Mentioned to a co-worker who'd been away for a week that I'm going to be a grandfather for the first time in the Fall. She congratulated me and expressed great delight at the blessed event. But then she proceeded to tell me what astrological sign the child would be and how she has the same sign and how cool people born under that sign are. I said nothing as is my usual response to such nonsense. Later I thought it sad that one would ignore things like DNA and upbringing and the environment one grows up in and attribute a person's characteristics to the alignment of the stars when said child was born. Of course the woman in question is a UCLA graduate so I shouldn't be surprised.
i too wonder about this fascination w/ astrology. my take is that people do want slightly complex explanations to things - like a person's characteristics - but dont want it to be too complex and want it to be fun and approachable.
They also seem to enjoy knowing something that others don’t. I see this point of view a lot with people who believe in a conspiracy, such as the moon landings were faked.
Sometimes I wonder if a countering action would be to invent alternate conspiracies.
Here, I’ll take a stab at this: 20 years ago, NASA secretly discovered a 0.1% change in the gravitational constant. The result is that all prior astrological calibrations are now invalid.
Former NASA astronauts launch new group to promote U.S. constitutional values
More than 100 retired NASA astronauts have banded together to form a new nonpartisan organization dedicated to promoting U.S. constitutional principles. The group, Astronauts for America, said in an open letter released on Tuesday that its members “believe deeply in the principles that have propelled our nation for 250 years,” such as the rule of law, checks and balances and the peaceful transition of power.
Pelosi tried to do the right thing. Hakeem Jeffries doing the wrong thing in order to have a fighting chance to have the ability to have the right thing in the future.
skill is about eliminating a large fraction of possible words.
lets say the actual answer was ZZZZZ and you actually guessed it on the first word. my guess is that would be 99 luck and 0 skill because, it doesnt help you with round 2.
i am still trying to figure it out. i think that if you have high skill, you will have lower scores on average but not necessarily every day.
The San Francisco Giants have not developed a reputation for intelligence early this season, but on Tuesday they did something very, very smart. They jumped on Yoshinobu Yamamoto early.
The highest-scoring team in the majors managed only three hits on Tuesday night at Oracle Park, and when the Giants scored three runs in the first inning that proved to be enough to beat the Dodgers 3-1 in the series opener in San Francisco.
Just 1 bad inning for Yamamoto. After a 26 pitch first inning (Giants were aggressively swinging the bat), Yamamoto only threw 75 the remaining 6 innings. Also the leadoff error lead to Adames scoring and also the collision between Teo and Alex Call in the OF lead to another run. That was a short enough fly ball that if they don't collide, the runner from 3rd doesn't score. It was bases loaded and the runner from 3rd scored and the runner from 2nd (Chapman) tagged. Jung Ho Lee singles on the next pitch and I'm not sure Chapman scores on the single. Though it would've been 2 outs so he probably does since he's running on contact.
among the best of the midweek bike races of the season. always on the Wed before the Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
it finishes on one of the steepest climbs in cycling, the Mur de Huy. not long, gradients up to 26%
the strongest riders typically wait till the end to pounce. even though the climb is only 1.3 km, you can lose some serious time on such a hard climb. sometimes you even see pros having to walk their bike if the peloton slows too much and you cant keep your momentum up.
Alejandro Valverde won 5 times and was a pure joy to watch him time his final effort perfectly time after time.
California track & field pole vaulter Ali Sahaida has been named the ACC Women's Field Athlete of the Week for her performance at the Mt. SAC Relays, as announced by the conference Tuesday. This is the third week in a row that a Cal athlete has been named an ACC Field Athlete of the Week, with Sahaida following decathlete Luke Buddie (Men's, April 7) and hammer thrower Valentina Savva (Women's, April 14).
The California women's rowing varsity eight has been named Atlantic Coast Conference Crew of the Week, announced Tuesday by the conference office. This is the first weekly ACC award that the Golden Bears have received in 2026 and second overall since Cal joined the ACC in the 2024-25 season.
The No. 8 California beach volleyball team embarks on its second MPSF Championships this week at Spiker Beach. The Golden Bears are the No. 5 seed in the bracket and will meet fourth-seeded USC in the first round on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. PT. Cal joined the MPSF last season and finished fourth in the inaugural conference tournament.
