pac-12.com/article/2021/11/22/pac-12-performance-awards-presented-nextiva-football-week-12

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Cal should have scheduled 2 or 3 games against Stanford this season.

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Stanford is terrible.

I have a hard time believing that an offense that has struggled to create big plays for literally 5 years all of a sudden figured their schitt out, flipped a switch & is now a big play O. More likely, ‘furd is simply the worst D Cal will face this season, by faaaarrrrrrrrr.

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are they worse than Sac State?

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From the looks of it...yes, they absolutely are.

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Heh

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