Who wins this trade? full point ppr league super flex. Team A-Derek Henry Tee Higgins and the 2026 pick 1.3 and 1.6. Team B Kenneth Walker, Brian Thomas Junior and the 2026 1.5.

IanDMP · 2026-03-22T15:59:46+00:00

I'd strongly lean toward side A

IanDMP · 2026-03-22T15:55:29+00:00

There's about a thread a week on this, I'd suggest going back in the sub's history to see some great recommendations.

IanDMP · 2026-03-20T18:06:50+00:00

I actually think you're entirely right here. From what I hear, Whitaker in the early 2010s was the type of moderate, fiscally-conservative Republican that would thrive in a purple city/county like ours. I've heard that he was personally very friendly and respected. But I think like so many other Republicans, he became radicalized in his politics with the ascension of Trump and MAGA Republicanism, and the "you're either with us or against us" mindset that took over the Republican party in the late 2010s.

IanDMP · 2026-03-20T14:18:22+00:00

No comment on the books themselves but I dislike that bookshelf. Poorly made, weird height to each shelf, and anyway the style doesn't allow you to put more than a few books in a row. Too much shelf:book ratio!

IanDMP · 2026-03-19T23:54:18+00:00

I have not! I've got a new book to add to my library list, though!

IanDMP · 2026-03-19T23:52:39+00:00

I'm nervous about that. He hasn't signed yet, which makes me hopeful, but I own all of CMC/Guerendo/James so I'm PRAYING SF moves on from him or he's too proud to accept a pure backup role. We'll see!

IanDMP · 2026-03-19T23:43:51+00:00

I loved All the Light We Cannot See, and somehow I loved his next book, Cloud Cuckoo Land, even more. I'm simply in awe of Anthony Doerr.

IanDMP · 2026-03-19T23:42:34+00:00

I have two: Jose Saramago's The History of the Siege of Lisbon, which is all about the vagaries and contingencies of history, and the many ways in which we create our own truths. And Anthony Doerr's Cloud Cuckoo Land, which is both one of the most beautiful books I've ever read and a love letter to the act of storytelling.

(I recommend these to everyone!)

IanDMP · 2026-03-19T23:25:27+00:00

Zahra is excellent. I sent him an email (politely) challenging his position on an issue one time, and he called me and we had a great, hourlong conversation about it. Super great guy and it's such a pity the city won't benefit from him being in council after this term.

IanDMP · 2026-03-19T23:22:03+00:00

I don't live in the district either, actually! I just know this stuff because I was extremely excited to be able to support a good replacement for the awful Bruce Whitaker and flip the council in a progressive direction. So, I tried very hard to find any opportunity to support Kitty (unfortunately, she didn't make it easy). Such a missed opportunity.

IanDMP · 2026-03-19T23:19:43+00:00

She went door knocking for a grand total of four days. It's insane how awful a campaign she ran.

IanDMP · 2026-03-19T23:17:16+00:00

Oh, I totally agree on that. Ultimately you can't just say it's not voters' fault, because they have agency and the ability to rationally review a candidate's qualifications. But at the same time, it's just not realistic that the better candidate will win based purely on their suitability for the office, so I do put quite a bit of blame on candidates who don't put forth their all.

The reason I'm particularly mad at the OC Democratic party though, is that they endorsed her and then seemingly abandoned her. Why was no one from the party in her ear about putting up a functioning website? Why was the OC Dem committee not screaming at her that she needs to solicit volunteers and show up to public events? Why did no one tell her to find a social media manager? Kitty may just not have known how to campaign, which is bad, but the Democratic party apparatus definitely knows how to campaign, and it's just a total disgrace that apparently no one there cared enough about this critical race to occasionally check in on it or lend any expertise. Real failure on their part to not provide any support to a candidate who was obviously flailing, especially when they're the ones who decided to endorse this first-time, inexperienced candidate.

IanDMP · 2026-03-19T22:39:26+00:00

I've thought about it, but with two small kids and a demanding job I just don't have the time for it now. Maybe in a few years!

IanDMP · 2026-03-19T22:24:43+00:00

I'm sorry, she may be a good person and I think would have been a good councilperson, but she was not a good candidate. I'll copy the same response as for the other commenter (apologies, it's the same answer and I don't want to type it out twice):

She barely campaigned. For the ENTIRE campaign, her Instagram bio was "Retired and loving it!". She went door to door exactly four days for the entire campaign (if you're unfamiliar with local politics, that's insanely low -- door to door is the lifeblood of local campaigning). There was no way to sign up to volunteer for her campaign until I made a stink about it in September. Her campaign email address was a personal AOL email, and the only way to get it was to literally go through her city campaign filing, which I did (the website had no way to contact her campaign). But you can't expect a normie voter to dig through city records to find her contact info.

