Everything posted by Ghost of LL
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Minneapolis ICE Murder
This is becoming about vastly more than merely the murder of an American citizen by the agents of the United States Government. Let’s pause for a second and reflect on the gravity of what I just typed. But beyond the murder of an American citizen at the hands of the agents of the United States Government, this is becoming a question of the ability of a sovereign state to enforce its own laws within its borders. The State of Minnesota is sovereign, and has the right as the sovereign to promulgate and enforce its own criminal laws. While the United States is the superior sovereign, it does not have the right to vitiate the sovereignty of the State of Minnesota. Unless it does. We’ve had this fight before. We might have to have it again. Minnesota is perfectly within its rights at this moment to detain every ICE agent for questioning in connection with the murder of one of its citizens. And given the federal government’s coverup, it might just have to take that action.
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Connecting at LHR
I’m never going to argue with a night in London. On a trip a few years ago when our children were a bit younger, we planned on taking the overnight train to Fort William. We got all the way to the platform at Kings Cross (or was it Easton?) when a very nice conductor told us that there had been a mudslide that took out the tracks and that passengers for Fort William would get off at Glasgow at 4:00 AM and take a bus to Fort William. Mrs.LL and I looked at one another and said “y’all may be doing that, but we’re not.” We went to the W in SoHo and got a suite and had a helluva night. Got up the next morning, took a train to Glasgow, rented a car, and drove to Oban. Damn, that was a fun night in London—the whole family still talks about how much fun that was. And so I think that’s the way you probably still want to go. If you’re connecting to another UK destination, my understanding is that you still have to clear customs at LHR and then you get spit out landside. So in that instance, you have to clear security again. The no-security connection is strictly for passengers connecting from the United States to other non-UK destinations.
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Tottenham Hotspur 2025-26: For a Few Trophies More
Well, it is with regret and no small amount of angst that I agree that avoiding relegation has to be Priority 1 at this point. We don’t want to have The Best Goddamned Stadium In Championship. But that is where we are as a club. A Big Six hoping just to avoid relegation. This club needs major organizational overhaul.
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Tottenham Hotspur 2025-26: For a Few Trophies More
I mean, ok. But really—what’s the fucking point? We have gone through what? Two managers every season for like three years in a row now? Sure. Let’s fire Frank. And while we’re at it, let’s rearrange some more deck chairs.
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Connecting at LHR
This is completely accurate. Posrep for correct use of the word “penultimate.”
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ICE activity/raids
This is the literal definition of “tyranny.”
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Connecting at LHR
I didn’t see another topic under which this would possibly go, but there is big news this morning as I am connecting at LHR—the Brits have done a deal with TSA so you no longer have to clear security again at Heathrow on flights originating from the United States. Previously, if flying from Austin or any other airport in the United States, you landed at Heathrow, followed the purple signs for “FLIGHT CONNECTIONS” and then had to go through security as though you were getting to the airport for the first time. No more. Now, you just deplane and go straight to your connecting gate as though Heathrow were any other normal connecting airport in the world. Apparently today is the first day for this, and everyone here in London was excited (and a little confused about how it was going to work). I don’t know exactly how it works for everyone—I’m CK on AA, so I had a separate car drive me directly from T3 to T5. But presumably if you arrive at T5, you just get off the plane and go straight to your connecting gate now. Anyhoo—this makes LHR a much more attractive connection point than it has been in the past.
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2026 Midterms ...
