About a week ago, the campaign signs started to come out in force at the main road (signs are prohibited under our HOA rules). I went to an appointment in the morning and noticed a few Trump signs, plus an equal amount of Dan Forest (GOP running for Governor). I was like "ugh" and fantasized about stealing the sign late at night. To be clear, I wouldn't because I don't think it is right to do so.
Came back from the appointment 90 minutes later, the sign was gone.
Since then, the Dan Forest signs have been removed. Nobody can keep an election sign up without them being stolen within the day. Thus, there's only down-ticket signs left standing.
Governor Cooper's first term has been objectively pretty good, so has not suffered the typical drop-off in ratings that incumbents typically have through their term. He's polling above 50%. His opponent - the current Lt. Gov - is in the mid 30s, is a pure MAGA guy, Christianity-first, mask hoax, opening schools, stopping immigrants, back-the-blue, 2A, and economy promises type of guy. The Lt. Governor was tied within the margin of error in February, but has since slipped to a double-digit gap due to his parroting MAGA stuff.
Senator Tom Tillis has also slipped since July, going from a tie to down 6.
Trump took this state by 4 in 2016. And Romney took it by 2 in 2012. However, this state is one of the few toss-ups. Biden and team are not very visible in the state as he's chosen to spend money on television ads. This compares to Trump/Pence, who have visited multiple times, have far more ads, and have a substantial team on the ground. This is odd because my are has the highest percentage of registered independents in the state.
Heh, in past life as a political operative, me and a volunteer with a van and a couple of ladders ripped off all of our opponent's signs on telephone poles down the whole length of Fruitvale Ave. and replaced them all with our candidate's the night before a rally down the Ave. - to add insult to injury, you could see that we did this because his signs were bigger, so the wood supports were sticking out on the sides.
Tommy Vardell. It wasn't that he had great yards per run, but it was the consistency and the feeling of inevitability that he was going to get the first down. '91 Big Game was such a disappointment.
Yes, this. Every game with the exception of USC (I was at Memorial for that blowout loss, other than the game, the weather and day was perfect) was unbelievably frustrating. If Tedford had simply went with Levy we probably win two more regular season games.
Ayoob completely stunk it up against OSU and Oregon, and both games were within a field goal by the end. We probably win with competent QB play. He was okay against UCLA, so that one was lost more on a defense/special teams collapse. That said, he could have clinched it with one more 4th quarter drive that never happened.
I tend to agree that it's a 9 win regular season with Levy at the helm.
He was play against ucla with the exception of the 4th quarter and in the red zone. We settled for too many FGs in the red zone during that game and that allowed ucla to stay in the game.
I was at the 2005 UCLA/Cal game in LA, surrounded by ucla fans. It was tough. Highest of highs to lowest of lows. If Tedford has only played Levy we would have won that game walking away.
I watched the first 10 minutes or so and decided to turn it off because I couldn't take all the interrupting and disruption. Then my wife entered the room and wanted to put it on again, so we suffered through the rest.
Trump has never been loved by any of the women in his life and it shows. His mom didn’t love him, his three wives don’t love him, his own daughter is probably creeped out by him.
Lots of missed opportunities for Biden. He did okay, but there were so many opportunities to be more pointed in his attacks on the Trump and the Republican party more generally.
When Trump says he's nominating Barrett because he's president for four years, why not call out Senate Republicans' blocking of Garland because they put party before their constitutional duty in 2016?
On the topic of the pandemic, why not call out Trump's dismantling of the National Security Council's pandemic task force created under the Obama-Biden administration?
When Trump criticized Hunter Biden's drug problem, why not expand a bit to say that people across the country are suffering from addiction to opiates and other drugs and that they need to be given treatment rather than be demonized by people like Trump?
It is easy to Monday morning QB Biden but I thought he did a good job. I am sure he would have said most of those things if he could get two uninterrupted sentences in last night.
I also thought his comment about his son was very good and relatable for people dealing with all addictions.
Yeah, I was coming up with better answers in real time. A simple sentence or two to help better frame some of his points would have really improved his performance. Like I said, he did fine. But he could have done better with some simple, basic tweaks.
Yeah and I was doing the same. From the comfort of my own home, without a screaming man child 10 feet away from me and without constant interruptions or the bright lights in my eyes.
Like Mike Tyson said, everyone has a plan until the get punched in the mouth.
Biden had a plan and knew Trump would interrupt but I am not sure any amount of preparation can truly prepare someone for what we just witnessed and the volume and consistency with which trump interrupted.
I am 100% sure that Trump is dumb enough to think he "won", but he doesn't understand the shape of the race. He's losing, and his disgraceful performance probably alienated 80% of the diminishing of the undecideds - and nobody can "win" a shit-show like that: Advantage Biden.
"Undecided voters from battleground states around the country used decidedly different words to describe the night featuring the Republican and Democratic nominees on the same stage for the first time.
'Crackhead,' ‘arrogant,’ ‘un-American,’ ‘forceful,’ ‘puzzling,’ ‘eh,' and ‘unhinged’ were some of the words used to describe Trump's performance by a group of undecided voters in GOP pollster Frank Luntz's post-debate focus group Zoom session.
