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DanRydell

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Posts posted by DanRydell

  1. 12 hours ago, Texas Jeff said:

    Which would be a more morally correct way to spend $2 billion in Austin?

    A 1.5 mile tunnel so that trains and buses don't have to mix with cars for 1.5 miles...

    ... or invest about $100,000 per AISD high schooler to completely modernize or rebuild ALL of our high schools and make them the best schools in the area?
    ... I'm talking $280 million for Bowie, $240 million for Austin High, $290 million for Akins, and so on.  Every high school kid in the district massively benefits.

    Now, the tax bases are not the same, some RRISD and other ISDs are in the Austin city tax base, but the tunnel we are talking about here is going to benefit one small area.

    It would be a lot cheaper to just kick cars off of the 1.5 miles and make it transit only ... and spend the money to transform the lives of the next generation.  Give them the education they need to get some of the tech jobs coming to our town.

    The sources of that $2 billion are city property taxes, CapMetro funds, and federal transportation funds, none of which are allowed to be spent on AISD schools.

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  2. Well, really, the only narrative that should be controlled is the one in the courtroom and court rules are set up, imperfectly, to try to minimize the influence of publicity.  As far as courtroom results, I think "trying your case in the press" benefits defendants more than plaintiffs or prosecutions.
    In this particular case, I think it's the NY AG aggrandizing herself.  But I am a walk softly and carry a big stick type.
    Also, I think it may be borderline unethical to file and publicize a lawsuit in order to obtain something you can't obtain in the lawsuit.  Which is not the case here, but if one were thinking along the lines of using a lawsuit and attendant publicity/narrative to obtain an extrajudicial result only.

    It’s an elected office. Self-aggrandizing is part of the gig.
  3. I don't believe a non-profit whistleblower must also be the President of the organization.  What would be the purpose of such such a policy?
    Non-profit misuse of funds is rampant in the US. Selective enforcement remains unconstitutional under Equal Protection analysis. 

    Is that dumbass shit really your response? Christ I’d forgotten what an insufferable shit you are.
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  4. Selective enforcement is a violation of the equal protection clause of the Constitution. Are similarly situated organizations treated the same or is this punishment for free speech? 
    I have no use for many so-called non-profits. I own weapons. Never been a member of the NRA. Don't hunt. 12 gauge and varmint revolver owner. NRA living or dying does not affect me.
    Punishing free speech is not copacetic to me, but your mileage may vary - which is your free speech and something I would protect as well. 
    The NRA was a money making machine. They are not alone in that distinction among "non-profits." They all need to "do better."

    I’m not aware of any other non-profits whose President blew the whistle on them like this so unless you are then no, there aren’t any similarly situated organizations to single them out from.
    • Haha 1
  5. 4 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

    I think it's symbolic only.  Which basically means theatrical, ie grandstanding.

    NRA can just incorporate somewhere else.

    Pursuing the individuals and the tax exemption (at least for NY state purposes) is far more meaningful.

     

  6. 21 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

    You're smiling? As far as I can tell, this is about the worst thing the Democrats could have possibly fucking done right now. It will be spun as an attack on your guns, it will galvanize a bunch of Rs who might have been willing to sit it out, and it's going to be framed as a direct attack on YOUR RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS AND OWN GUNS. 

    Democrats can't stop shooting themselves in the dick.

     

    You think gun voters were going to otherwise sit this one out?

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  7. On 7/18/2020 at 7:32 AM, Judge Roybeanbag said:

    Not sure if you’re in Austin but we had ours done last year, ugly oak repainted white.  Was about $2k for the kitchen, utility room and office nook, and also the bannisters on the stairs. They took off the doors and drawer faces and did them at their shop and then reinstalled them.  For reference that was like 30 cabinet doors (individual) and 10 drawers or so. 

    Who'd you use?

  8. I'll say it again for those who didn't watch the RW Portland. Nia flat out assaults Averey with a hair dryer hitting her repeatedly in the head. Averey and Johnny Reilly moved into a hotel for the rest of the season because they didn't feel safe in the RW house and production wouldn't do anything to Nia. Anyone focusing on Jordan's behaviour in Portland either hasn't seen the season, is a racist, or is an idiot. While I understand anyone who thinks Jordan's a dick, this is some cherry-picked narrative BS.

