Silverpeak Nevada is the only active lithium mine in the US, that I am aware of but it serves only a fraction of current and projected demand. Lithium Americas was just granted a permit to undertake mining in Thacker Pass in far Northern Nevada and I believe that is scheduled to become the next active mine in the US, though I believe there are legal challenges ongoing.
NEWS: NCAA president Charlie Baker is proposing the creation of a new FBS subdivision that would allow the highest-resource schools to compensate athletes directly through a trust as well as NIL
I'm not able to see the tweet, but this is just another attempt to separate the football bluebloods from the rest of the unwashed FBS masses.
About 45 or more years ago there was an attempt to do just that and the result was Division I-A and Division I-AA, which became FBS and FCS, respectively. The hang-up has always been the concept of "amateurism" and the disdain that academics has had for athletics, especially at the Ivies.
There's no reason why the NCAA couldn't do this tomorrow, except that they'd have to admit that "amateurism" has been and always will be a sham, and they'd have to admit that FBS college football is the de facto minor league for the NFL.
Also, me trying to find a clean reference about this on Twitter that isn't complete nutballs conspiracy-theory weirdo shit was yet another nail in the coffin of "not if, but when" I have to switch to another platform thanks to Elon Musk
ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — The owner of a Virginia house that exploded as police tried to execute a search warrant is believed to have died in the blast, officials said Tuesday, as details emerged about numerous grievances he expressed against neighbors and others on social media and in lawsuits.
James Yoo, 56, was identified by Arlington County Police Chief Andy Penn at a press conference as the person whose actions brought police to the home after he fired a “flare-type gun” from inside the house into the neighborhood more than 30 times. Penn said police responded to the house at about 4:45 p.m. Monday after reports of shots fired. When attempts to communicate with Yoo were largely unsuccessful, police obtained a search warrant.
I live in Arlington, but not near where this happened. It obviously got lots of play on the news this morning. Interviews with neighbors said the guy who lived there was a known loner who literally had aluminum foil in his windows. I haven’t heard any report about the family who lived in the other part of the duplex. Presumably they had been evacuated earlier.
Not bad testimony, but I was in jury duty for a drunk driving case (ironically in Moraga after leaving the Moraga Barn), and the cop indicated that he went past the driver, flipped a U-turn, and sped off to pull over the alleged drunk driver. The defense attorney asked the cop something along the lines of "so you drove at unsafe speeds to catch up to the driver". Really, that's the question you ask the cop?
I used to handle DUI cases for a PD office over a decade ago. It was interesting to see the generational divide on this. I'd have clients in their 50s (back in the 2010s) who lived when a DUI was a citation. They failed to see how it was a crime or would be in denial. Younger generations would often say, "Yeah, I did it, I know I am not supposed to."
I testified in a criminal case a few months back on perjury in witness tampering, both of which happened occurred in a case I was handling as an attorney.
Having been a firefighter for ~ a quarter century, including a lot as the on-scene incident commander, or first-in responder, a few calls elevated to trials, directly or peripherally, and a few more where a deposition was necessary (hopefully to avoid it getting anyone in to court!). It can be daunting when you realize the implications when something you say or write won't be correctly understood by many in the process.
I was shocked once when I explained at length the math and science that proved a statement a police officer had made involving what happened on an incident not only wasn't, but couldn't be true, and the judge said "That's an impressive presentation, but I don't understand any of it, so I'm going to disregard it."
Once was speaking for the prosecution against the seven-time convicted drunk driver that killed my best friend.
The second was as a witness against my high school football coach, who was convicted of embezzling funds. When we were awaiting our turn to speak, we looked through the glass door to see what was going on. The bailiff came and got us and the judge read us the riot-act that peeking through doors is disruptive and we could be subject to contempt of court and jail time if we wanted to earn it. That 30 seconds was so intimidating that, to this day, have a "get in, get out, nothing extra" attitude in a court house.
same. losing someone is always tough, but a close friend is one of the hardest.
my best friend from grad school was shot by his girlfriend's ex-lover on Valentines Day. i still have to catch myself when i think about telling him something, but he is clearly not here anymore.