Mentioned to a co-worker who'd been away for a week that I'm going to be a grandfather for the first time in the Fall. She congratulated me and expressed great delight at the blessed event. But then she proceeded to tell me what astrological sign the child would be and how she has the same sign and how cool people born under that sign are. I said nothing as is my usual response to such nonsense. Later I thought it sad that one would ignore things like DNA and upbringing and the environment one grows up in and attribute a person's characteristics to the alignment of the stars when said child was born. Of course the woman in question is a UCLA graduate so I shouldn't be surprised.
i too wonder about this fascination w/ astrology. my take is that people do want slightly complex explanations to things - like a person's characteristics - but dont want it to be too complex and want it to be fun and approachable.
i am probably wrong.
They also seem to enjoy knowing something that others don’t. I see this point of view a lot with people who believe in a conspiracy, such as the moon landings were faked.
Sometimes I wonder if a countering action would be to invent alternate conspiracies.
Here, I’ll take a stab at this: 20 years ago, NASA secretly discovered a 0.1% change in the gravitational constant. The result is that all prior astrological calibrations are now invalid.
wait. really??!!
I think you're spot on. People want easy explanations (even if silly) for complex issues. Saves a person from thinking.
That yearning permeates our world, unfortunately.
Political stuff goes here
Former NASA astronauts launch new group to promote U.S. constitutional values
More than 100 retired NASA astronauts have banded together to form a new nonpartisan organization dedicated to promoting U.S. constitutional principles. The group, Astronauts for America, said in an open letter released on Tuesday that its members “believe deeply in the principles that have propelled our nation for 250 years,” such as the rule of law, checks and balances and the peaceful transition of power.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ex-nasa-astronauts-form-new-group-to-promote-u-s-constitutional-values/
NASA Breaks Silence on Deaths and Disappearances of Scientists With Ties to Space Tech
Probably just a political stunt, but it is interesting fodder for conspiracies.
https://apple.news/AUfw79uq_Q6eQNQnppDwSGQ
redistricting-gerrymandering thing passes in VA.
maybe they can gerrymander the state boundaries one of these days to get better results in the Senate!
Still faces some legal hurdles. We had to amend the state constitution to allow it and the process was hurried and is being challenged.
Pelosi tried to do the right thing. Hakeem Jeffries doing the wrong thing in order to have a fighting chance to have the ability to have the right thing in the future.
agreed
Word(le) Games
Wordle 1,768 3/6*
⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Got it on the third try all of the sudden
Wordle 1,768 3/6
🟩⬜⬜⬜🟩
🟩⬜⬜🟨🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
WordleBot
Skill 85/99
Luck 68/99
Quordle
🙂 Daily Quordle 1549
6️⃣7️⃣
4️⃣9️⃣
m-w.com/games/quordle/
faltered after a good start
🙂 Daily Quordle 1549
4️⃣8️⃣
3️⃣7️⃣
m-w.com/games/quordle/
🙂 Daily Quordle 1549
7️⃣5️⃣
4️⃣6️⃣
m-w.com/games/quordle/
🙂 Daily Quordle 1549
7️⃣4️⃣
6️⃣5️⃣
m-w.com/games/quordle/
Wordle 1,768 4/6*
🟩⬛⬛🟩🟩
🟩⬛⬛🟩🟩
🟩⬛🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
WordleBot
Skill 99/99
Luck 60/99
99 skill!!!
I don't know why. Maybe because I got 3 letters correctly on the first one?
skill is about eliminating a large fraction of possible words.
lets say the actual answer was ZZZZZ and you actually guessed it on the first word. my guess is that would be 99 luck and 0 skill because, it doesnt help you with round 2.
i am still trying to figure it out. i think that if you have high skill, you will have lower scores on average but not necessarily every day.
this was my score today and i got in 2.
Skill 86/99
Luck 92/99
Wordle 1,768 3/6
🟩⬜⬜⬜🟩
⬜⬜🟩⬜🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
WordleBot
Skill 90/99
Luck 65/99
Four in the right spot on line two. Unfortunately the second letter was wrong and there were many possibilities. Ended up taking five rows.
Wordle 1,768 3/6
⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜
⬜🟨🟩🟨🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Terrible start. Good finish.
Magnificent again! 2-day streak of getting it in 2.
More luck, less skill than yesterdays' 2.