    Jordan’s behavior is being “focused on” because he’s the one still affiliated with MTV. The last time Nia was on was over five years ago when she was being sent home early from The Challenge for hitting Jordan.
  9. BS, sounds like a study meant to have a preconceived outcome.  We have a school choice program here in our county, and it puts kids in every top school in the nation.

    Shit, I didn’t know you had an anecdote! Never mind, disregard those four large scale studies!
    • Haha 2
  10. 16 hours ago, Go Pokes said:

    She was 7 when Vancouver got their NBA franchise.  She loved basketball.  Big Country was the first draft choice in their history.  Big Country is an awesome nickname.  Big Country is a unique looking individual who was hopefully going to be the cornerstone of the franchise.   I can see how all that would be attractive to a 7 year old.  

    He's also probably the second best Vancouver Grizzlies player ever after Shareef Abdur-Rahim

  11. They attached this drivers license to authenticate Zion's signature on the agreement.

    Just a few problems with it.

    1. South Carolina gives vertical driver's licenses for people under 21

    2. Even for a horizontal license, South Carolina stopped using this design before this date of issuance when they switched to a REAL ID compliant license.

    3. It has Nikki Haley's signature but she wasn't governor on the date of issuance

    4. It lists his weight as 6'06 and his height as 284 

    5. They forgot to bold the "E" at the end of license

    Zion DL.jpg

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  12. Now that the term is over, it's that fabulous time of year where the ScotusBlog twitter account replied to all the morons who angry tweeted at them thinking it was the Supreme Court's twitter account.

    • Haha 1
  13. On 7/1/2020 at 6:28 AM, WBT said:

    Happy sportswriters don't understand the time value of money day

    Are you taking the position that a guaranteed 8% rate of return for 35 years isn't a great deal for Bonilla?

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  14. 10 hours ago, Pimphand said:

    Also that.... TX is the only state that ain't give a shit about workers. I think it was on the ballot up in OK to possibly follow suit

    If the injury was in any way the fault of your employer (or coworkers) (and as long as you've got access to health care and can cover your bills while out of work), you're better off long-term without WC because you can get better health care than the shitty WC doctors, you can get all of your lost wages rather than just 80%, and you can get pain and suffering, disfigurement, etc.

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  15. 36 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

    When are we getting the Trump tax returns ruling? Today at 4:59pm?

     

    Next week. Unless an emergency stay or something, opinions always drop at 10am ET. So far they've added July 6 to the calendar as an opinion day. They'll likely add the 7th and/or 9th to that.

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  16. 4 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

    This is a First Amendment case.  Not a TItle VII case.  I suppose one could leak into another, but they are doctrinally separate.

    I don't see this as a particularly controversial ruling.  The fact that Blaine Amendments stayed on the books for a century is remarkable.

    The first question, and the bigger one, is why are state governments giving money to private schools, at all?  Once you answer that question satisfactorily, forbidding it from sectarian schools is pretty obviously based only on hatred or dislike of religiously affiliated organizations.

    The biggest legal problem I see is that because this is discrimination or unequal treatment based on religion, and implicates the First Amendment, strict scrutiny applies.  Which means the rule is constitutional only if the state can advance a compelling interest behind the rule.  Well, the statutes were clearly enacted specifically to deprive Catholic schools from funding, which is exactly NOT a compelling state interest, but in fact an unlawful one.  Did it somehow become compelling over the last century?  I mean, I'm all for discrimination against certain types of evangelicals, but I don't think it's good government policy.

    I certainly don't dispute that most, if not all, Blaine Amendments arose out of anti-Catholic sentiment. But one doesn't have to have a hatred or dislike of religiously affiliated organizations to think they shouldn't receive public money. That's fucking nonsense. Separation of church and state is intended to protect the independence of churches as much, if not moreso, than protecting the state from religious influence.

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  17. Quote

    Black voters, on average, wait 45 minutes longer to vote than white voters; Latino voters wait 46 minutes longer. One study, from the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, found that black and Latino voters in Florida were more than two times as likely to have their mail-in ballots rejected as white voters—because of a mix of voter error and how the state processes ballots.

    https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/06/voter-suppression-novembers-looming-election-crisis/613408/

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