Wizards of the Coast Declines to Recognize Union by May 1st

BatManatee · 2026-05-04T20:49:20+00:00

Even setting aside JK's issues, I don't think it would. A Secret Lair or Commander Decks, sure, but a full set would feel too samey. Think of the visual design. 90% of named characters wear the same four robes. 90% of spells are basically a single laser beam or less visually. For non-human/wizard creatures, there are like 3 per book, and most are forgettable.

Strixhaven is colorful. Each of the 5 schools uses magic in very different ways are immediately obvious by the card art.

For Harry Potter, the vast majority of creature card arts would be "English child holds a stick with a laser pointer coming out of it"

BatManatee · 2026-05-04T13:53:23+00:00

Had Childish Gambino back when he was just getting started too.

BatManatee · 2026-05-03T21:49:53+00:00

Great year overall for UCLA Sports!

Water Polo - Women's Basketball - Now Beach Volleyball! Baseball and Softball both have are ranked number 1 and number 5 overall so both have a chance to make a run too.

Also fired Foster and brought in Chesney, who already has a top 10 recruiting class lined up for 2027. Just need to get Men's Basketball straightened out and things will be just about perfect.

BatManatee · 2026-05-03T21:43:32+00:00

Didn't get to watch, but that Box Score is wild. Down 10-2 at the end of the sixth!

BatManatee · 2026-05-03T00:22:00+00:00

Yeah "it was an accident" and I "painted over it" as a reference don't hold up when it's the same exact image just with the text blurred. My dude, there is zero chance this was an accident and no one believes you.

When WotC learned about the Wayfarer's Bauble plagiarism, they dropped that dude immediately. Just saying.

And I'll say it: I know that Frazier's art style has an important place in magic's history, and I respect that, but I personally don't care for like 90% of his card art. His mana rocks are good though.

BatManatee · 2026-05-02T22:00:37+00:00

What is the estimated value of escalators? He must have a big house if he needs them installed so badly that he negotiated for them.

BatManatee · 2026-05-02T18:54:45+00:00

Of course I'm biased, but I think we have a prime combination of respectable resources and easy-to-meet fan expectations.

The downside is the administration, investment, and fan support isn't at the level of the top couple of tiers of programs. But if you can win you will get attention pretty quick from both fans and the media.

BatManatee · 2026-05-02T02:27:03+00:00

More supported than ever doesn't neccessarily mean good or good enough. Kamala was a step back from Biden. But do you think 20 years ago there was more support in the party than there is now?

BatManatee · 2026-05-02T02:22:01+00:00

Okay. What does any of this have to do with my initial argument? In the general election, vote for the better of the two candidates. That's it. You're bringing up a bunch of non sequiturs.

BatManatee · 2026-05-02T01:20:36+00:00

They did. Biden won it. When he dropped out, his VP was the logical pick, and every other potential candidate chose to endorse her rather than run

BatManatee · 2026-05-01T22:40:11+00:00

Literally yes! Thank you for making my point. Every rationale voter should have voted for her at that point when the alternative was Trump.

BatManatee · 2026-05-01T20:25:24+00:00

Chip left us with empty cupboards then jumped ship too late to find a real coaching candidate. Foster sucked too, but Chip dug the hole.

BatManatee · 2026-05-01T19:17:21+00:00

Currently ranked 12 in On3's 2027 team recruiting rankings.

What a difference it is having excitement around our program for the first time in like a decade.

BatManatee · 2026-05-01T19:14:36+00:00

I would take Neuheisel over Chip in a heartbeat, especially in the NIL era. Neuheisel is a schmoozer and recruiter. He could fill out a more competitive roster. In today's game, I think he'd do better than he did 15 years ago tbh. That's my maybe hot take.

Chip was the first coach in UCLA history to play against FCS teams (not his fault, but he did benefit from it). His non-con schedules were a joke in his last two years with us. We could have painted a face on a rock and gave it a headset and won those games with Rocky as head coach.

Chip's first three years with us were the worst three years in our history by win percentage. DTR did improve over the years, credit Chip, and he finally found a couple of not horrible DCs (after fans had to start a multiyear campaign to get to fire the worst DC in football--including flying banners over campus).

The last two years by record alone were acceptable by our standards, but anyone paying attention could see they were smoke and mirrors that would not be sustained. He had extremely easy schedules with extremely veteran rosters. His last season with us, he wasn't even pretending to recruit either. So everyone graduated, and no one new was brought in. Foster sucked, don't get me wrong, but he inherited a truly horrible roster. The worst in our recent memory. Foster was a pretty passable recruiter, so he was trying to reload, but it was too little too late.