Yeah, but no. The president can't "cancel" the midterm elections. I'm not talking about legally or constitutionally. I know Brisket will be on here momentarily to tell me that shit doesn't matter. I mean practically. The federal government doesn't conduct elections. Elections are a state function. And the states are going to have elections. Because irrespective of anything going on in Washington, most state and local offices are up for election in November. Here in Texas, Abbott wants to be reelected. And for that matter, Paxton wants to be elected to the Senate. Those guys have pretty clear personal motivations for holding the election in November. But beyond that, most local offices are up for election in November. And those local governments all have terms set by law--sometimes in the local charter; sometimes in state law. If nobody is elected to that office in November, it just goes vacant. So there'd be nobody on the board of your local MUD; there'd be nobody on your local school board. And because most spending for those bodies has to be approved by the board, things like schools and utilities and emergency services would come to a pretty quick halt. That's not going to happen because Donald fucking Trump thinks he's going to lose Congress. Now, what might happen is . . . as is becoming pretty much the norm . . . the stupidest scenario imaginable. Trump could very well send out a 3:00 AM "Truth" saying "ALL ELECTIONS IN NOVEMBER ARE CANCELED. Thank you for your attention to this matter. DJT." Is that going to have any effect of canceling any actual election? Fuck now. But what it will cause is me telling my MAGAt in-laws "yeah, guys--you don't need to vote in November. Trump canceled the elections. There are no elections. So just stay home." And I suspect I won't be the only mendacious Democrat out there telling the MAGAts not to participate in the "canceled" election.
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The Germany Thread
Well now that we're having that discussion, I went back a page and found the itinerary I posted for a day trip from Munich to see Ludwig's castles. This is easily do-able in a day: Leave Munich by 8:00, and take the Autobahn A-95 south toward Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Exit at the town of Oberau on the B-2 and turn onto the B-23 toward Ettal. On the right side of road at the town of Ettal is the Ettal Monastery, which is worth a short stop. And on the left side of the road is a bakery that is a great stop for a quick breakfast. Just after Ettal you’d turn left toward Schloss Linderhof (https://www.schlosslinderhof.de/englisch/tourist/index.htm). It opens at 10:00 AM, and it’s best to be early to avoid the big crowds. It is built as a tiny version of Versailles, and the real interesting stuff is the grotto and the gardens. The grotto was built for Ludwig to enjoy Wagner’s operas in an immersive environment, and is really very cool. All in, it'll probably take two hours, but definitely not more than three. After Linderhof, you go back out to the road and turn left (i.e., not back in the direction you came), and you get a nice little drive through the Alps and into Austria. Eventually you get to the town of Reutte, where you turn right on Highway 179 toward Fussen. Just before Fussen, you cross back into Germany and then in a couple miles you come to a T intersection. Right takes you to Schloss Neuschwanstein, left takes you into town. Personally, at this point I’d go into town and grab lunch. It’s a cute little Bavarian town with a pretty little pedestrian area in the center. There are a bunch of restaurants around. After that, you can head over to Schloss Neuschwanstein (https://www.neuschwanstein.de/englisch/tourist/). But getting up there is a hike, and the interior is unremarkable. Basically, the Bavarian treasury was emptied before Ludwig could finish it, so there’s not just a whole lot to see inside. It’s definitely worth hiking up to the courtyard and then around to the side where there’s a bridge from which you can get great photos. I’m not sure going inside is a great expenditure of time. From Neuschwanstein, you can look down and see Castle Hohenschwangau, which is the previous royal palace where Ludwig was born. Again—I’m not sure it’s worth going down there. On this last trip, we didn't even walk up. We did a paraglyding thing that gave us great photos over the castle. I would recommend that not only because it was a fucking blast, but because it'll save you time on a day trip with walking up to the castle. Finished with Neuschwanstein, go back out to Highway 17 and turn right. At Steingaden, turn right on Ammergauer Strasse and follow the signs to the Wieskirche (https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/271/). It’s a rococo church in the middle of a meadow (“Wies” is “meadow” in German) that marks a miraculous spring. Even if you’re not a church person, this one is worth a stop. After that, head back to Ammergauer Strasse, take a right, and that will take you right back to Highway 23 (take a right), which goes back to the Autobahn and Munich. On the way, you’re going to pass back through Ettal. I will tell you that the monastery has a brewery (as most monasteries in Germany do). And across the street is the hotel Ludwig der Bayer, which has a very good restaurant with a patio overlooking the monastery, which you may want to stop at for a snack and a beer or for dinner, depending on the hour. Now--all that being said, if you wanted to take your flex day between Regensberg and Munich and spend it in Nuremberg or Rothenburg o.d. Tauber, I don't think anybody would find fault with that.