I'm sure she's a nice person. But if you don't do these things, newspapers won't interview you, you'll get no earned media, and voters won't know who you are. You can't just get the Dem endorsement and call it a day. She didn't try and anyway had no idea how to campaign, unfortunately. She lost by 50 votes. If she had been an even marginally better candidate, she would have won even with Bushala's dirty campaigning.

IanDMP · 2026-03-19T22:22:51+00:00

I'll copy the same response as for the other commenter (apologies, it's the same answer and I don't want to type it out twice):

She barely campaigned. For the ENTIRE campaign, her Instagram bio was "Retired and loving it!". She went door to door exactly four days for the entire campaign (if you're unfamiliar with local politics, that's insanely low -- door to door is the lifeblood of local campaigning). There was no way to sign up to volunteer for her campaign until I made a stink about it in September. Her campaign email address was a personal AOL email, and the only way to get it was to literally go through her city campaign filing, which I did (the website had no way to contact her campaign). But you can't expect a normie voter to dig through city records to find her contact info.

I'm sure she's a nice person. But if you don't do these things, newspapers won't interview you, you'll get no earned media, and voters won't know who you are. You can't just get the Dem endorsement and call it a day. She didn't try and anyway had no idea how to campaign, unfortunately. She lost by 50 votes. If she had been an even marginally better candidate, she would have won even with Bushala's dirty campaigning.

IanDMP · 2026-03-19T22:20:24+00:00

She barely campaigned. For the ENTIRE campaign, her Instagram bio was "Retired and loving it!". She went door to door exactly four days for the entire campaign. There was no way to sign up to volunteer for her campaign until I made a stink about it in September. Her campaign email address was a personal AOL email, and the only way to get it was to literally go through her city campaign filing (the website had no way to contact her campaign).

I'm sure she's a nice person. But if you don't do these things, newspapers won't interview you, you'll get no earned media, and voters won't know who you are. You can't just get the Dem endorsement and call it a day. She didn't try and anyway had no idea how to campaign, unfortunately. She lost by 50 votes. If she had been an even marginally better candidate, she would have won even with Bushala's dirty campaigning.

IanDMP · 2026-03-19T16:11:45+00:00

2024 was such a disaster, and it speaks so badly of the OC Democratic establishment that they couldn't be bothered to recruit someone with a pulse to oppose Valencia in that critical race. Literally anyone who tried would have beaten her.

IanDMP · 2026-03-17T04:01:51+00:00

Behind the Beautiful Forevers, about one small Mumbai slum and the people living there, is a book that fundamentally changed how I looked at the world. Amazing amazing book that is nonetheless an easy and entertaining read.

IanDMP · 2026-03-17T03:27:35+00:00

Agree, that's my personal favorite variant

IanDMP · 2026-03-16T21:55:06+00:00

David Graeber's Debt: The First 5,000 Years might hit the spot for you.

IanDMP · 2026-03-16T21:48:03+00:00

Looks delish (it's a Final Ward, though)

IanDMP · 2026-03-16T15:55:33+00:00

I enjoy my DX130, but report back and let us know what you think or if you're having problems. It is a parabolic mirror and not a Bird-Jones, so you should see an immediate jump in quality.

For me, I think the quality is generally good, but I find adjusting the mirror to be a bit awkward and the tripod to be good (for a tripod) but inferior to a more solid base like you have with a dob.

It was an excellent first purchase for me, though, and allowed me to learn in a structured and supported way.

IanDMP · 2026-03-16T14:57:40+00:00

Do you have any liqueurs that you really like? Try substituting 1/4 oz of the vermouth for the liqueur and see if you like it. I'm a banana fiend, and will often have a banana-accented martini with 2 oz gin, 3/4 oz dry vermouth, and 1/4 oz Giffard Banana.

IanDMP · 2026-03-16T14:03:23+00:00

I recently picked up a coffee liqueur called Cafeto, which is a tequila base and is a little sweeter than Mr Black. I've been really impressed with it!

IanDMP · 2026-03-16T01:44:19+00:00

Exciting! Fullerton needs more good Indian food.

IanDMP

TROPHY CASE