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Elsewhere in college

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North Texas cancels on Houston for this weekend's game. This is the 5th try at a season opener for the Cougars where the other team has had to bail due to Covid problems.

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And the Pac-12 voted to play this season.

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MAC to meet tomorrow whether to play 6 game fall season

https://twitter.com/PeteThamel/status/1308785271970893826

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USF vs. FAU postponed due to CV19 at USF

Tulsa vs. Arkansas State canceled due to CV19 outbreak amongst Red Wolves

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Meanwhile, Iowa State is projecting 15,000 fans at their game vs. Oklahoma

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That seems wise...

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Hell, make it 30,000

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USC QB commit Jake Garcia's parents gots divorced to enable him to play his senior year of football this fall in GA, rather than CA

https://www.ajc.com/sports/high-school-sports-blog/ghsa-investigates-eligibility-of-valdosta-qb-who-transferred-from-california/7BFOPLDABFHVDN6POIBJOACQAU/

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Just the summary is batshit

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I had read the heading a couple of days ago and finally read the actual story. The parents should've just shutup and not said anything.

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High-speed train gets approved to go to Las Vegas and [squints at map] Victorville, CA

https://kmph.com/news/local/permits-approved-for-high-speed-train-between-las-vegas-so-california

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I guess going through the mountains would jack up the cost.

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Covid-19

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surprisingly our county has not had a labor day spike in reported cases. we are nearly ready to get pushed down a tier and possibly be reopening schools.

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The weekly Safeway ad came with the newspaper yesterday Using a digital coupon you can buy a 4-roll of an off brand of toilet paper at 3 for $1. I guess we must have everything under control.

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We've got a slight TP reserve now, maybe a month's worth if we go on lockdown stores sell out again. While on lockdown we did use a fair bit more than when everyone was going to school/work all day.

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Which ravioli (filling not brand) is the best?

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anything that is not from a vegan cookbook.

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Question from Nam Le: "what do you think the most successful person from your middle school years is doing right now"

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The most successful guy in my class was with me 16 years through PS/MS/HS/Cal Haas undergrad. HS valedictorian. Took two banks public, runs the family's hotel group, and is super low key about... you know... being very rich. Super nice guy.

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I went to three different middle schools. My city in Ohio had 4 elementary schools (k-4), a middle school that had 5-6, and a middle school that had 7-8. I attended the first middle school through 6th grade, and then my family moved to California.

My city in California had some number of elementary schools (k-5) and two middle schools (6-8). The middle school in my zone was full, so I went to the middle school across town for 7th grade. Over the summer, they built a third middle school in my zone, so I attended the new school for 8th grade.

I'm in touch, to varying degrees of familiarity, with people from all three middle schools. I'm not sure what metric of "success" to use here--certainly, there are homeowners, people who excel at their careers (science, arts, finance, law, &c.), people who are good parents (or at least parents of adorable children), people who are well-traveled, people who are making an impact in health care or other people-caring areas. The only famous person from school that I know is Brandon Crawford, but we didn't go to school together until high school.

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success is indeed a very slippery thing. it is something you can have for a while before you don't have it anymore.

it is interesting that the majority interpret success to equated to money or fame or some combo of the two.

this is something that i read freshman year at Cal and it has always stuck with me, the story of Croesus in Lydia from Herodotus.

taken from

https://andreaskluth.org/2009/05/15/croesus-learns-about-success-and-happiness/

In the sixth century BCE there was a king named Croesus in Lydia (today’s Turkey). He was so rich that we still today say “rich as Croesus”. But he always wanted confirmation from others that he was indeed the richest, the most successful, the happiest man alive. Why would he need confirmation? One wonders. But people always do.

As it happened, Solon, the man who had given the Athenians their laws and who was the wisest man in Greece at the time, came for a visit. This was exactly the sort of man Croesus wanted to impress.

Croesus: ‘Welcome Solon. You’re the wisest man in Greece. I’ve heard so much about you. Please take a tour of my palace and look at all the gold and silver, the women and slaves and fruit, and all my splendor. Isn’t it wonderful? Tell me: who is the happiest man in the world?’

Solon: ‘Tellus of Athens, sire.”

Croesus: [Blank look. Silence.] ‘Sorry, but… Who?’

Solon: ‘Tellus, sire. He was this guy who lived when his country was prosperous, and he had two sons and some grandchildren.’

Croesus [still uncomprehending]: ‘Right. So what? What does that have to do with anything?’

Solon: ‘Well, you see, he died on the battlefield, and the Athenians gave him a proper funeral. So he died knowing that everything was good in his life.’

Croesus [rather miffed, irritable]: ‘Well never mind. Who is the second happiest man in the world?’ [smiles and nods, leans forward]

Solon: ‘Cleobis and Bito.’

Croesus [jumpy, shocked]: ‘Who the hell are Cleovice and Vico?’

Solon: ‘Cleobis and Bito, sire. They were these two young lads in Argos. Their mom wanted to go to a festival but couldn’t find any oxen to pull her cart. So the two sons put the yoke on their own necks and pulled the cart to give their mother a ride. The whole town was watching and everybody loved them for it. Their mom was really proud. Later that night, both her sons fell asleep and never woke up. What a wonderful way to die.’