‘Professional,’ ‘showed restraint and compassion,’ ‘predictable,’ ‘politician,’ and ‘presidential’ were the descriptors used to describe Biden by the same participants in Luntz's group, which comprised of over a dozen undecided voters from Arizona, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Florida, Wisconsin, Iowa, Ohio, and North Carolina."
Seems like all the (reliable) post-debate polls show that Biden won. They also mostly match the polling of the current presidential race, which indicates that the debate changed nothing. But of course, if nothing changed, Biden won.
In NBA-parlance, maybe the evil ones were trying to keep the deficit to within 10 points? That works in the first half of NBA games; the calculus changes when you are in the middle of the fourth quarter.
On the last point, I'm pretty sure Biden did try to tie Hunter's drug issues to those that a lot of Americans are suffering through, but as with most things it got lost in Trump's fusillade of nonsense.
Biden seemed unprepared for what was to be expected on several occasions, though probably because as several other stumbles and mis-statements suggest, it might not be possible to adequately prepare Biden to perform in that kind of arena, where Trump is in his element.
I think Biden prepared but trump was on a whole different level of chaos and crazy last night. How do you prepare to debate someone who will not let you answer a question or even let the moderator ask a question?
Last night proved that Pelosi was right to say Biden shouldn’t debate trump. I know he has to but she was right.
I didn't watch because I'm staying away from social media and news (social media fast broken only because TheScientist tagged me in the ice cream tweet).
Could anyone have said anything last night to change who I'm voting for? No. Would I have seen things that upset me? Yes.
I decided in 2015 that there was nothing that could happen for me to vote for Orange Hitler, so I failed to see any point in watching the debate. I'll probably chip in another hundred or so to Biden's campaign, and once the ballot is mailed to me, I'll vote for Biden and democrats down the ballot (unless Alex Villanueva is running for LA County Sheriff this year) and drop it off on election day.
I want to as well, but my wife wants to make sure our votes are counted and vote in-person. And I want to support my wife. I might fill out the ballot ahead of time and just drop off on Election Day.
Why not go vote early? Don't drop off your absentee ballot on election day, those are the last ones counted. Turn it back in and vote by machine on election day.
What a trash fire. I had no expectation that Trump would turn over a new leaf, but the amount of interrupting and conspiracy-mongering he did was even more than I expected.
I would criticize Biden or Wallace, but I don't know what you do about that. He's the President, he's going to talk. He wasn't perfect, but for the most part I think Biden stood up to it well. His most effective tactic was just turning to the camera and addressing the audience directly while Trump ranted on.
I am in this line. Lots of criticism for Biden and Wallace for letting that happen but what do you do? Other than cutting trumps (both candidates) microphone, which trump and his campaign would never agree to or putting a shock collar on trump, which would be hilarious but he would never agree to, I don’t know what you do to stop that.
It’s basically analogies to the wildfires burning out of control in California. Biden and Wallace are two firefighters trying to contain a raging, anti truth, anti decency, wild fire.
Yeah he can’t cancel or else Trump will lie that Biden is afraid, weak, etc but this proves Pelosi was correct when she said Biden shouldn’t debate trump.
At the very least, you don't cancel right away. You wait until the Debate Commission starts talking about rule changes (or more likely, the lack of rule changes) and then cancel.
It will be a mess, but it looks much worse when he interrupts regular people than when he interrupts a media member. And regular people are more likely to call out being interrupted (see the last two town halls).
Love Green Day. I want to go to one of their concerts (not the one they're doing with Fall out Boy and Weezer). American Idiot is one of my most favorite albums.
I went to a memorable Green Day show that was played outside in the rain. At one point the microphones shorted out so you couldn't hear the vocals anymore. Once Billy Joe realized it was happening, he just started strumming his guitar to some of Green Day's bigger hits and motioned at the audience to sing along. They continued that way for a few numbers until the mics got fixed and the show continued as normal. I was impressed by his "the show must go on" attitude. My respect for the band went way up after that.
But yeah, they sound great live. Really tight and they involve the audience well.
Also, they have been involved in a few Oakland businesses, I believe. There's 1-2-3-4 Go! Records, and Billie Joe is a partner in the Broken Guitars guitar shop, and I think Mike was invested in Rudy's Can't Fail Cafe
On the "unable to track it down" front, I once read a tweet that said something like, "Black people don't read dystopian stories; we've already been living it for 400 years."
Also this is the Twins in the postseason, so what did you expect? Only team in the AL the A's were actually able to beat in the playoffs (post-Bash Brothers).
The Oakland A’s played their first postseason game of 2020 on Tuesday, and it went eerily similar to the ones they played the last couple years. Fortunately, this time it’s a best-of-three series instead of a one-and-done disappointment.
The A’s lost 4-1 to the Chicago White Sox in Game 1 of the first-round Wild Card Series, on a day in which they seemed to be overmatched from start to finish. The key stat is that the Sox had as many homers as the A’s had hits, which tells you everything you need to know about the proceedings.
A 3-game opening round in baseball playoffs is a ridiculously stupid decision. (And yes, I'm saying this preemptively for the inevitable 2 game sweep of the Dodgers by the Brewers.)
The decision to start a lefty in the face of the statistical evidence that showed it to be unwise was our downfall. I wonder if Melvin is calling the shots, or whether Billy is interfering in post-season strategy.