That's terrible. Two of my best friends died within six months of each other in 2017, one from a heart condition the other from pancreatic cancer. My best ever friend had died a few years before from a kidney disease. Life can be cruel and capricious. I'm still shell shocked from these losses. Appreciate your friends while they're around.
is the hardest thing ... we had our 25th anniv the other day, but it has been the longest and hardest year to get there. there were at least a couple times last year where i looked at prices of renting a 1 BR apt near the house
A lot of recent (also in theaters) releases on Netflix. I really enjoyed May December, Fair Play and Rustin. Nyad was okay but The Killer a disappointment.
I had Melissa Clark's chickpea and orzo stew with greens (recipe from the NYT) which was excellent. Made it Sunday and making my way through the leftovers.
Shredded chicken and quinoa burrito on a low-carb tortilla. It's boring and healthy, but sometimes I just need to put a food bullet to put into my head.
Update: my wife asked what was for lunch. I told her and she wrinkled her nose. So I've made roasted butternut squash soup, made with freshly made chicken broth, roasted garlic, and a dollop of sour cream and topped with sumac & roasted pink peppercorns.
Liz Cheney goes on MSNBC to talk about when she listened into a Trump planning meeting - led by Jenna Ellis - as to how they were going to use Pence to refuse to count electoral college votes and go with their own fake electors, describing how she went to the Congressional Parliamentarians as to how to stop this and her chilling response was that they stop it easily and only Pence doing the right thing stubbed out his plan.
Speaker Johnson said that he wanted to release 44k hours of video tape on J6 riots. He said today that it will take time because they have to blur out the faces of the people because... for gawd's sake, someone should be worried about the rioters. The GOP wants to release the tapes because they want to change the narrative on the riots as vast portions of the video will be pretty boring in an attempt to say that the riot wasn't that bad.
NY Giants sticking w/ Tommy Devito over Tyrod Taylor, partly because the former is a Jersey Boy who went to Don Bosco & Syracuse and [gestures wildly with both hands] is named DeVito. Aaaay.
Poor Sam Howell. The Commanders (58 sacks surrendered) are on pace to surrender the fourth most sacks of all time (74). And they play the Cowboys and 49ers too. The record (104) - held by the 1986 Philly Eagles - seems unassailable because they had Randall Cunningham who was sacked as many times (72) as he completed passes (111 of 245). Cunningham was sacked almost three times higher rate than 35-year old Ron Jaworksi, who went down with an injury in week 10. Cunningham liked to scramble and was nowhere near the form he would be two years later when he lead the NFL in passer rating. Randall Cunningham was a two time All American at UNLV for... [checks notes]... punting.
I neglected to say that the NY Giants have allowed 11 more sacks than the Commanders and have already given up the 7th most sacks in a season and are only 3/4 the way through. They should finish second on the all-time list.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Jacksonville Jaguars fell to the Cincinnati Bengals 34-31 on "Monday Night Football" in a game that saw quarterback Trevor Lawrence leave in the fourth quarter with a right ankle injury.
Bengals backup quarterback Jake Browning -- filling in for the injured Joe Burrow -- did his best Burrow impression in Jacksonville, leading Cincinnati to a 21-14 lead late in the third quarter. But the Jags stormed back with a pair of TDs, the second of which set up by a Josh Allen interception of a Tyler Boyd pass, to take the lead.
Watching that game, the one thing that stood out to me was how masterfully Zac Taylor called the game for Jake Browning. He got him in a rhythm early with short, quick passes that although didn't generate many yards, got him some confidence and let him get in the flow early. Then he had designed roll outs, and went with some play-action/misdirection...the Cincinnati O-line is below average, yet he bought him some time with the play calling. A really nice job.
Contrast that with the buffoon that is Nathaniel Hackett, who can do NONE of those things in New York. There's no imaginative play calling, no scheming of guys open, no dynamicism.
Browning was Washington's starting QB that got pulled in the Lightning Bowl in 2018 and Evan Weaver ended up picking off his short-lived replacement (Jake Haener) to win the game. Browning went undrafted after that year and has been cut three times from practice squads. His elevation to starter and this fantastic performance is a nice story arc.