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The Germany Thread
We did a similar trip last summer with two kids (then 15 and 13) and had a blast. Munich (Hotel Vier Jareszeiten Kempinski) City sightseeing for a couple days Dachau Then we rented a car and drove down to Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Gasthof Frauendorfer). Now I'm going to tell you--if I had to do that over again, I think I'd stay in Fussen or Mittenwald. Garmisch is better placed for the Zugspitze--and you should definitely go to the top of the Zugspitze--but Fussen is better placed for Ludwig's castles. The thing about Garmisch is that it was the base for all the American troops in the area, and there just aren't any American troops left in the area. So it has a bit of a feel of a town that is near a closed Army base. That being said, everyone speaks English there in case you don't speak a lick of German. King Ludwig's castles (I have a whole post on that itinerary earlier in this thread) Zugspitze--pro tip: rent climbing gear in town so that you can clip in and go up to the summit 1936 Olympic Stadium Summer alpine sled next to the Olympic Stadium (note--that thing will absolutely fly off the tracks if you don't use the brake (don't ask me how I know)) Paraglyding over Schloss Neuschwanstein From Garmish-Partenkirchen, we drove down to Laengenfeld in the Oteztal Valley and stayed at the Aqua Dome. That was super fun. Think of it as a Great Wolf Lodge meets Austrian thermal spa. So there are a couple water slides for the kids. A full spa for the grownups (i.e., anybody over 16). And in the area, there's a lot of hiking, whitewater rafting, canyoning, mountain biking, and other outdoor activities. We loved it. After that, we drove to Salzburg (Hotel Sacher) Fraulein Maria's Sound of Music bike tour--note that you should be reasonably comfortable on a bike. Walk around the city and go up to the fortress The water gardens--i.e., gardens with water features that shoot water at you--at Schloss Hellbrunn are fun Siftskeller St. Peter is a very good restaurant and claims to be the oldest in the world, with it first mentioned in any historical record in 803 when Charlemagne ate there. Then we took the train to Vienna (Hotel Imperial). Now I'm going to tell you something about Vienna: this was low-key Mrs.LL's request. But I was blown away by Vienna. It's an imperial capital like London or Paris. And whereas you get good Indian food in London or a North African vibe at times in Paris because of their old empires, the former Austrian empire was Southeastern Europe. What the British would call the "Near East." So it has a bit of that "oriential" feel to it while still being a Western European capital. The Capuchin Crypt where all the Hapsburgs are buried The Imperial Treasury, which has the crown of the Holy Roman Emperor dating to 963, one of the holy lances, and a piece of the underwear of John the Baptist (which my daughter really loved) The Army Museum, which has the car Franz Ferdinand was riding in when he was shot, along with his bloodstained uniform Charlottenberg Palace--kind of an Austrian Versailles Plenty of little cafes where you can sit and have a coffee or an Aperol spritz and just watch the city walk by Anyway--happy to answer any question about any or all of these stops or any vendors.
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Greenland
My suspicion about what's going to happen is that it's going to be the stupidest thing imaginable. Because that's what makes the most sense with this Administration. Trump is just going to announce one night on his social media that the United States has annexed Greenland. And that's it. Probably not even an executive order or anything that formal. Certainly no act of Congress. Just a stupid 3:00 AM "Truth." And then it'll be the "Gulf of America" all over again. Idiots in this country will start saying Greenland is part of the United States. The rest of the world will look at us like we're a bunch of morons. Google Maps will put "(Disputed)" underneath "Greenland." And on the ice shelf itself, nothing really changes. There will be American troops there because there are always American troops there. The United States has a treaty right to have as many bases as it wants in Greenland. And the Trump Administration won't ever appoint a viceroy or a commissar or director general or whatever, because that would indicate planning and organization--two things this Administration definitely does not do. And then in three years, a Democrat is going to be elected president. The entire "we own Greenland" thing will be quietly forgotten (after an appropriately circumspect ambassador in Copenhagen quietly apologizes to His Danish Majesty and his government). In 20 years, we'll be at a bar somewhere and overhear someone say, "remember that time we annexed Greenland?" So fucking stupid.
