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OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY

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Gov. Parson (R-MO) pardons the gun-waving McCloskey couple who plead guilty to misdemeanors after they waved guns at social justice protestors (and themselves).

https://apnews.com/article/michael-brown-st-louis-20062ccc6593bd91757ad1ea4a190db5

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Which team do you think will revert to mediocrity once its head coach is no longer there?

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Alabama will regress once Saban retires. Regression seems inevitable as I can’t see a new coach sustaining the level of success that Saban has achieved. It’s just a matter of how much of a regression they experience.

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That's a tricky one. It seems like Ohio State has only gained ground since Meyer left. Bama would obviously need to find a coach that isnt bad, but if we're talking "revert to mediocrity" in the short term, there are probably more important forces at play to cause that, violations or overall landscape-wise.

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People forget how bad Bama was in the late 90s and how mediocre they were before Saban.

I feel like Ohio State is somewhat of an exception and even so it is still too early to know. Florida saw a significant drop off after Meyer left.

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Kinda amazing how far and fast Florida State fell, so it is possible.

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I almost mentioned FSU as well. They had a good 6 year run where it looked like they were going to rule the ACC and then it all fell apart.

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True, I just think the momentum they have (and the other top 3) seems unprecedented. It feels like CEOs and giant corporations.

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Stanford. It's already happening under Shaw, but Harbough/Shaw had success that's probably not going to be happening again anytime soon.

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I agree with that. Shaw has been good, in a kind of under the radar sort of way. He had early success which made him a known quantity. But after those first four years, Stanf*rd hasn't been quite as good and have fallen back some.

Even so, when Shaw leaves, Stanf*rd will regress further.

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Are we talking the PAC 12? Well, according to the media, every team is already mediocre if with exception of UO, USC etc. and those two would be easily handled by your average SEC species.

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Lawrence

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Ernest Orlando Lawrence...but I always want to call him Ernesto

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Massachusetts. Birthplace of late singer actor Robert Goulet.

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He was brilliant in Naked Gun 2.5.....

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Ha I only saw parts of it and only remember there was a Barbara Bush character. Don't think I saw any of 3.333.

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Fishburne. So many memorable roles from his Larry Fishbourne days to Morpheus and beyond.

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This fantastic Twitter thread, which includes Laurence Fishburne.

https://twitter.com/DannyDutch/status/1422825829189496833

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I totally remember the Phil Collins and Glenn Frey episodes.

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He was great as Voodoo in the underrated bicycle-messenger SF classic, Quicksilver...

He and I exchanged head-knods at the Mike Tyson/Peter McNealy fight in Vegas during his Just Cause/Fled days...cool dude.

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He lied about his aged when he auditioned for Apocalypse Now to play Tyrone "Mr. Clean" Miller. Here's 14 year-old Fishburne as Mr. Clean aboard a patrol boat going up the river. The crew has gotten mail and Clean has popped in a tape to listen to his mom's message to him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3uJDogISHM#t=1m57s

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of Arabia.

Pretty good movie epic.

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Better than "pretty good", I'd say great, although the first half is the more enjoyable one.

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I meant "pretty good" as understatement.

And yes, the movie holds up well. The cinematography was amazing, too (won an Oscar).

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I watched it sometime last year and was impressed at how a British movie from 1962 already had a pretty decent handle on the perils of colonialism.

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Despite what a lot of old British people would have you believe now, there were always folks who understood why the locals weren't happy to see them.

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indeed. how many movies have an overture after intermission??!!

also, i love the first scene when he is driving the motorcycle at high speeds.

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Bourne III...one of Tom Hanks' greatest roles, alongside Tom Tuttle from Tacoma Washington....

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Hall of science.

Spent a lot of time there as a kid.

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Rum

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, sodomy, and the lash

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[Hedley-Lamarr-Saying-Kinky.gif]

Mel Brooks discussing how he came up with the character's name and also trying not to get sued by Hedy Lamarr https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEQ3OxYL2Co

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I enjoy it and love a good tiki bar.

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Big in the boating community, but I've never been a big fan.

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We never eat fruitcake because it has rum

And one little bite makes a man like a bum

Oh can you imagine a sorrier sight

Than a man eating fruitcake until he is tight?

So away, away with rum, by gum

With rum by gum with rum by gum

So away, away with rum, by gum

The song of the Salvation Army!

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Flexible

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hmmm. maybe 12/19. I can touch my toes easily, but often have to step carefully after i've been sitting still for a while.

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physically, not very

in terms of opinion, also not very

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Fairly flexible; 12? I too like SG use yoga straps, but I only stretch after working out, when my muscles are warm, so 5x week

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Aside from being able to touch my toes, I'm not very flexible

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Pre-COVID, my flexibility had improved...after putting on 20 pounds, I make Jabba the Hut look like Reed Richards...

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I've been using a yoga strap and stretching every day. I can't say that I'm Gumby, but it certainly has helped keep me flexible enough where I certainly can feel the difference when doing certain everyday activities. I can also do the activities when I'm doing fairly idle things like watching TV or waking up/drinking my first morning coffee.

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Physical 3

Mental 19

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Today in Covid

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Gov. DeSantis (R-FL) gets defensive about his Covid record. What a knob.

https://twitter.com/therecount/status/1422569451959033857

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Texas GOP Executive Committee announces that one of its committee members has died, but fails to include that he died of Covid

https://twitter.com/TexasGOP/status/1422944552407781376

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The Offspring kick their drummer out because he won't get vaccinated

https://consequence.net/2021/08/drummer-pete-parada-ousted-the-offspring-vaccination/

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hey hey, we won't let you play

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Elsewhere in college

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Arizona Wilcats unveil new football uniforms - going for the Herbie the Love Bug striping.

https://mobile.twitter.com/ArizonaFBall/status/1422995859692691456

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Definitely an improvement over their prior ones.