A victory but definitely there was a feeling of choke-i-ness in the 9th. Just glad for the boys that they pulled it out. Now the decision is Fiers, Minor, or Manaea to start tomorrow. I'd vote for Fiers because of his experience and the fact that the A's are 8-3 this season when he pitches and he tends to get run support. Great to see KD hit a long one. It also hit the target in left center meaning that Round Table has to give a free personal pizza to everyone that purchases a cut-out, (At least I think it hit it.)
As I was leaving the grocery store I stopped to watch as A's were up 5-2 with two outs and none on in the ninth. By time I left the store the bases were loaded and Hendricks was on his way out. Was relieved to see they hung on when I got home.
Dammit...now I also have a 6 AM meeting Monday morning and the Wed call starts at 630 instead of 7. So now I have to wake up at 545 3 days a week and 615 on Wed.
5:42am and hitting the gym by 6...I too appreciate getting ready as quickly as possible in the morning. I used to have my alarm set for 5:15 and I was consistently out the door at 5:35.
I usually try to go running sometime after 5 or 6 and then grab a light lunch. Yesterday it was so hot that I had a light dinner and ended up going for a run around 815-830. Except for the fact my street has no lights, it was nice not having to worry about anyone out walking or running. I may do the same thing as long as it doesn't get too cool that late. otherwise I'll probably keep running around 5 or 6 until it gets too cold to do so and the gyms open back up and I feel comfortable going to the 24 hr fitness (probably not until sometime next year).
That girl can sleep I'll tell you that much. In the span of 5 minutes Monday, we went from playing ball in the yard to her fast asleep snoring on the living room rug.
I have one. One benefit is that you can use it as a savings for future health expenses. So you can put away pretax money now and use it later when you're older for health expenses. The HSA is owned by you not the health insurance so when you leave them and go to another one, you keep your HSA and all the pretax money you put in it. As long as it's used for IRS qualified medical expenses it's pre-tax. For example, some OTC medicines, orthodontics if your dental plan doesn't cover it.
The difference between a Flex spending account is that the Flex spending account has to be used by the end of the year. The HSA just stays around forever.
I've been trying to decide whether I want to open one of these (FSA or HSA), but one thing that could be relevant to clapdoc's wife is that menstruation products are now allowed, including pads, tampons, and cups.
When I was younger, it was nay because it was a crapshoot if I needed anything during a year. In middle age, it's a yay. Then my wife's work made it a moot point because they gave her a "free" $8k/year HSA as a standard benefit.
I would say yay and had one before my company gave me secondary health insurance that picks up all copays and other things related to dental, vision and health.
My wife was able to get Invisalign and my secondary insurance picked up the whole cost.
I have a vision/dental FSA that I put $750 into and use to pay for my contacts and dental cleanings every year. I have never had a rush to use it at the end of the year. I also have an HSA that I dump about $5K a year into, that pays for medical deductibles etc. My HSA is building up, but since I plan to retire long before I am medicare-eligible, I am OK with that because I will have a need for it then.
Thanks, dcblue. We're actually luckier than our neighbors on the lane. Our sleephouse survived intact. Our neighbors on the lane have lost everything which is just incomprehensible to me. Very unsure what this means for the future.
The Lower (original) cabin started as a 1 room shack in April 1906 (hmmm...why is that date familiar?). Over the years, a kitchen, half bath, a screened eating porch, and the front porch was added.
The Upper Cabin (the sleephouse) was added in 1915. It is two stories: The Basement has a very modest workshop, a bedroom, and a shower room. The 2nd Floor has three bedrooms and a very small half bath. So, four bedrooms, a workshop, a half bath and a shower room.
7 out of how many that apply to Cal every year? Doesn't even seem statistically significant, much less a scandal. And isn't the mission of a public university to uplift and educate those most in need of an education?
those most in need whose parents are significant donors*
If it truly its mission to uplift and educate those most in need, what happens to the child of immigrants whose parents are not able to make big money donations? Are they any less in need?
FET. My mom's friend had 2 girls. The younger was my sister's friend. I don't know where the older one went (at least a few years older than me) but my sister's field went to MIT and did engineering and ended up being a patent lawyer. One of their other friend's kids or grandkids went to Cal and the mom was bad mouthing Cal. Oh, why not a nice private school or whatever. Then the oldest daughter's son applied to many elite schools and didn't get into any of them so he ended up going to Cal. All of a sudden, oh it's such a great school. They're lucky to have him. All that crap.
To be honest, I didn't even know there was a "scandal" so either I will stay out of this topic and educate myself or I will immediately spout an opinion that cannot be changed.
Blum's composition of letters of rec for candidates is probably OK (maybe a bit unseemly since he is a Regent), but shouldn't be used by admissions directly in their decisions. I got four letters of rec from professors for my grad school applications, but in that case there was no indication of improper influence.
To be honest I am a bit disillusioned by UC's decision to drop the SAT requirement, which enables a statistical component in evaluating candidates from around the state, country, and the world. Without this measure, admissions officers have to rely solely upon grades, which as we all know varies greatly between high schools.
Political signs
In my area, the most prominent Trump signs (6'x8' mini billboards) and Trump flags always seem to be on the dumpiest, most run-down looking houses.