Wordle 1,768 2/6*
⬛🟨⬛🟨🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
WordleBot
Skill 86/99
Luck 92/99
Wow!
decided to use a different starting guess than yesterday figuring it wouldnt be so good 2 days in a row
NYT Crossword
37 Down. 3 letters > Golden Bears' school, familiarly
also, it was a clever Earth Day themed puzzle.
Very similar to last Friday’s LA Times puzzle that had the clue: Berkeley, familiarly. Answer was Cal.
there was also this today
> Trojan's sch.
Troy University, duh.
PRO
Giants introduce Yoshinobu Yamamoto to Cainings
https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/san-francisco-giants-scores-standings/105360/giants-dodgers-recap-scores-landen-roupp-yoshinobu-yamamoto
The San Francisco Giants have not developed a reputation for intelligence early this season, but on Tuesday they did something very, very smart. They jumped on Yoshinobu Yamamoto early.
Dodgers can’t overcome first-inning hole in loss to Giants
https://www.truebluela.com/dodgers-scores-standings/114053/offense-bad-first-inning-giants
The highest-scoring team in the majors managed only three hits on Tuesday night at Oracle Park, and when the Giants scored three runs in the first inning that proved to be enough to beat the Dodgers 3-1 in the series opener in San Francisco.
Just 1 bad inning for Yamamoto. After a 26 pitch first inning (Giants were aggressively swinging the bat), Yamamoto only threw 75 the remaining 6 innings. Also the leadoff error lead to Adames scoring and also the collision between Teo and Alex Call in the OF lead to another run. That was a short enough fly ball that if they don't collide, the runner from 3rd doesn't score. It was bases loaded and the runner from 3rd scored and the runner from 2nd (Chapman) tagged. Jung Ho Lee singles on the next pitch and I'm not sure Chapman scores on the single. Though it would've been 2 outs so he probably does since he's running on contact.
Fleche Wallonne - The Walloon Arrow
among the best of the midweek bike races of the season. always on the Wed before the Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
it finishes on one of the steepest climbs in cycling, the Mur de Huy. not long, gradients up to 26%
the strongest riders typically wait till the end to pounce. even though the climb is only 1.3 km, you can lose some serious time on such a hard climb. sometimes you even see pros having to walk their bike if the peloton slows too much and you cant keep your momentum up.
Alejandro Valverde won 5 times and was a pure joy to watch him time his final effort perfectly time after time.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mur_de_Huy
Belgium has 3 parts - i always find this fascinating
Flanders to the north - Dutch speaking
Wallonia to the south - French speaking
capital region ..
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provinces_of_Belgium
Cal
[T&F] Sahaida Earns 2nd ACC Weekly Award
https://calbears.com/news/2026/4/21/track-field-sahaida-earns-2nd-acc-weekly-award.aspx
California track & field pole vaulter Ali Sahaida has been named the ACC Women's Field Athlete of the Week for her performance at the Mt. SAC Relays, as announced by the conference Tuesday. This is the third week in a row that a Cal athlete has been named an ACC Field Athlete of the Week, with Sahaida following decathlete Luke Buddie (Men's, April 7) and hammer thrower Valentina Savva (Women's, April 14).
[WROW] Cal Varsity 8 Named ACC Crew Of The Week
https://calbears.com/news/2026/4/21/womens-rowing-cal-varsity-8-named-acc-crew-of-the-week.aspx
The California women's rowing varsity eight has been named Atlantic Coast Conference Crew of the Week, announced Tuesday by the conference office. This is the first weekly ACC award that the Golden Bears have received in 2026 and second overall since Cal joined the ACC in the 2024-25 season.
[BVB] No. 8 Bears Ready For MPSF Championships
https://calbears.com/news/2026/4/21/beach-volleyball-no-7-bears-ready-for-mpsf-championships.aspx
The No. 8 California beach volleyball team embarks on its second MPSF Championships this week at Spiker Beach. The Golden Bears are the No. 5 seed in the bracket and will meet fourth-seeded USC in the first round on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. PT. Cal joined the MPSF last season and finished fourth in the inaugural conference tournament.
GO BEARS!
Semifinals: Cal vs. St. Mary's @ UCB Witter Firled (Apr 25, time TBD).
Cal previously beat 66-35 in Moraga in the regular season finale, handing the Gaels their only loss of the season. This should be a well fought game.
In the East semis, Life upset favored Lindenwood in the quarters to face Navy.