98 Comments

I feel like this is a good evening to have a few drinks.

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At some point, it will be 5 o'clock somewhere.

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I just made the best sandwich: Ham and sopressata on an Acme "Long Italian" with tomato & mozzarella from last night's salad soaking in EVOO with red onions & rocket. YUM

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That does sound pretty good

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Matchmaker

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I just remembered that my second cousin tried to set me up with Kristi Yamaguchi like 30 years ago because of our families knew each other + common heritage. I didn't want try drive down to Fremont, so the match was never made.

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i went to India on my own once when i was in grad school. i was probably 22.

there were some serious matchmaking attempts by one of my aunts. she would ask me to come w/ her to visit various people/friends, but really it was supposed to be an opportunity for me to meet their eligible daughters.

needless to say, it was all very fake.

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I know several people who got married via a match maker. 100% of them preferred that method.

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Traditional, in person-type?

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I think so.

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Breathe easy. Cite something that you have gratitude for.

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Breathing is not difficult. For that I am grateful.

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Nobody in my immediate family has gotten La Rona, although my son thinks he got it back in February, but was never tested.

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Despite his best efforts my father turned 80 this week and seemed genuinely pleased to have made it that far.

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<3

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He and my mother decided the obvious celebration was to go out for lunch 🙄 but at this point, given their general health, I’m not surprised they decided to risk it

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If it is any comfort, in this area, sit downs in reopened restaurants have been socially distanced pretty well, and have not been a part of the problem.

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I think it was probably low risk as a matter of principle, but he’s still on chemo, she was in the ER a few weeks ago for arrhythmia, and just got kitted out for peritoneal dialysis. They are in a lower risk area and a higher risk population 🤷🏼‍♂️

Can’t tell them what to do in any case.

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I think staying in is a fine call.

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Our Republican governor who hasn't completely botched the covid response.

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WEATHER

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Cooler today in the Pacific Northwest after several summery days. Its a brief respite, as next Sunday-Wednesday is forecast to be the hottest stretch so far this summer. Which is exactly what you would expect in late July.

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Quite pleasant here in the Bay Area. A bit foggy, but better than the heat. The downside is not seeing comet NEOWISE over the next week or so before it starts to get fainter.

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HOT SOUP (but not as hot as yesterday + a chance of hot rain)

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DC didn't make it to 90 degrees yesterday after having made it twenty days in a row, the second longest streak and one short of the record. Forecast for today and the next five days is a high of 95-100. Summertime.

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The humidity hasn't been too consistently extreme but, man, it's hot out there. It's definitely finish-exercising-by-9am type weather.

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Economics today

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News from the Raleigh mayor... revenues in the downtown area are down 80%. Oof. There is going to be no retail left when we return. Our office is, at the earliest, is returning 2021.

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Today in Cornhola Virus-19

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New California Guidelines for opening schools. Short answer: If your county is on the watch list, then no in person schooling. Most counties need to get new cases down to 25/100,000 over the last two weeks to get off the list. we are currently at about 10x the rate.

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Came back from vacation in a very red (second home red, not pickup truck red) part of the state. Masks are mandatory in the state, but compliance was nominally about 50%. Of the half that did comply, perhaps 75% was only nominal wearing. Lots of masks on chins, or looped on one ear, or held in pockets so that they can be put on once someone has come within 6 feet (but often after they have already left their space). Children & teenage compliance was near zero as they had no patience/discipline to be inconvenienced, even when next do older strangers people. I don't see how massive outbreaks at schools aren't inevitable. Even my own wife downgraded her N95 mask to a cloth mask because the N95 is uncomfortable. Americans are soft and selfish. I think we are absolutely doomed for a yuge second wave.

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where did you go? i am headed to Brevard (south of Asheville) next week.

there are seemingly few to no cases in Transylvania County. so i am not terribly worried. plus, i am staying by myself and riding my bike all week so i dont really expect to interact w/ too many people.

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I went to Bald Head Island, an island at the southern tip of the eastern shore. Thereafter, beaches face south and aren't as good. It is arguably the nicest place in NC - perhaps rivalled by OBX and Wrightsville Beach.

Brevard is in the middle of nowhere, but I guess that's the point. Nobody but trees out there.

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Tbh what I wonder is whether this is the trigger for an accelerated diminution of the US rather than ecological problems - partly the economics, partly the politics, partly the rest of the world looking elsewhere

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OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY

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RBG is undergoing chemo again

https://twitter.com/NPR/status/1284162588495020034

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jfc. Hang in there RBG.

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I admire a lot of what she's accomplished, but I feel a bit weird about the mascotization of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Also, to this day, I am not sure if the initial G in Ginsburg should be pronounced like G in gin or G in giggle.

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G as in Gahanna

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G as in gif

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Another day, another violation of the Hatch Act

https://twitter.com/markknoller/status/1283855477059747841

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This MAGA eating beans!

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Judging by the picture, those regulations don't seem to be weighing that truck down at all. In fact, it's about as weighed down as the unladen truck. So I'm supposed to interpret this that regulations really aren't that bad at all, right?

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Seems like most people in the audience are wearing masks.

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What's the top speed of the unladen truck?

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*road speed velocity

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African or European?

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I don't know that... BOING!!!

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"For our Kingdom now descends from one of gold to one of iron and rust" - Cassius Dio, referring to the third century crisis of the Roman Empire.

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SCOTUS upholds ruling that FL can disenfranchise ex-felons if they still have outstanding fines.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/16/politics/supreme-court-florida-felons/index.html

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Sounds like a modern poll tax

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So you’d think. It’s especially cruel that Florida has no capability to tell these people what they owe... and no apparent interest in developing that capability.