FET
About a week ago, the campaign signs started to come out in force at the main road (signs are prohibited under our HOA rules). I went to an appointment in the morning and noticed a few Trump signs, plus an equal amount of Dan Forest (GOP running for Governor). I was like "ugh" and fantasized about stealing the sign late at night. To be clear, I wouldn't because I don't think it is right to do so.
Came back from the appointment 90 minutes later, the sign was gone.
Since then, the Dan Forest signs have been removed. Nobody can keep an election sign up without them being stolen within the day. Thus, there's only down-ticket signs left standing.
How's the polling on the gubernatorial race in NC?
Governor Cooper's first term has been objectively pretty good, so has not suffered the typical drop-off in ratings that incumbents typically have through their term. He's polling above 50%. His opponent - the current Lt. Gov - is in the mid 30s, is a pure MAGA guy, Christianity-first, mask hoax, opening schools, stopping immigrants, back-the-blue, 2A, and economy promises type of guy. The Lt. Governor was tied within the margin of error in February, but has since slipped to a double-digit gap due to his parroting MAGA stuff.
Senator Tom Tillis has also slipped since July, going from a tie to down 6.
Trump took this state by 4 in 2016. And Romney took it by 2 in 2012. However, this state is one of the few toss-ups. Biden and team are not very visible in the state as he's chosen to spend money on television ads. This compares to Trump/Pence, who have visited multiple times, have far more ads, and have a substantial team on the ground. This is odd because my are has the highest percentage of registered independents in the state.
Heh, in past life as a political operative, me and a volunteer with a van and a couple of ladders ripped off all of our opponent's signs on telephone poles down the whole length of Fruitvale Ave. and replaced them all with our candidate's the night before a rally down the Ave. - to add insult to injury, you could see that we did this because his signs were bigger, so the wood supports were sticking out on the sides.
We denied all knowledge of what happened.
Today in Covid
I'm not a doctor, but what I can understand makes me go "fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu..."
https://twitter.com/__ice9/status/1310878155046113281
That seems discouraging
Elsewhere in college
ND's Brian Kelly: maybe it wasn't a good idea to put all my players together.
https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/30002596/notre-dame-football-coach-brian-kelly-targets-coronavirus-outbreak-pregame-meal-vomiting-player
It’s not like he has no expertise in killing undergrads
Well, you gotta do what you do best, right?
Yes, that was bad. But a leopard doesn't change its spots and Kelly has no regard for the safety of others, it appears.
Ouch
USC-commit Jake Garcia ruled ineligible for his senior season
https://247sports.com/college/usc/Article/Report-USC-2021-QB-commit-Jake-Garcia-ruled-ineligible-for-Valdosta-152179674/
Play stupid games win stupid prizes
Perhaps if the dad didn't go on ESPN and basically say the divorce is a sham his kid might be playing.
Divorced my wife to own the NCAA
These people are PERFECT for SC, just perfect
Which Cal player was a known great clubhouse/locker-room guy - the dude/lady who everyone liked
RB Alex Netherda. Seems like everyone loves this guy.
TIL: Alex has 23 yards rushing over 3 years. He also has 17 tackles.
I can't imagine anyone didn't like Marshawn.
yeah
Cal opponent's player that still gives you a bit of PTSD.
Tommy Vardell. It wasn't that he had great yards per run, but it was the consistency and the feeling of inevitability that he was going to get the first down. '91 Big Game was such a disappointment.
Ed Dickson
And he just scored another TD
nnnnnnnnnnnnooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Kaep
Yeah, though when he took a team to the Super Bowl at least I didn't feel so bad about our loss to Nevada anymore.
Maurice Jones-Drew
I nearly wrote that one. Ugh, that 2005 loss...
Except for the predictable SC blowout, all of our losses were unbelievably frustrating that year.
Yes, this. Every game with the exception of USC (I was at Memorial for that blowout loss, other than the game, the weather and day was perfect) was unbelievably frustrating. If Tedford had simply went with Levy we probably win two more regular season games.
Ayoob completely stunk it up against OSU and Oregon, and both games were within a field goal by the end. We probably win with competent QB play. He was okay against UCLA, so that one was lost more on a defense/special teams collapse. That said, he could have clinched it with one more 4th quarter drive that never happened.
I tend to agree that it's a 9 win regular season with Levy at the helm.
He was play against ucla with the exception of the 4th quarter and in the red zone. We settled for too many FGs in the red zone during that game and that allowed ucla to stay in the game.
I was at the 2005 UCLA/Cal game in LA, surrounded by ucla fans. It was tough. Highest of highs to lowest of lows. If Tedford has only played Levy we would have won that game walking away.
That game cemented by unshakable belief that ucla fans are the worst in the PAC.
This is SC not Cal but: Jacquizz Rogers.
Something that unties both Cal and SC fans. Him and his brother.
I'm glad we were able to oblige multiple of our California cohorts.
I really respect that short ball of rage and spite and I was very relieved when he graduated
I think that is Cal too.
I feel ya on that one.
OUR COMPLETELY EFFED DEMOCRACY
Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliff releases discredited Russian disinformation 35 days before the election
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/29/john-ratcliffe-hillary-clinton-russia-423022
Bigger story:
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/29/hhs-ad-blitz-sputters-as-celebrities-back-away-423274
These motherfuckers
True, but also Keystone Kops - nobody's buying their shit who isn't already consuming it wholesale.
