118 Comments

One of the trending topics on Twitter was labeled "Science" and said "Buttergate: The hard truth behind a change in the texture of some Canadian butter"

I wasn't sure if I should click--WHAT IF I CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH?

But, if you are also curious: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/food-and-wine/article-is-your-butter-not-as-soft-as-it-used-to-be-the-pandemic-and-our-urge/?cmpid=rss&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

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SO MANY GEMS in this video about the Thong Song https://www.facebook.com/VICE/videos/866229567494446

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DBD Hivemind - I have 4 dead electronic things I need to get rid of...2 space heaters, a microwave, and a multifunction printer. How do I go about being a responsible human and get rid of these?

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Our landfill takes most electric and electronic wastes for free. Certain appliances have a fee, since they have be serviced before 'recycling' (and by recycling I mean run through a grinder and then magnetically separating the metal from the rest).

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if they work you can drop them off at the Goodwill in the Rheem Valley shopping center.

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dammit...missed that you said dead.

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I call Tri-Valley, free pick-up of e-waste 1-800-317-3112

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Oooh, I'll try that! Thanks!

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There are also hazardous waste drop-off sites for Alameda County. Sites in Oakland, Fremont, Livermore, and Hayward.

https://www.stopwaste.org/at-home/household-hazardous-waste

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I'm Contra Costa :(

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Contra Costa has one out by Martinez. I'm not sure if they'll take the space heater or printer but probably the microwave. They close at 2 so you'd have to get there quickly.

https://www.centralsan.org/household-hazardous-waste-collection-facility

There is also an electronics recycling place down the street on Pacheco Blvd that may take the other 2 items.

https://rapidrecycle.net/

I had to drop off a dead UPS there because the hazardous waste place wouldn't take it, even though they took dead AA and D cell batteries.

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hold on, let me add my food saver to your pile

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Might as well

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our town has a "bulk refuse" type drop off facility. lots of restrictions of course, but if you stuff qualifies it is worth the hassle.

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Ask Cugel to talk to Waste Management for you? :D

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[WSJ] Texans paid $28b less for power under deregulation. Wait. No, that's $28b MORE.

https://twitter.com/WSJ/status/1364568286353108993

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you won't go wrong as long as you remember that deregulation goes awry, it's not the companies that take the hit

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Not unless the contract is written with limitations written into it. Which could discourage the companies from agreeing to it. Regulation is a substitute for individuals and groups having to umteenthlicate efforts (with wildly varying results) to get reasonable performance and pricing that are in balance with the public's best interest in mind.

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Excellent selection, great prices, and trash customer service.

I bought a stick of RAM from them about a while back and it didn't work. When I tried to return it they refused and accused me (rather loudly and flamboyantly, as if to draw additional attention to my attempted misdeeds) of trying to return a used, defective stick. Nevermind that I had a receipt showing I bought the item the previous day. I don't know why they were making such a fuss over a ~$15 product. After an angry email to corporate they accepted the return with no questions.

I haven't purchased anything from them since.

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RIP. We used to drive from Pleasanton to the Fremont one during lunch every so often. I remember before the current Fremont one we used to go to the original location in Fremont. Was fun to just walk around.

I had a coworker go in looking for a cable modem, back when they first started coming out. And the Fry's guy said, the cable is included in the modem. Ugh...that about sums up now much knowledge the employees had.

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Loved the funky one in Palo Alto, a key spot for start-up folks to buy tech gear back in the day.

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DBD Cooking Club

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I made birria de res last friday, made quesabirria tacos for people on saturday and sunday, and then have made birria ramen on monday.

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I made a fantastic mushroom risotto last night (non-pressure cooker version): https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2014/12/pressure-cooker-mushroom-risotto-recipe.html I added a cube of mushroom bullion to the chicken stock, and I did not have miso so used a squirt of this umami paste I keep in the fridge, which I was worried would add a hint of tomato but didn't. https://www.amazon.com/Taste-Umami-Paste-Laura-Santini/dp/B003XKKCO8/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=taste+umami+paste&qid=1614207144&sr=8-2

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made schnitzel last night with a brown butter-caper sauce. Tonight it's fish tacos

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pork, veal or chicken?

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That schnitzel sounds good, we had Spaghetti Puttanesca last night, chop salad tonight

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Huli huli chicken

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Don't have much to add here, but I've really been enjoying all the 2010 Brunellos I bought a few years ago. I think the Albatreti might be the best, but the Collemattoni is a close second.

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Hey G.Oso - As you suggested, I swapped out achiote powder for paste. I then made cochinita pibil with heritage pork, banana leaves, sour oranges, and really went all-in to try and make an authentic Yucatan roast short of burying it in the ground. I lovingly heated up the banana leaves and wrapped the packages tight. But the packages came unravelled during cooking and the leaves dried out. The meat ended up getting dry. I should have gone slow cooker instead with more liquid to make it a wetter roast. Still delicious, but it's disappointing that it wasn't as good as the effort put into it.

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Ah, my uderstanding is you can't cook it kahlua pork style. All instances I've seen the pork is placed in a cooking vessel then buried.