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I've seen it once. Doesn't inspire a rewatch.

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Big 12 and Pac 12 commissioners spent 6 hours together yesterday

https://twitter.com/ChuckCarltonDMN/status/1422713141767585797

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Really not seeing how adding any of the remaining teams helps the P12, with maybe the exception of Kansas in hoops (tho their football ineptitude makes that a net zero).

The Big 12 is a sinking ship, and will only serve to dilute the P12 brand.

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Football schedules are built out so far, unless there are a lot of expensive contract cancellations, it will be hard to accomplish much with scheduling arrangements that will happen in time for the next round of media contract negotiations.

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Olympics

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You know how people keep saying that there should be "ordinary people" comparisons for Olympic events? Two English comedians had the same idea:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEJtrr5Iy5s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=299wVnU7k90

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i know people say that, but why not have some ordinary person try to tackle an NFL running back or try to defend LeBron? it is pretty absurd.

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Not your specific examples but back in the day George Plimpton was an ordinary guy/journalist who tried some professional sports.

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Heh...I just wanted the first few min where the filter out the sports and anything athletic they put in the No column. They look up Steeplechase and the first few words were "An obstacle race in athletics" and the other guy goes "Nope". This looks hilarious.

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Looks like they try shooting, weight lifting, field and track throwing events, canoe slalum, field hockey, gymnastics

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I watched the second episode which was track and field and shooting, got a good laugh out of it.

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Sex on the plane after those uncomfortable beds?

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Baseball format is so confusing.

There's total of 6 teams in the opening round.

All 6 teams made it to the final knockout round tournament.

There's total of 10 games played in the knockout tournament (not including opening round).

Japan made it to the finals undefeated so we played the fewest games.

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and it's double elimination in the knockout round right?

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I think so. You can lose up to twice.

But Mexico was the only team who were knocked out with one loss in the final round.

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They're calling it "repechage," which means the highest-ranked remaining team of the losers gets another shot to stay in the tournament. Since Mexico lost in the first round of the knockouts and was lowest-ranked at that point, they were out.

Japan has won all knockout games and is in the Final. USA and South Korea will compete for the other spot. Loser goes to play Dominican Republic for the bronze.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_at_the_2020_Summer_Olympics

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I see, that's a better explanation. So it doesn't necessarily mean you can lose up to twice.

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Well ok then

JERUSALEM — When gymnast Artem Dolgopyat stepped off the podium as only the second Israeli to win an Olympic gold medal, he triggered one of Israel’s many cultural tripwires: It quickly emerged that the country’s newest sports hero is banned from marrying his fiancee here because he is not considered Jewish enough by the rabbis who control Israel’s marriage law.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2021/08/04/israeli-gymast-not-jewish-enough-to-marry/

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Israel gets offended when people call them an apartheid state, but then you learn about stuff like this.

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eh, I find this weird, but it's not in the apartheid state category.

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Well, it kind of goes hand in hand with their rules for Palestinians.

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I suppose, strictly speaking, it's more in the theocratic state category

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I agree with DC Johnson!

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Women's 400m Hurdles almost as exciting as the men's. Could have been as exciting, but the winner wasn't as exuberant as Warholm.

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Both the U.S. women who won gold and silver were very subdued after. Great race though.

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I just watched the replay on YouTube - which is rapidly becoming my go-to for killing a few minutes and catching up on the happenings in Japan.

McLaughlin was so ridiculously smooth in her hurdling - and then that kick of pace at the end! Just amazing.

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Warholm rips shirt. Runnerup Rai Benjamin said “If you would have told me I was going to run 46.1 and lose, I would probably beat you up and tell you to get out of my room". McLaughlin and Muhammed said "Iron sharpens iron." ..

Now that I reflect on it, the news media could hype up the women's race more. Maybe next time.

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sport climbing

didnt wake up at 400a, but caught a little bit of the womens qualifying round.

one of the American women, Brooke, moves on to finals since she was in 5th place.

the other woman, Kyra, climbed well but placed 11th, only top 8 move on.

mens finals Thu

womens finals Fri

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PRO

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James Looney's older brother Joe retires from the NFL.

https://twitter.com/ProFootballTalk/status/1422976904760602627

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A’s go 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position

In related news, they lost.

https://www.athleticsnation.com/2021/8/3/22608966/oakland-as-game-108-san-diego-padres-score-result

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Sigh, it's kinda inexplicable at this point.

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Dodger Stadium crowd, despite its best effort, can’t will a victory over the Astros

https://www.truebluela.com/2021/8/3/22608839/dodger-stadium-crowd-boo-astros-dodgers-shutout-loss-lance-mccullers

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Giants honor franchise legend Madison Bumgarner by letting him dominate them

https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2021/8/3/22608837/san-francisco-giants-diamondbacks-recap-madison-bumgarner

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At least the Astros pitched in, and shut out the Dodgers, beating Buehler in the process. A salvaging development for the day the Giants couldn't have counted on.

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Ugh...this year they have more games where the O doesn't show up. Which means a wild card game against Darvish is scary.

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CAL

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was wearing Cal shirt when i went to doc appt this morning. some woman asked me if a went to Cal. in talking to her further, we discovered that her daughter took the Machine Learning course that i teach at Cal.

in face she was one of my better students in recent semesters and is currently a TA for the course.

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TA time...that has two meanings...

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and she invited me over to dinner since they live nearby

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Yay!!!

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go bears!

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