That’s my hope as well.
White House overrides CDC, will allow cruises starting on Halloween
https://www.axios.com/scoop-white-house-overruled-cdc-cruise-ships-florida-91442136-1b8e-442e-a2a1-0b24e9a39fb6.html
Well I guess there'll be multiple cruise ships anchored offshore when they return.
Just like many other things in life, I'll let others be the guinea pigs for this particular experiment.
Good luck to the crews I guess
SO-CALLED DEBATE
A first time voter responds
https://twitter.com/dctrojan/status/1311115950008291332?s=21
she had more stamina for it than I did.
I watched the first 10 minutes or so and decided to turn it off because I couldn't take all the interrupting and disruption. Then my wife entered the room and wanted to put it on again, so we suffered through the rest.
I kept on walking away in disgust, but coming back after a few minutes of air - I think I've watched all the past debates since I've been an adult.
BREAKING NEWS: [PER AP NEWS WIRE] Debate commission considering changing format to promote order after last night.
https://twitter.com/WRAL/status/1311360699344580610
Jill Biden hugs Joe. Trump tries to rope-start his Melania-bot into showing affection.
https://i.imgur.com/zzL7iYA.gifv
Trump has never been loved by any of the women in his life and it shows. His mom didn’t love him, his three wives don’t love him, his own daughter is probably creeped out by him.
clearly he's never tried to start a chainsaw.
More like trying to assault her.
Lots of missed opportunities for Biden. He did okay, but there were so many opportunities to be more pointed in his attacks on the Trump and the Republican party more generally.
When Trump says he's nominating Barrett because he's president for four years, why not call out Senate Republicans' blocking of Garland because they put party before their constitutional duty in 2016?
On the topic of the pandemic, why not call out Trump's dismantling of the National Security Council's pandemic task force created under the Obama-Biden administration?
When Trump criticized Hunter Biden's drug problem, why not expand a bit to say that people across the country are suffering from addiction to opiates and other drugs and that they need to be given treatment rather than be demonized by people like Trump?
Some folks on the Twitter were saying that Biden’s response came across as humane rather than political, which is probably sufficient.
It is easy to Monday morning QB Biden but I thought he did a good job. I am sure he would have said most of those things if he could get two uninterrupted sentences in last night.
I also thought his comment about his son was very good and relatable for people dealing with all addictions.
I mean... I was real-time QBing last night, I'm certain I would have done a lot better myself than Biden did, but yeah... ultimately he did all right
Yeah, I was coming up with better answers in real time. A simple sentence or two to help better frame some of his points would have really improved his performance. Like I said, he did fine. But he could have done better with some simple, basic tweaks.
Yeah and I was doing the same. From the comfort of my own home, without a screaming man child 10 feet away from me and without constant interruptions or the bright lights in my eyes.
Like Mike Tyson said, everyone has a plan until the get punched in the mouth.
Biden had a plan and knew Trump would interrupt but I am not sure any amount of preparation can truly prepare someone for what we just witnessed and the volume and consistency with which trump interrupted.
I am 100% sure that Trump is dumb enough to think he "won", but he doesn't understand the shape of the race. He's losing, and his disgraceful performance probably alienated 80% of the diminishing of the undecideds - and nobody can "win" a shit-show like that: Advantage Biden.
Yet “undecided” voters who watched the debate last night are still “undecided”. Which to me is just code that they are voting for trump.
That's not what I've read:
"Undecided voters from battleground states around the country used decidedly different words to describe the night featuring the Republican and Democratic nominees on the same stage for the first time.
'Crackhead,' ‘arrogant,’ ‘un-American,’ ‘forceful,’ ‘puzzling,’ ‘eh,' and ‘unhinged’ were some of the words used to describe Trump's performance by a group of undecided voters in GOP pollster Frank Luntz's post-debate focus group Zoom session.
‘Professional,’ ‘showed restraint and compassion,’ ‘predictable,’ ‘politician,’ and ‘presidential’ were the descriptors used to describe Biden by the same participants in Luntz's group, which comprised of over a dozen undecided voters from Arizona, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Florida, Wisconsin, Iowa, Ohio, and North Carolina."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/09/30/power-up-trump-debate-performance-was-described-this-way-by-undecided-voters-crackhead-arrogant-un-american-forceful/
Seems like all the (reliable) post-debate polls show that Biden won. They also mostly match the polling of the current presidential race, which indicates that the debate changed nothing. But of course, if nothing changed, Biden won.
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/trump-biden-debate-poll/
In NBA-parlance, maybe the evil ones were trying to keep the deficit to within 10 points? That works in the first half of NBA games; the calculus changes when you are in the middle of the fourth quarter.
Exactly
That's assuming that the focus group doesn't want an arrogant puzzling crackhead.
Everything he said indicates that he's just deep in the Fox News bubble and doesn't understand how to talk to anyone who isn't.
On the last point, I'm pretty sure Biden did try to tie Hunter's drug issues to those that a lot of Americans are suffering through, but as with most things it got lost in Trump's fusillade of nonsense.
I agree with this take.
Biden seemed unprepared for what was to be expected on several occasions, though probably because as several other stumbles and mis-statements suggest, it might not be possible to adequately prepare Biden to perform in that kind of arena, where Trump is in his element.