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I think as long as you have all the main ingredients, then a slow cooker should work

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TIL: This a thing and I may have to get some when I drive by Charleson in a few weeks

https://twitter.com/reneereizman/status/1354324687011028996

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This is better than a bucket of fried chicken that is just cake...but still why?

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Looks good, but seems like fried ice cream in a different shape.

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Koreans of the DBD (Fire Starkey excluded): why is or isn't Steve's "real" Korean food?

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I'm not korean, but it's like the lowest common denominator of Korean food. It is bulgogi and kalbi. It's like a lot of American Chinese food - sweet and sour pork and mushu pork - those ARE real Chinese dishes, but they're also a long stride away from what chinese people actually eat.

I think Steve's is closer though. It's just a very grade model.

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Lawsuit: Antioch CA man dies after police kneeled on his neck for about 5 minutes

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/02/23/us/angelo-quinto-antioch-police-department-death-trnd/index.html

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please Hammer don't hurt them

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I appreciate his voice in science (and am very excited that he follows my account and my work account)

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(Context): I had to bribe P with a TBB hosted tour of the science facility to get him to put away his science kit and go get dinner. This led to a request to FaceTime with TBB and when it was found out she was busy last night, P said "I bet she's in her lab doing experiments. Or maybe doing some math." Meanwhile C was speculating what she might look like (curly hair, white coat...) and if she made big explosions with her experiments. TLDR: TBB is a hero to my sons.

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<3 <3 <3

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You were eating cake though, weren't you?

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TBF, you are a hero to C&P so the follow seems justified. They definitely wanted to know if you were famous and now I can unequivocally say yes.

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in which MC Hammer shows more than a passing interest in philosophy

https://twitter.com/MCHammer/status/1363908982289559553?s=20

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On a 19 point scale, how smart is/are your pet(s)?

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My cat died in 2018, I would have given him a 13/19. He went out one early morning and didn't come back. Lots of critters here so probably got it from a coyote, sadly.

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oldest cat - 12/19

next oldest - 14/19, would be 18/19 if she was a dog.

youngest - 12/19

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Dog = 18/19...smart as hell

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dog 16/19. I'm seriously amazed at the amount of shit she remembers.

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Calico cat 16/19

Shaggy cat 10/19

Dog 13/19

backyard hens 6/19

rooster 8/19

horse 14/19

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I've got questions. I always thought that chickens were really dumb. Apparently, not. Do they recognize people? Names? Can they be easily trained to recognize signals?

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Definitely recognize people they see with any regularity, vs strangers. Some can learn to recognize their own name. Signaling usually if its related to food. Lots of interesting flock dynamics. Also recognize newcomers to the flock, other flocks, and whether a newcomer is a chick from the flock or an out-sider introduced.

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Mine definitely recognize people and context. After they've been running around the yard for a while, as soon as I open the door to go back out there they all come running back to the henhouse. It makes it much easier than trying to wrangle them myself.

One thing that surprised me is that they all have distinct personalities: I have a friendly/social one, a chaotic spaz, an adventurous leader, and a docile one.

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My younger daughter is remarkably skilled at catching chickens, which she learned at summer camp. It hasn't been useful anywhere else, at least not yet.

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She could be the next Rocky!

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My five-year-old neighbor is a savant at catching them. I often look outside to check on them only to see that she's walking around carrying a chicken or two (even the impossible-to-catch one, on occasion). I'll let you know if she finds another application for that skillset.

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This sounds adorable.

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Cat 11/19.

We have had to disguise our bedtime routine to prevent her from getting skittish during the time when we normally ban her to the garage at night. This includes not shutting off the TV, not looking at her, not changing our tone of voice, and changing times we get ready for bed.

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dog 6/19

youngest cat 2/19

middle cat 5/19

oldest cat 11/19

backyard chickens 3/19

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fish 1/19

leopard gecko 2/19

cat 8/19

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Today in Covid

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FDA review found J&J's Covid vaccine as safe and effective - paving way for imminent emergency approval

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/24/covid-vaccine-fda-staff-endorses-jjs-single-shot-for-emergency-use.html

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"The vaccine’s level of protection varied by region, J&J said, with the shot demonstrating 66% effectiveness overall, 72% in the United States, 66% in Latin America and 57% in South Africa, where the B.1.351 variant is rapidly spreading."

It's certainly better than no vaccine, but I'd much rather have the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine.

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I think J&J's tests started post-mutation so I would take a side-by-side efficacy comparison with Pfizer/Moderna with that in mind.

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I'd take any of them, honestly. Where's my shot?

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I thought 65 and ups had been eligible for weeks?

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I'm not that old!

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My brother's girlfriend got hers (preschool director) yesterday, so my brother and I tagged along in case they had extras, but we got there too early (6:30pm).

I'm told that the last appointment at the Coliseum is 6:50, and at around 7:10, they start trying to find people who can take the thawed doses. At any rate, I guess it's just a sign that I need to wait for my turn!

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Or standby for 45 min.