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Federal law enforcement in unmarked uniforms and unmarked rental cars are literally taking people off the streets in Portland. They were not asked for by Portland mayor. Department of Homeland Security says they will enforce law because locals unwilling to. There is no bottom. No declaration of arrest. No reading of rights. No search.

https://twitter.com/TomJChicago/status/1284093431497854976

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I’m struck that the incentive now becomes to crack down on protests precisely to avoid this kind of ad hoc interference. If these goons were dragging away people who were in the middle of vandalizing the Federal courthouse, it would be bad and yet you could at least see the connection. This is straight up abuse of power.

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Also a straight up grandstand play by Trump.

Given that the issue has come to a contentious head because of a long and escalating pattern of intimidation and increasing use of excessive force by over-militarized police forces, more intimidation and even more excessive force by an even more militarized police force is the last thing that's going to bring any mediation to the matter.

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Yeah, very much from the fascist handbook on dealing with protests.

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Sadly, this might even be a common play back in the day...before phone cameras are everywhere to record this. Still, I haven't seen that much outrage about this just yet.

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Swing through downtown Portland some evening.

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PRO

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WHOO-HOO!!!!!!!!!!

Right, I’m going to leave Leeds fans to enjoy their celebrations now. Sixteen years after being relegated they are back in the Premier League. Only 10 years ago they were promoted from League One into the Championship. It’s been a long, painful journey but hopefully all the sweeter for it now. Good night.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2020/jul/17/huddersfield-v-west-brom-championship-live

YAY! I have reason to watch the EPL again! Oh, happy day!!!!

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This was not the celebrity fan I was expecting

https://twitter.com/bbcsport/status/1284195582261764101?s=21

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I really don't think of myself as a celebrity.

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I don’t want to seem rude - you’re a legend to me - but I meant the tweet

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I heard on the radio that he's already matched up with Shailene Woodley (I had to look her up). He was introduced to her by Danica. Hmmm.

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My first thought when I saw your comment was, "He's too old for her!" because the only thing I've seen her in was a high school coming-of-age type movie. I just looked her up, and she was born in 1991, so she's 28. Aaron Rodgers is 36, so...acceptable?

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I guess...by the way, his former GF's Olivia Munn and Danica Patrick are 4 and 2 years older than Rodgers (if Wikipedia is to be believed)

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as long as there's grass on the field..../perv

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well within 1/2 + 7

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*well above

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For them, sure. Why be so judgey?

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Seems like a couple of consenting adults to me.

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Guys, I told you, in my mind, she was a high schooler. That's why I looked up their ages!

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I want to see what Aaron does with his newish 100 million VC fund.

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brb...writing up an elevator pitch.

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I need funding for my start-up company that makes viscoelastic sealant for vertical transportation. It's called "Elevator Pitch"

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I'd like to see a powerpoint pitchbook and b-plan.

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That’s what Otis does when playing baseball in his invention.

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Oui Oui, is that you?

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WaPo: numerous women come forward to complain about sexual harassment at Dan Snyder's team offices

https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1283876236725452803

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I listened to some local sports talk while making dinner after the news broke. Most callers were critical of the team and hope it comes back on the owner even though he isn't identified as having been involved. But there were also more callers downplaying the seriousness of the behavior than I would have thought.

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Downplaying the seriousness of sexual harassment seems to be sadly widespread

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True. In this case I think it was exacerbated because news of a big story coming out was around a day or two earlier and many people expected much worse.

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I saw this yesterday: https://twitter.com/jimemaud/status/1283886646971322375?s=20

@jimemaud: One of the first replies I saw to the Washington story was "that's it?" and if that doesn't tell you what it is to be a woman, and even more so a women in sports, idk if anything else ever will.

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CAL

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I know this is a couple days old, but has anybody heard about this? Apparently the student athletes across the conference are talking about a boycott?

https://twitter.com/rudygcarp12/status/1284202920079060997

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Berkeley passes budget that cuts police budget by 12%, on plan to cut by 50%. Traffic enforcement will be handled by different staff. If there are cops out there that do nothing but hand out traffic/parking tickets, I think there will be unintended consequences.

https://www.dailycal.org/2020/07/17/berkeley-police-reforms-provide-potential-long-term-budget-savings/

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Field Hockey season is officially postponed. Cal Field Hockey is in the America East conference and that conference has announced that all fall sports are postponed. By the way, Cal Field Hockey is going to take a huge hit if Stanford's plan to cut their field hockey team after this upcoming school year is realized. Only Cal and UC Davis would be left on the West Coast (Pacific cut their program a year or two ago) and they either have to travel a lot more (costing even more money) or pay for other schools to come to visit (and neither has as good of a facility as Stanford nor Pacific).

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I think we would have to drop it.

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We need to drop a number of teams

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Field Hockey actually wasn't a part of the 2010 proposal to cut some sports...that was Lacrosse. Then again, that oversight could just be that because some people in Cal Athletics apparently does forget about the existence of this program. Field Hockey was never consulted when they turned Maxwell Field into a football practice facility and it took a lawsuit just a few years ago for Field Hockey to use Underhill (they had to commute to Stanford for practice and matches for a year or two).

Furthermore, cutting a women's sport would require cutting several men's sports first due to Title IX. Cal is grandfathered into the clause that allow them to have more male than female student-athlete. If they do cut a women's sport, they would need to reflect the current gender demographic of the undergrad population which is more female.

You do wonder if the Stanford cut does give Cal an out to make a corresponding move without violating the lawsuit agreement and Title IX.

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Stanford cutting sports isn't going to change Cal's Title IX obligations. If we cut any women's sports, we are going to need to make deep men's cuts.

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I agree.

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