Croesus: ‘You’re supposed to be a wise man, Solon! What is this gibberish you’re talking? I asked you who the happiest man in the world is. Look around, for god’s sake. Look at me! What about me?’

Solon: ‘You? How would I know? You’re doing well right now. But wealth and success don’t last. And what comes next, nobody knows. I will know whether you were successful and happy after you die.’

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Coincidentally, I lived in Solon, OH for much of my childhood.

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in that case you probably know this ...

The township was named after Lorenzo Solon Bull, who was the son of Isaac Bull, one of the first settlers. Purportedly, the selection of young Lorenzo's middle name was due to its derivation from the "father of democracy", Solon, the famous Athenian lawmaker of Ancient Greece.

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:)

I remembered a teeny bit of that (that it was named after one of the founders, rather than the ancient Greek person)

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was it a wise town?

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Are you a wise guy?

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I went to three different middle schools as well, one on the RAF base I lived at for 7th, bused to a different abandoned nearby RAF base for 8th, and then Kansas City for 9th. I guess there's one family I've sorta kinda kept up with.

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Destroying democracy.

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I'm fearful it might be me, and the answer is wasting time on WFC, and working at the county dump.

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Hanging out in the Atlanta Braves clubhouse. I went to school with Tommy Milone, who's been a starting pitcher for various teams for almost 10 years now (including the A's for a few years). He was always a really nice guy, and he and his wife have been together since high school.

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hopefully rotting in hell

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What's the Damien feeder middle school?

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That's quite an indictment of an entire class, never mind yourself!

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well it was catholic school

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That explains it

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I applaud your relentless honesty and hostility.

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Having to contain my venom 8-10 hours a day for work is not a plus

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I have zero clue, since I know nobody from that past.

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One of my brothers is two years behind me and Tom Hanks was in his class. So I guess he acting, making millions, and generally being famous.

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Writing a post to DBD

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I don’t know what anyone from middle school is doing now so 🤷🏼‍♂️

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Same.

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I still have a few besties who went to middle school with me.

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my middle school, high school experience was very different.

growing up in Moraga, there was only 1 middle school that fed into 1 high school.

for whatever reason, we had a "nice" HS class and quite a few people have kept in touch and in fact we have all mostly known each other since middle school.

combine that with only living 8 miles from Berkeley, and a good number of kids going to Cal (almost everyone ended up at UCs or CSUs), the overlap of friends that includes middle school is quite high.

but to honest, i am not sure what @HeyAlumniGo is doing right now. probably upset that the Dodgers lost to the A's but figures that Dodgers will get their revenge in the World Series!

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Apparently for middle school you did have the option of going to Miramonte in Orinda or Acalanes in Lafayette. There were a handful of middle school kids that went to Miramonte because they lived closer to Miramonte but I'd say fewer than 10. There were also some of the Stanley middle school kids that came to Campolindo because they lived closer to Campo than Acalanes.

But yes, I think that's why the friendships kept going because just about 90% of the HS class had been together since 6th grade.

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That is a similar school structure to what my daughters experienced: multiple elementary schools feed into one middle school and then one high school. But that means that the middle school (6-8) is typically over 1500 kids so it’s not what you’d call “intimate.”

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this is the correct response

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Yo, FS I know you listed some recs, but are there any Korean rom-coms that don't have serial killers?

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tons but it goes in cycles. Romance is a Bonus Book is pretty good. Cheese in the Trap isnt a rom-com but its very good. Another Miss Oh I liked a lot. Hello My Twenties is absolutely brilliant, the first season anyway. 2nd season is good but not at the same level. Would rec all of those

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Thanks!

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In the early days of using Facebook I tried to see if I could find some of my elementary school friends, since it seemed a little odd to have no idea what anyone I knew before 1982 was doing. Very little success. Never once considered it for middle school.

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The valedictorian in the class ahead of me from high school runs one of the most successful hedge funds - from the high school class behind me, Cliff Blezinski transferred in as a high school sophomore. He went on to write the uber-successful video game "Gears of War" and became famous for being kind of a douche bag - but it was a character he was playing, it wasn't really him. I sat in front of Cliff in Drama.

He's now retired in the research triangle area. His brother also founded SB Nation (Tyler Blezinski)

If we're actually keeping to junior high - a couple of doctors, an MLB pitcher (matt Wise - class behind me) - supposedly Jessica Alba, but no one seems to remember or know her.

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Heh, I had forgotten that "Cliffy B" is Tyler Blezinski's brother.

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responding to DBD posts

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heh...definitely not me. Although that would apply to you.

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Statue pp

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We visited Amsterdam, Paris, and Brussels in 2015 and my daughters agreed that the all things considered the manikin pis was probably more worth fighting through a crowd than the Mona Lisa 😂

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you appear to raised them properly, well done.