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or wait for the Novavax vaccine which has shown to be just as effective in Pfizer and Moderna and already has data from phase III trials from the UK (95%) and UK variant (85%). As far as i know, no other vaccine has data on the variants. Plus doesn't need sub-zero storage. They're currently trying to get EUA from the FDA

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Elsewhere in college

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[some schmoe on a TX A&M blog]: 10 worst college football coach firings. Tedford is #10, which means that he doesn't know the context.

https://texags.com/s/38844/the-grass-isnt-always-greener-ten-worst-head-coach-firings-since-2000

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Bad take, but good because a random Texas guy mentioning Cal Football means national exposure?

Also, he has Maryland and Ralph Friedgen at No.1. That was a weird case because Maryland an heir apparent in James Franklin but let him go to Vandy. Maryland then parted with Friedgen the year later to make a bad investment in Randy Edsell. They should have made the move one year sooner and go with Franklin (who had a better track record but also other issues).

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He was burned out and needed some time off, plus his health was suffering. Could have taken a sabbatical for a year and then come back, though that is not known in the coaching profession.

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Also our academics went into the tank. which is the real red flag for Cal.

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There is the Urban route...pretend like you're retiring...

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Twice.

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Headaches inbound in 3...2...1...

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The College wealth premium is shrinking for younger Americans

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/college-education-wealth-diminishing/

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Not that surprising, but what I really wonder is when this becomes widespread enough knowledge that it starts impacting college decisions, and ultimately, provides downward pressure on the cost of college. My guess: not fast enough.

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OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY

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Kevin Kruse is the greatest follow on Twitter. Here, he ethers Flyin' Ted. https://twitter.com/KevinMKruse/status/1364647126836338691

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Neera Tanden's nomination as head of OMB is in trouble because she was too critical of the GOP on Twitter.

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/02/24/politics/neera-tanden-nomination-committee-votes/index.html

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now that you mention it, she did criticize Joe Manchin's daughter for profiteering on EpiPens

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Fucking snowflakes.

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Parler is apparently back online thanks to the recapitaization by Rebekah Mercer (Stanford BS Math, BS Biology, MS Engineering). Mercer also is a financial backer in Cambridge Analytica, Breitbart News, and a bunch of alt-right PACs.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/02/24/parler-relaunch-rebekah-mercer/

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Depressing but so far a pariah investor whom no one else will follow, except perhaps foreign investors with an interest in tearing down the country. Gee, I wonder who that might be?

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Sen Ron Johnson (R-WI) used the Senate hearing on Capitol security to spout the now demonstrably and obviously false conspiracy theory that leftist invaded the Capitol as a false flag

https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/23/politics/ron-johnson-january-6-capitol-attack/index.html

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I'm surprised he didn't trot out the old trope that George Soros was paying them.

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PRO

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Jaylen Brown earns his first NBA All Star selection

https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1364366439197605890

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The NBA All-Star team draft between LeBron and KD will take place on March 4th. I wonder who is going to pick Jaylen and when.

Also, Jaylen might be the front runner for the NBA Most Improved player award. There have been some biggish names winning the award recently...dating back to 2012 when it was won by Cal alum Ryan Anderson.

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They should stick with "Football Team". It's so stupid, it's brilliant. Also, it's the name they used when they won the division.

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They're waiting to get feedback from Bezos.

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Jesus, it's not that hard. Make them the Red Hawks, Bulldogs, or something generic and start building brand equity rather than being passive-aggressive.

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I honestly think keeping the Washington Football Team name is pretty good.

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but that would require having someone at the helm who isn't a colossal asshole

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I wonder if they are already making enough money from selling Football Team merch that they don't care so much about delaying the rebranding for another year.

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i would buy "football team" merch because it will go away and be sort of unique. in fact i have a lot Cleveland Browns stuff because I like the simplicity of no mascot.

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This is exactly the reason I bought an Expos shirt when I was in Montreal in 2002.

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I wonder what their marketing looks like. They could say "We are the ONLY Football Team in the NFL"

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I guess the question is more if there are too much knockoff merchandise being sold since I don't think they have the rather generic Washington Football Team stuff trademarked (maybe they do have the color but that blend looking w?)

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CAL

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Cal updated the Spring roster. The only unexpected roster loss was Jack Beeman (RS-Jr), a walk-on offensive guard who has been buried on the depth chart. Notable weight gains from guys who came to Cal really skinny: Rask (+35), Rohme (+30), Longhetto (+30), Martin (+25), Patu (+20). Notable weight gains from guys who were already competitive: Anusium (+10, 6'1" 205), Johnson (+15, 6'5" 300), Deng (+25, 6'6" 245), Mettauer (+20, 6'4" 305), and Croteau (+20, 6'5" 260).

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I didn't see Tevin Paul on the roster, I guess he's not coming back.

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nope

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None of the original opt-outs are on the roster because they are presumably still opted-out because of Covid: Harutyanyan, Branden Owens, Moos, Paul, Humphries, McIntosh, Spithorst, Cherry, Hawkins. People just remember Paul because he was a starter. Cherry and Hawkins already announced they are already transferring out.

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I didn't realize it was so soon.

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