Standout Rookie Also Earns All-Region Honorable Mention
California volleyball's Maggie Li was named the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Pacific West Region Freshman of the Year and an All-Region Honorable Mention on Tuesday, adding onto an impressive resume for the first-year Golden Bear.
Cade Uluave and Jack Endries of the California football team were recognized Monday with Freshman All-American honors from College Football News. Uluave earned a spot on the Freshman All-American team at a "FLEX" position, while Endries was an honorable mention selection as a tight end.
Three members of the California men's soccer program – Evan Davila, Wyatt Meyer and Nonso Adimabua – were named to the 2023 United Soccer Coaches All-Far West Region Teams, the organization announced Monday. Davila earned first-team status, Meyer was named to the second team and Adimabua garnered third-team distinction.
just a quick note that the image at the top of today's DBD is very disturbingly not Oski.
DAD JOKES
Heard this one the other day:
The inspiration for the Mortal Kombat theme is apparently some Nordic music. It's a Finnish Hymn.
Funnier ten years ago when I made it up:
Did you hear Mark Zuck and founders of MySpace are creating a new selfie app?
It's called MyFace!
why should you always have asparagus
in case something happens to your first agus
what's brown and sticky?
a stick.
What's brown and sounds like a bell?
[said like a sound of a bell]: Duuuuunnnnnnng!
I posted this late the other day, and wanted to share it again here for those that missed it:
Why did the rock stack get cancelled?
Because it was acting like a Cairn!
SHE BLINDED ME WITH...
California may have a huge lithium deposit beneath the Salton Sea - enough for 50-100 years
https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/salton-sea-lithium
Apparently it is 1500' underground.
isn't there some fairly large and easy deposits in Nevada?
Silverpeak Nevada is the only active lithium mine in the US, that I am aware of but it serves only a fraction of current and projected demand. Lithium Americas was just granted a permit to undertake mining in Thacker Pass in far Northern Nevada and I believe that is scheduled to become the next active mine in the US, though I believe there are legal challenges ongoing.
Cool archeological specimen. And also [inhales sharply through teeth] yeesh.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/first-physical-evidence-of-roman-crucifixion-found-in-britain-180979190/
cool, and weird.
INTERNATIONAL STUFF
eVisa for India ... i have already spent > 2 hours trying to fill out these most ridiculous online forms and that was just for myself!
3 more family members to go ...
Make them do it. Isn't eVisa supposed to be easy? No 1 said it took him like 5 min for Australia.
https://imgflip.com/i/88c3fx
Venezuela voted 95% for annexing most of Guyana.
https://www.9news.com.au/world/venezuela-guyana-update-voters-approve-takeover-of-oil-rich-region/4d9bbfa3-483b-4b36-a27c-16d0bb7fbe6e
ELSEWHERE IN COLLEGE
Heisman finalists include Jayden Daniels, Bo Nix, Penix, and Harrison.
Apropos: here are the ASU teammates clearing out Daniels' locker after he entered the portal with one saying [he] "sucks anyways"
https://twitter.com/UnnecRoughness/status/1494755824224423943
NEWS: NCAA president Charlie Baker is proposing the creation of a new FBS subdivision that would allow the highest-resource schools to compensate athletes directly through a trust as well as NIL
https://twitter.com/nicoleauerbach/status/1732050817350242747
I'm not able to see the tweet, but this is just another attempt to separate the football bluebloods from the rest of the unwashed FBS masses.
About 45 or more years ago there was an attempt to do just that and the result was Division I-A and Division I-AA, which became FBS and FCS, respectively. The hang-up has always been the concept of "amateurism" and the disdain that academics has had for athletics, especially at the Ivies.
There's no reason why the NCAA couldn't do this tomorrow, except that they'd have to admit that "amateurism" has been and always will be a sham, and they'd have to admit that FBS college football is the de facto minor league for the NFL.
This particular proposal probably won't actually happen, but it is a sign that the NCAA knows it's coming.