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OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY

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Trump visits RBG's casket and protesters boo him and chant "Vote Him Out".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcqBD8512u8&ab_channel=C-SPAN

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This doesn't belong here

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I feel that way whenever I see the president in a government building

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I was at the grocery store yesterday and there was a guy with a priest's collar wearing a long black robe with a couple chains hanging on his chest. And a Donald Trump hairdo, except maybe a bit shorter on the sides. I have no idea if he was being ironic, sarcastic, or if he was just crazy.

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DHS wants to ban students from getting 4 year degree student visas if they come from countries with a high level of overstay, and you’ll be very surprised by the list!

https://twitter.com/reichlinmelnick/status/1309141303826014209?s=21

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Wow that's basically all of Africa. But hey, Kosovo is on the list so it can't be totally racist, right?

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Kosovo is almost entirely Muslim, so....

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And that's my new fact learned for the day!

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Spoiler alert: Norway isn’t on the list.

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Have we figured out if it's mostly white yet?

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Slovenia is definitely not on the list.

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It’s tangentially related and also 🔥🔥🔥

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I can’t even

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PRO

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This welcome video by the Bologna soccer team is magnificently over the top - and in fairness, a Scottish player good enough for more technical leagues is a rare beast indeed

https://twitter.com/grantwahl/status/1309148787244441601?s=21

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Mauricio Dubón found the hit the Giants needed in 7-2 win

https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2020/9/23/21453807/san-francisco-giants-rockies-mlb-final-score

Slap me if you’ve heard me say this before in the last few days, but the San Francisco Giants entered Wednesday’s game against the Colorado Rockies needing to win. With only five games after Wednesday’s — and four of them against the San Diego Padres — the Giants needed to step into action.

When the sun rose, the Giants found themselves in a three-way tie for the two Wild Card spots, but losing the tiebreaker to the other teams in the race.

And when the sun set — or rather, a few hours after the sun set — the Giants found themselves in sole possession of the second Wild Card.

Because they won. As they needed to.

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I've not been paying attention, do they need to sweep or split with the Padres to make the playoffs?

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Oakland A’s Game #55: A’s beat old friend Blake Treinen in 6-4 win over Dodgers

https://www.athleticsnation.com/2020/9/23/21453870/oakland-as-game-55-los-angeles-dodgers-score-result

If you were looking for encouraging signs as the Oakland A’s tune up for the 2020 postseason next week, there were plenty to be found on Wednesday.

The A’s combined some clutch hitting with a bit of power at the plate, they got a quality start from Sean Manaea on the mound, and the bullpen did just enough to hang on despite briefly blowing the lead, all resulting in a dramatic 6-4 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

This game wasn’t particularly meaningful for either team, as both have already clinched their respective division titles and are just playing out the string at this point. The A’s might still rise or fall among the top three seeds in the AL but can’t drop further than No. 3, while the Dodgers have the No. 1 seed in the NL just about wrapped up already — and the lack of urgency showed, as L.A. used the chance to mess around with a bullpen opener ahead of their normal starter.

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Nice homer by the Laser. Good timing, too. Two out in the top of the ninth.

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Good. Also, it's great that this whole series is nationally televised.

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It was? I didn't realize that. I know the Monday game was because it was horrible listening to Chipper Jones and the other guys. I ended up using a stream to watch the Dodgers feed because I think MLB.TV stopped the VPN workaround.

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Dodgers relievers falter early and late in loss to A’s

https://www.truebluela.com/2020/9/23/21453560/dodgers-home-runs-opener-joe-kelly-blake-treinen-loss

In this case, you can judge a book by its covers. The Dodgers did their best work in the bulk of the game, from the third through eighth innings, but it was the first and ninth that killed them in a 6-4 loss to the A’s on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium.

Ramón Laureano hit a two-run home run off his former teammate Blake Treinen in the ninth inning to break the tie, giving the A’s the win. It was the first home run allowed by Treinen all season.

Treinen has allowed nine runs on 12 hits in his last eight appearances, over 6⅓ innings.

It erased a steady comeback by the Dodgers, who tied things after trailing 3-0 in the first inning. Max Muncy started the climb with a two-run shot in the third inning, his second home run in as many days.

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Good.

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Just 3 bad innings. Kelly in the 1st. Urias in the 7th. And Treinen in the 9th. I believe the A's were for the most part shutdown other than that. Similarly, the Dodgers didn't do too much other than the 3rd, 7th, and 8th. And even in the 7th and the 8th the HR was, I think, the only hit in the inning. Lots of 3 or 4 batter innings.

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CAL

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Audit: UC Regent, who happens to be Diane Feinstein's husband, allegedly recommended waitlisted kids of a rich donor get bumped up. Not surprising, but is unseemly since it is public school.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/09/24/uc-regent-who-helped-unqualified-student-get-into-cal-identified-as-richard-blum-husband-of-sen-dianne-feinstein/

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They are such fucking out of touch plutocrats, I can't believe we keep re-electing her.

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Wilner: CA officials expand gathering rules to enable Pac-12 football practice

https://twitter.com/wilnerhotline/status/1309189615220224000

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Go Bears!

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