I think Biden prepared but trump was on a whole different level of chaos and crazy last night. How do you prepare to debate someone who will not let you answer a question or even let the moderator ask a question?
Last night proved that Pelosi was right to say Biden shouldn’t debate trump. I know he has to but she was right.
Deutsche Welle, Germany's federal news channel nails it:
https://twitter.com/dwnews/status/1311222709930655744
Chris Wallace
muttering "what just happened...." before jumping in the shower
Transcripts from last night:
[Maddening Crosstalk]
I didn't watch because I'm staying away from social media and news (social media fast broken only because TheScientist tagged me in the ice cream tweet).
Could anyone have said anything last night to change who I'm voting for? No. Would I have seen things that upset me? Yes.
I decided in 2015 that there was nothing that could happen for me to vote for Orange Hitler, so I failed to see any point in watching the debate. I'll probably chip in another hundred or so to Biden's campaign, and once the ballot is mailed to me, I'll vote for Biden and democrats down the ballot (unless Alex Villanueva is running for LA County Sheriff this year) and drop it off on election day.
I have basically the same plan, though I want to turn my ballot in early.
I want to as well, but my wife wants to make sure our votes are counted and vote in-person. And I want to support my wife. I might fill out the ballot ahead of time and just drop off on Election Day.
Why not go vote early? Don't drop off your absentee ballot on election day, those are the last ones counted. Turn it back in and vote by machine on election day.
What a trash fire. I had no expectation that Trump would turn over a new leaf, but the amount of interrupting and conspiracy-mongering he did was even more than I expected.
I would criticize Biden or Wallace, but I don't know what you do about that. He's the President, he's going to talk. He wasn't perfect, but for the most part I think Biden stood up to it well. His most effective tactic was just turning to the camera and addressing the audience directly while Trump ranted on.
I am in this line. Lots of criticism for Biden and Wallace for letting that happen but what do you do? Other than cutting trumps (both candidates) microphone, which trump and his campaign would never agree to or putting a shock collar on trump, which would be hilarious but he would never agree to, I don’t know what you do to stop that.
It’s basically analogies to the wildfires burning out of control in California. Biden and Wallace are two firefighters trying to contain a raging, anti truth, anti decency, wild fire.
Man, that was disgusting. If I was Biden, I'd just cancel the the rest, what's the fucking point?
It gives the evil ones a talking point to use against him. The next debate (town hall) will be much tougher for Orange Hitler to interrupt people.
OOOOoooOOOoo
Forgot about that, yes that may be a mess too, but a much better format for Biden.
Yeah he can’t cancel or else Trump will lie that Biden is afraid, weak, etc but this proves Pelosi was correct when she said Biden shouldn’t debate trump.
At the very least, you don't cancel right away. You wait until the Debate Commission starts talking about rule changes (or more likely, the lack of rule changes) and then cancel.
It will be a mess, but it looks much worse when he interrupts regular people than when he interrupts a media member. And regular people are more likely to call out being interrupted (see the last two town halls).
an insane series of "I know you are but what am I..."
Green Day
Love Green Day. I want to go to one of their concerts (not the one they're doing with Fall out Boy and Weezer). American Idiot is one of my most favorite albums.
I went to a memorable Green Day show that was played outside in the rain. At one point the microphones shorted out so you couldn't hear the vocals anymore. Once Billy Joe realized it was happening, he just started strumming his guitar to some of Green Day's bigger hits and motioned at the audience to sing along. They continued that way for a few numbers until the mics got fixed and the show continued as normal. I was impressed by his "the show must go on" attitude. My respect for the band went way up after that.
But yeah, they sound great live. Really tight and they involve the audience well.
This was at AT&T, right?
I saw them once play a free show in front of SF City Hall, that was pretty fun.
It was indeed!
Also, they have been involved in a few Oakland businesses, I believe. There's 1-2-3-4 Go! Records, and Billie Joe is a partner in the Broken Guitars guitar shop, and I think Mike was invested in Rudy's Can't Fail Cafe
I respect them but was never a fan
Yeah, I like some of their songs but never was a big fan.
They originally got popular when I was in high school, when I originally just considered them one of many random bands who had hits during the era.
Since then I've come to realize they are pretty great songwriters, which is why they have endured where so many others have not.
I’m convinced that I saw a review of them once which used the phrase “cabbage patch punk” but have been unable to track it down.
On the "unable to track it down" front, I once read a tweet that said something like, "Black people don't read dystopian stories; we've already been living it for 400 years."
Sadly, I've never been able to re-find it.
Right-wing reactionary: If there is a Congressional Black Caucus, why can't there be a Congressional White Caucus?
Congressman: There is. It is called Congress.
Their early stuff is good, reminds me a bit of the Buzzcocks
I have a lot of happy memories associated with their second album
1091 seconds (or something)?
Dookie - isn’t that their second album? I wasn’t going to write that comment in such a way as to invite accusations of coprophilia
And the one I thought was their first, is really a compilation of their first two: 1,039/smoothed out Slappy Hours
Checks - Dookie is their third, and probably their best.
PRO
God the Asstrisks are going to win aren't they? I guess the Twins didn't have to play a lot of good teams all year.