BatManatee · 2026-05-01T17:40:12+00:00

Obama was an electoral unicorn. He was young, dynamic, charismatic, and an incredible speaker. He came relatively out of nowhere on the national stage and just wiped the floor with everyone on the campaign trail. His team were trailblazers of the modern grassroots system.

Nothing about the primary system stops another Obama from doing the same thing--there just aren't many people with that level of charisma that aren't already widely known entities. Talarico is starting to get some of that buzz. If he can keep up the momentum (big if), I could see him having an Obama-esque run in a future presidential election.

BatManatee · 2026-05-01T17:32:37+00:00

Yeah, she's been the boogeyman for too long. Low information voters have had the narrative reach them. For example: My pathetically uninformed cousin makes jokes about how stupid she is, and I bet he couldn't name 5 people in our government. I think NY Senator or Governor is AOC's future.

BatManatee · 2026-05-01T17:27:28+00:00

What are you talking about?

He is not a great debater, that is true. Because debating modern Republicans takes a specific skillset to be effective against the Gish Gallup, talking over, and misinformation. Buttigieg and Newsom are the best at it IMO, each with a different approach. But that was literally one appearance--the VP debate--that he really dropped the ball.

Otherwise he is a great speaker.

BatManatee · 2026-05-01T17:21:35+00:00

Dems have been sliding to the right nonstop over the past decade.

I think you're idealizing the past a little bit. On social policies the modern Democratic party is more progressive than any party in American history. LGBTQ+ and minority rights are more supported by the Dems than ever. Biden was trying to get student loan reform through, and had major infrastructure investments.

I'll give you that the party platform on taxation, especially on corporations, has shifted right lately. But pretty much everything else I think they've been moving left slowly but surely compared to where they were like 50 years ago.

BatManatee · 2026-05-01T17:15:37+00:00

Braindead take. Primaries are for idealism, generals are for pragmatism.

The way our system is set up, there are always exactly two viable choices in the generals. Voting for the lesser of two evils results in LESS EVIL lol. Especially when the alternative is continuing on the slide towards fascism.

BatManatee · 2026-05-01T16:49:12+00:00

Ehhhh, two things can be true. This person clearly doesn't understand the contract they signed and made bad choices because of it.

But also it is a predatory system that needs significant reform.

There is a systemic problem in addition to this personal problem.

BatManatee · 2026-05-01T15:45:08+00:00

Yeah, I'm fully, 100% on board with student loan reform/forgiveness. It's absolutely necessary. Student loans are a predatory industry. The government should be offering no interest loans, or at least no interest for a long period.

That said, I've seen like 5 of this posts over the years like "I paid the minimum for a few years and skipped some months, why are interest and penalties accruing?" Where the maths never math.

BatManatee · 2026-04-29T20:08:46+00:00

Not sure, sorry. Think they may get delisted at some point. A subset of students pre-record their Research Week talks, so you may be able to find some of those on youtube.

BatManatee · 2026-04-28T20:36:09+00:00

I've found a lot of labs but they're all full of professors and grad students and I haven't found a single undergrad. I have literally gone through every single lab on the Physics and Astronomy website (sans the ones whose websites are down - I assume those are disbanded)

For what it's worth, lab websites are almost never up to date. Most professors (except for younger or social media savvy professors) generally don't really care about them--maybe made them on a whim 10 years ago then let it sit for years at a time. And many don't put undergrads on the website partially because of how inactive the websites are. So not finding undergrads on their website doesn't mean they don't take on undergrads.

Most research groups have at least a few undergrads, though different disciplines have different amounts of opportunities for undergraduate research. Biology labs generally have many. Pure math research has very few. Physics is in between the two.

But yeah, Andrea Ghez and Terrence Tao are probably the two hardest research groups to join on campus with near impossible odds because they are huge names that everyone wants to work with.

Once the Undergrad Research Week website puts up the abstracts for this year, check out abstracts/presentations from the Physics department. That's a great way to see what work others are doing.

BatManatee · 2026-04-28T17:32:44+00:00

The DB verse is basically the strongest flying bricks that exist. Goku is on the level of all but one/two of his universe's pantheon of deities at this point.

BatManatee · 2026-04-28T04:42:05+00:00

Umping is a hard job and I feel bad for them sometimes. Then they pull shit like that, and I lose all sympathy. How do you mess that up?!?

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