[WSOC] This time FSU is the National Champ after defeating Stanfurd 5-1. Both teams entered the match undefeated.
https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/39043840/florida-state-beats-stanford-win-women-college-cup
Arlington VA resident is shooting off flares in the neighborhood. Investigating cops get shot at, so they call in SWAT. Then this happens.
https://twitter.com/connormaj/status/1731853442056929425
Also, me trying to find a clean reference about this on Twitter that isn't complete nutballs conspiracy-theory weirdo shit was yet another nail in the coffin of "not if, but when" I have to switch to another platform thanks to Elon Musk
let us know when you need that bluesky invite
More coverage:
https://apnews.com/article/arlington-virginia-house-explosion-flare-gun-b73119f6aa7a54d3bae81f868e9d78c8
ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — The owner of a Virginia house that exploded as police tried to execute a search warrant is believed to have died in the blast, officials said Tuesday, as details emerged about numerous grievances he expressed against neighbors and others on social media and in lawsuits.
James Yoo, 56, was identified by Arlington County Police Chief Andy Penn at a press conference as the person whose actions brought police to the home after he fired a “flare-type gun” from inside the house into the neighborhood more than 30 times. Penn said police responded to the house at about 4:45 p.m. Monday after reports of shots fired. When attempts to communicate with Yoo were largely unsuccessful, police obtained a search warrant.
If you want a Bluesky invitation let me know
I live in Arlington, but not near where this happened. It obviously got lots of play on the news this morning. Interviews with neighbors said the guy who lived there was a known loner who literally had aluminum foil in his windows. I haven’t heard any report about the family who lived in the other part of the duplex. Presumably they had been evacuated earlier.
Testimony
Anyone in jury duty seen bad testimonies?
Not bad testimony, but I was in jury duty for a drunk driving case (ironically in Moraga after leaving the Moraga Barn), and the cop indicated that he went past the driver, flipped a U-turn, and sped off to pull over the alleged drunk driver. The defense attorney asked the cop something along the lines of "so you drove at unsafe speeds to catch up to the driver". Really, that's the question you ask the cop?
I used to handle DUI cases for a PD office over a decade ago. It was interesting to see the generational divide on this. I'd have clients in their 50s (back in the 2010s) who lived when a DUI was a citation. They failed to see how it was a crime or would be in denial. Younger generations would often say, "Yeah, I did it, I know I am not supposed to."
When you got nothin' else, you make a showing for your client, knowing it is doomed to fail.
Anyone testified in court? Perhaps as an expert?
I testified in a criminal case a few months back on perjury in witness tampering, both of which happened occurred in a case I was handling as an attorney.
Having been a firefighter for ~ a quarter century, including a lot as the on-scene incident commander, or first-in responder, a few calls elevated to trials, directly or peripherally, and a few more where a deposition was necessary (hopefully to avoid it getting anyone in to court!). It can be daunting when you realize the implications when something you say or write won't be correctly understood by many in the process.
I was shocked once when I explained at length the math and science that proved a statement a police officer had made involving what happened on an incident not only wasn't, but couldn't be true, and the judge said "That's an impressive presentation, but I don't understand any of it, so I'm going to disregard it."
Twice, both when I was in high school.
Once was speaking for the prosecution against the seven-time convicted drunk driver that killed my best friend.
The second was as a witness against my high school football coach, who was convicted of embezzling funds. When we were awaiting our turn to speak, we looked through the glass door to see what was going on. The bailiff came and got us and the judge read us the riot-act that peeking through doors is disruptive and we could be subject to contempt of court and jail time if we wanted to earn it. That 30 seconds was so intimidating that, to this day, have a "get in, get out, nothing extra" attitude in a court house.
very sorry for your friend's passing, especially during young years for you both.
same. losing someone is always tough, but a close friend is one of the hardest.
my best friend from grad school was shot by his girlfriend's ex-lover on Valentines Day. i still have to catch myself when i think about telling him something, but he is clearly not here anymore.
That's terrible. Two of my best friends died within six months of each other in 2017, one from a heart condition the other from pancreatic cancer. My best ever friend had died a few years before from a kidney disease. Life can be cruel and capricious. I'm still shell shocked from these losses. Appreciate your friends while they're around.