Also this is the Twins in the postseason, so what did you expect? Only team in the AL the A's were actually able to beat in the playoffs (post-Bash Brothers).
And the Asstrisks play in Dodgers stadium. Against the A's/ChiSox winners I think.
How much do we want an A's walkoff in Dodger Stadium is not something I expected to say when 2020 began.
Complete with arm pump!
Lousy start to the postseason for the A's
https://www.athleticsnation.com/2020/9/29/21494514/mlb-postseason-2020-game-1-oakland-as-chicago-white-sox-score-result
Here we go again.
The Oakland A’s played their first postseason game of 2020 on Tuesday, and it went eerily similar to the ones they played the last couple years. Fortunately, this time it’s a best-of-three series instead of a one-and-done disappointment.
The A’s lost 4-1 to the Chicago White Sox in Game 1 of the first-round Wild Card Series, on a day in which they seemed to be overmatched from start to finish. The key stat is that the Sox had as many homers as the A’s had hits, which tells you everything you need to know about the proceedings.
A 3-game opening round in baseball playoffs is a ridiculously stupid decision. (And yes, I'm saying this preemptively for the inevitable 2 game sweep of the Dodgers by the Brewers.)
Yes I wouldn't be surprised either if that happens. In which case this is the worst playoff idea ever.
The decision to start a lefty in the face of the statistical evidence that showed it to be unwise was our downfall. I wonder if Melvin is calling the shots, or whether Billy is interfering in post-season strategy.
A victory but definitely there was a feeling of choke-i-ness in the 9th. Just glad for the boys that they pulled it out. Now the decision is Fiers, Minor, or Manaea to start tomorrow. I'd vote for Fiers because of his experience and the fact that the A's are 8-3 this season when he pitches and he tends to get run support. Great to see KD hit a long one. It also hit the target in left center meaning that Round Table has to give a free personal pizza to everyone that purchases a cut-out, (At least I think it hit it.)
whoever it is will have a short leash. Like as soon as a runner gets on time to start warming someone up. Everyone is available.
As I was leaving the grocery store I stopped to watch as A's were up 5-2 with two outs and none on in the ninth. By time I left the store the bases were loaded and Hendricks was on his way out. Was relieved to see they hung on when I got home.
A's up 2-0 in the first
Semien dinger makes it 4-0 in the 2nd.
Davis dinger makes it 5-0 in the 4th.
Go Bears.
Alarm clock
I don't set an alarm. I usually get up at meow o'clock.
I get up at 6am like clockwork.
i feel like we had this alarm clock conversation just a few weeks ago but maybe it was phrased slightly different. am i mis-remembering ?
MWTh: 6:45. TuF: 545. All for meetings starting at 6 and 7.
Dammit...now I also have a 6 AM meeting Monday morning and the Wed call starts at 630 instead of 7. So now I have to wake up at 545 3 days a week and 615 on Wed.
Doesn't get much use now that I've been working from home for over 6 months. Wake up whenever (usually 7-8) and start working shortly after that.
My five year old son is my alarm clock.
5:42am. Hit snooze, lie in bed for another minute, then up and dressed and hit the gym from 6-7. Home, shower, walk dog, in the office by 8;15 ish.
5:42am and hitting the gym by 6...I too appreciate getting ready as quickly as possible in the morning. I used to have my alarm set for 5:15 and I was consistently out the door at 5:35.
I usually try to go running sometime after 5 or 6 and then grab a light lunch. Yesterday it was so hot that I had a light dinner and ended up going for a run around 815-830. Except for the fact my street has no lights, it was nice not having to worry about anyone out walking or running. I may do the same thing as long as it doesn't get too cool that late. otherwise I'll probably keep running around 5 or 6 until it gets too cold to do so and the gyms open back up and I feel comfortable going to the 24 hr fitness (probably not until sometime next year).
Harriet is like “you go to the gym, I’ll catch some more shuteye until you’re finished with that foolishness.”
That girl can sleep I'll tell you that much. In the span of 5 minutes Monday, we went from playing ball in the yard to her fast asleep snoring on the living room rug.
Health Savings Accounts - yay? nay?
I have one. One benefit is that you can use it as a savings for future health expenses. So you can put away pretax money now and use it later when you're older for health expenses. The HSA is owned by you not the health insurance so when you leave them and go to another one, you keep your HSA and all the pretax money you put in it. As long as it's used for IRS qualified medical expenses it's pre-tax. For example, some OTC medicines, orthodontics if your dental plan doesn't cover it.
The difference between a Flex spending account is that the Flex spending account has to be used by the end of the year. The HSA just stays around forever.
TIL etc. Given how much the company has increased my deductibles i should look into this
I've been trying to decide whether I want to open one of these (FSA or HSA), but one thing that could be relevant to clapdoc's wife is that menstruation products are now allowed, including pads, tampons, and cups.
That's good info to have, thanks!
Oh, and period underwear.
I thought you were describing Victorian underwear or something at first.
Tbh that’s what I thought Lady Antebellum was at first
It's a quarter after 1, the piano leg's showing, and I need you now.
Although: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/victorian-table-legs-covering-myth
When I was younger, it was nay because it was a crapshoot if I needed anything during a year. In middle age, it's a yay. Then my wife's work made it a moot point because they gave her a "free" $8k/year HSA as a standard benefit.
I would say yay and had one before my company gave me secondary health insurance that picks up all copays and other things related to dental, vision and health.
My wife was able to get Invisalign and my secondary insurance picked up the whole cost.
I have a vision/dental FSA that I put $750 into and use to pay for my contacts and dental cleanings every year. I have never had a rush to use it at the end of the year. I also have an HSA that I dump about $5K a year into, that pays for medical deductibles etc. My HSA is building up, but since I plan to retire long before I am medicare-eligible, I am OK with that because I will have a need for it then.
How are you able to put 5K into it? I thought annual caps were around 3K?
@she works in banking...@
No idea, Kaiser member.
The cabin is gone.
I got an email with a photo that clearly shows our family cabin burned to the ground. All that's left is the chimney.
Sads.
I'm really sorry you and your family have to go through this. Best of luck rebuilding.
Thanks, Bk97. We may need that luck.
Slug. I am so sorry. The loss of physical things, especially connected with good memories, is tough.
Thanks, SGBear. This is more difficult than I had surmised. But we'll get through it.
Oh I'm so sorry to hear this Fiat.
Thanks, HAG.
I’m sorry to hear that.
Thanks, GoldenSD81.
Man, fuck that noise. I’m sorry to hear it.
You said it! Damn.
Indeed. 2020 can go straight to hell.
It's not a year I would care to repeat, even without this.
Thanks, DCT.
You said it! Damn.
Thanks, wiata78.
Best wishes for your family and for a successful rebuild.
Thanks, clapdoc (cldpc). I'm hoping for the best there, too.
Very sorry to hear this news. Hope you can rebuild.
Thanks, goldenone. I hope we will rebuild, too.
<3
Back atcha, TBB. <3
So sorry to her this. RIP Chez Slug
Thanks, goldenoso.
well that blows, I'm sorry.
Thanks, Rocksanddirt.
:( Very sad news. Really sorry, FS.
Thanks, atoms. I'm hoping that we'll rebuild. Not sure what the future holds.
That sucks. So sorry.
Thanks, dcblue. We're actually luckier than our neighbors on the lane. Our sleephouse survived intact. Our neighbors on the lane have lost everything which is just incomprehensible to me. Very unsure what this means for the future.
What's a sleephouse? Just an extra building with bedrooms?
It is just that.
The Lower (original) cabin started as a 1 room shack in April 1906 (hmmm...why is that date familiar?). Over the years, a kitchen, half bath, a screened eating porch, and the front porch was added.
The Upper Cabin (the sleephouse) was added in 1915. It is two stories: The Basement has a very modest workshop, a bedroom, and a shower room. The 2nd Floor has three bedrooms and a very small half bath. So, four bedrooms, a workshop, a half bath and a shower room.
Go Bears.
It's started! Welcome to FAT BEAR WEEK!
https://twitter.com/KatmaiNPS/status/1309591581473861639
I am hoping for a Holly repeat. It's the most glorious week of the year.
I didn't know about Fat Bear Week but check in on the Katmai bears almost everyday on webcam.
UCB preps students for Spring semester to be online with the potential to have some in-person.
https://www.dailycal.org/2020/09/29/uc-berkeley-to-continue-mostly-remote-instruction-for-spring-2021/
UC system admission scandal widens: 42 non-competitive students admitted to Berkeley over six years
https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2020/09/28/university-california-admissions-scandal-worsens
7 out of how many that apply to Cal every year? Doesn't even seem statistically significant, much less a scandal. And isn't the mission of a public university to uplift and educate those most in need of an education?
those most in need whose parents are significant donors*
If it truly its mission to uplift and educate those most in need, what happens to the child of immigrants whose parents are not able to make big money donations? Are they any less in need?
Those donor parents need to not be embarrassed by where their children go to school.
FET. My mom's friend had 2 girls. The younger was my sister's friend. I don't know where the older one went (at least a few years older than me) but my sister's field went to MIT and did engineering and ended up being a patent lawyer. One of their other friend's kids or grandkids went to Cal and the mom was bad mouthing Cal. Oh, why not a nice private school or whatever. Then the oldest daughter's son applied to many elite schools and didn't get into any of them so he ended up going to Cal. All of a sudden, oh it's such a great school. They're lucky to have him. All that crap.
I agree. This isn’t a scandal.
To be honest, I didn't even know there was a "scandal" so either I will stay out of this topic and educate myself or I will immediately spout an opinion that cannot be changed.
Blum's composition of letters of rec for candidates is probably OK (maybe a bit unseemly since he is a Regent), but shouldn't be used by admissions directly in their decisions. I got four letters of rec from professors for my grad school applications, but in that case there was no indication of improper influence.
Blum's composition of letters of rec for candidates is probably OK
"Blum sent a letter in support of a still-unidentified student to the chancellor after the student was placed on UC Berkeley’s waitlist."
This is not OK
I'd prefer he didn't do it. But on the waitlist though, that's not exactly "non-competitive."
To be honest I am a bit disillusioned by UC's decision to drop the SAT requirement, which enables a statistical component in evaluating candidates from around the state, country, and the world. Without this measure, admissions officers have to rely solely upon grades, which as we all know varies greatly between high schools.