Matrimony
I've been married to Mrs Slug for 37+ years. It hasn't always been peachy keen, but it has, on balance, been great.
is the hardest thing ... we had our 25th anniv the other day, but it has been the longest and hardest year to get there. there were at least a couple times last year where i looked at prices of renting a 1 BR apt near the house
If you have the right partner, it's fantastic.
+1. Hard to give generalizable advice about how to find them, though.
overrated
What are you better at than your siblings?
Life.
Visiting/who travels for the holidays & family meet-ups. Definitely at least a 8-1 ratio.
7 deadly sins ..
lust, gluttony - i am worse (or better) at these
greed, laziness, wrath, envy, and pride - my sister at these
Everything, but they set a very, very low bar
same
DBD AV Club
Queen's Gambit 2 looks pretty intense and it includes Thor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJMuhwVlca4
https://ew.com/2024-film-independent-spirit-award-nominations-full-list-8410735
Best Breakthrough Performance
Marshawn Lynch, Bottoms
Atibon Nazaire, Mountains
Tia Nomore, Earth Mama
Dominic Sessa, The Holdovers
Anaita Wali Zada, Fremont
Binge watching Face Off, two seasons are available on Netflix.
A lot of recent (also in theaters) releases on Netflix. I really enjoyed May December, Fair Play and Rustin. Nyad was okay but The Killer a disappointment.
DBD Lunch
I had Melissa Clark's chickpea and orzo stew with greens (recipe from the NYT) which was excellent. Made it Sunday and making my way through the leftovers.
double cheeseburger.
i dont have a burger that often anymore, but every so often i have lunch at the local brewpub/smokehouse.
Shredded chicken and quinoa burrito on a low-carb tortilla. It's boring and healthy, but sometimes I just need to put a food bullet to put into my head.
Update: my wife asked what was for lunch. I told her and she wrinkled her nose. So I've made roasted butternut squash soup, made with freshly made chicken broth, roasted garlic, and a dollop of sour cream and topped with sumac & roasted pink peppercorns.
Looks like I signed up for Kefta meatballs, cauliflower salad with tahini. Let's see how good it really is.
Crumbling Democracy
Liz Cheney goes on MSNBC to talk about when she listened into a Trump planning meeting - led by Jenna Ellis - as to how they were going to use Pence to refuse to count electoral college votes and go with their own fake electors, describing how she went to the Congressional Parliamentarians as to how to stop this and her chilling response was that they stop it easily and only Pence doing the right thing stubbed out his plan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7yIduEsfzg&t=1s
Speaker Johnson said that he wanted to release 44k hours of video tape on J6 riots. He said today that it will take time because they have to blur out the faces of the people because... for gawd's sake, someone should be worried about the rioters. The GOP wants to release the tapes because they want to change the narrative on the riots as vast portions of the video will be pretty boring in an attempt to say that the riot wasn't that bad.
https://www.rawstory.com/mike-johnson-capitol-riots/
They have already released 90 tapes
https://cha.house.gov/cha-subcommittee-reading-room-fe781e74-d577-4f64-93cc-fc3a8dd8df18
Brilliant, lets fool people into thinking volcanoes aren't so bad by showing decades of footage where nothing happens.
Exactly.
PRO
Trevor Lawrence has a high-ankle sprain. He is questionable.
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/39048012/jaguars-say-qb-trevor-lawrence-high-ankle-sprain
NY Giants sticking w/ Tommy Devito over Tyrod Taylor, partly because the former is a Jersey Boy who went to Don Bosco & Syracuse and [gestures wildly with both hands] is named DeVito. Aaaay.
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/39048182/tommy-earned-devito-remain-giants-qb-vs-packers
[SF Giants] April 26th will be Cal Night. Still no Stanfurdium and Stanfurd Night.
https://twitter.com/SFGiants/status/1732103360323752074
Poor Sam Howell. The Commanders (58 sacks surrendered) are on pace to surrender the fourth most sacks of all time (74). And they play the Cowboys and 49ers too. The record (104) - held by the 1986 Philly Eagles - seems unassailable because they had Randall Cunningham who was sacked as many times (72) as he completed passes (111 of 245). Cunningham was sacked almost three times higher rate than 35-year old Ron Jaworksi, who went down with an injury in week 10. Cunningham liked to scramble and was nowhere near the form he would be two years later when he lead the NFL in passer rating. Randall Cunningham was a two time All American at UNLV for... [checks notes]... punting.
I neglected to say that the NY Giants have allowed 11 more sacks than the Commanders and have already given up the 7th most sacks in a season and are only 3/4 the way through. They should finish second on the all-time list.
So much talk around here if he’s the QB of the future.
Browning, Bengals beat Jaguars as Trevor Lawrence suffers ankle injury
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/39044690/bengals-jaguars-monday-night-football-jake-browning-trevor-lawrence
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Jacksonville Jaguars fell to the Cincinnati Bengals 34-31 on "Monday Night Football" in a game that saw quarterback Trevor Lawrence leave in the fourth quarter with a right ankle injury.
Bengals backup quarterback Jake Browning -- filling in for the injured Joe Burrow -- did his best Burrow impression in Jacksonville, leading Cincinnati to a 21-14 lead late in the third quarter. But the Jags stormed back with a pair of TDs, the second of which set up by a Josh Allen interception of a Tyler Boyd pass, to take the lead.
Watching that game, the one thing that stood out to me was how masterfully Zac Taylor called the game for Jake Browning. He got him in a rhythm early with short, quick passes that although didn't generate many yards, got him some confidence and let him get in the flow early. Then he had designed roll outs, and went with some play-action/misdirection...the Cincinnati O-line is below average, yet he bought him some time with the play calling. A really nice job.
Contrast that with the buffoon that is Nathaniel Hackett, who can do NONE of those things in New York. There's no imaginative play calling, no scheming of guys open, no dynamicism.
Browning was Washington's starting QB that got pulled in the Lightning Bowl in 2018 and Evan Weaver ended up picking off his short-lived replacement (Jake Haener) to win the game. Browning went undrafted after that year and has been cut three times from practice squads. His elevation to starter and this fantastic performance is a nice story arc.
CAL
[WVB] Li Named AVCA Pacific West Region Freshman Of The Year
https://calbears.com/news/2023/12/5/volleyball-li-named-avca-pacific-west-region-freshman-of-the-year.aspx
Standout Rookie Also Earns All-Region Honorable Mention
California volleyball's Maggie Li was named the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Pacific West Region Freshman of the Year and an All-Region Honorable Mention on Tuesday, adding onto an impressive resume for the first-year Golden Bear.
[FB] Ott’s First-Team Selection Leads Six On All-Pac-12 Squads
https://calbears.com/news/2023/12/5/football-otts-first-team-selection-leads-six-on-all-pac-12-squad.aspx
Uluave Named Defensive Freshman Of The Year; Wilson, Woodson, Reese, Mendoza Also Recognized
Go Bears!!! (We've got the Axe!)
Cal lands the replacement for KEO. He had the most tackles and an INT when we played UC Davis.
https://twitter.com/TeddyeBuchanan/status/1732103588258906360
[FB] Uluave And Endries Earn Freshman All-American Honors
https://calbears.com/news/2023/12/4/football-uluave-and-endries-earn-freshman-all-american-honors.aspx
Cade Uluave and Jack Endries of the California football team were recognized Monday with Freshman All-American honors from College Football News. Uluave earned a spot on the Freshman All-American team at a "FLEX" position, while Endries was an honorable mention selection as a tight end.
[MSOC] 3 Bears Garner All-Region Honors
https://calbears.com/news/2023/12/4/mens-soccer-3-bears-garner-all-region-honors.aspx
Three members of the California men's soccer program – Evan Davila, Wyatt Meyer and Nonso Adimabua – were named to the 2023 United Soccer Coaches All-Far West Region Teams, the organization announced Monday. Davila earned first-team status, Meyer was named to the second team and Adimabua garnered third-team distinction.