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The Italy Thread
What time of year are you looking? And how old are the kids? Summer in Venice with little kids sounds miserable. At the risk of turning this into the Austria thread, I would sub Vienna for Venice if you're in the Summer. We did a similar itinerary this past summer (added a few days in the Tyrol to do white-water rafting and canyoning and such because the kids are older) and had a blast.
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Greenland - Tassa Eller Asu !!!!
If we wanted to have a serious discussion, I could see some real benefit to extending American sovereignty over Greenland both from an economic and a national-security perspective. But the way you go about it is by making a cautious diplomatic approach focused on a purchase price and guarantees that the rights of the inhabitants will be respected. Running around threatening an invasion is just a shortcut to getting us kicked out of Thule AFB.
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Hegseth & the Boys
I know that historically an officer could demand a court martial to clear his name under circumstances like this. I don't know if the current UCMJ still has a procedure for that, but if it does I wouldn't be shocked if Kelly pursued that.
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Things Not Going Well in Venezuela, 2.0
This is the politics page, after all, and the politics are bad for this Administration. It did nothing to build any public support for this. And there is none. So Democrats will be in attack mode. And generally their attacks are going to be consistent with the misgivings of a majority of Americans, who are a people since Vietnam who are typically pretty skeptical of foreign adventurism (though they typically come around to it after the government makes a case). Republicans have none of their personal credibility wrapped up in this. No Republican in Congress voted for this. They’re free to point that out. And they will. If this goes south, Ted Cruz will absolutely use this to attack JD Vance. MTG will attack Marco Rubio. Contrast that with the Iraq invasion. John Kerry and Hillary Clinton voted for that shit. So in 2004, they couldn’t credibly attack Bush in the issue. In the meantime, the Republicans stayed unified on it until well after it became a serious political problem. Look—I’m not give you any nonsense about the Constitution. Save that for the DT. There’s a real political reason you inform Congress and get just a little buy-in. But these people are too stupid to understand that.
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Things Not Going Well in Venezuela, 2.0
Honest question: what in our long history of foreign adventurism gives you any reason to think it’s even conceivable that we will do this right and not “pull an Iraq?”
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Things Not Going Well in Venezuela, 2.0
The apparent “plan” that we’re going to send a bunch of Chevron engineers into the most lawless and dangerous country on Earth without any immediate security measures is honestly pretty funny in its complete stupidity.
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Things Not Going Well in Venezuela, 2.0
So if we’re just going to go in and steal Venezuela’s oil, the price of oil will presumably drop pretty significantly. That’ll be fun to see the reaction among all the Trumpublicans in West Texas who’ve gotten fat and happy off their royalty checks.
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Things not going well in Venezuela
Wait—so now we’re going to “run” Venezuela? Like occupy it? …or is that to say that we have no fucking plan.
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Things not going well in Venezuela
Is Kegseth going to just go ahead, pull out his little peen, and start stroking it right there at the lectern?
- 2026 Holiday Bowl - SMU vs. Arizona
- 2026 Holiday Bowl - SMU vs. Arizona
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African Safari
That's a really hard question. It really depends on what your priorities are and how energetic you are. We had five days at the Angama Mara in the Maasai Mara. I might have liked an extra couple days--one to find a damned cheetah and another just to sit out on the deck and watch the valley floor from the Lodge with a cocktail in hand. The latter would've been really nice to have, because that travel is a butt-kicker. And then there's the other non-safari activities you might be interested in. Most of the lodges are going to have available some sort of cultural activity touring a local village or something like that. It's worth the time. In October, the Great Migration will be in the Maasai Mara; by November the wildebeest will have moved back down into the Serengeti. If that fits into your plans, I would say that you'd want a couple days following the wildebeest herd on top of your five or six days looking for other animals. Between the Serengeti and the Maasai Mara, I think we had in the neighborhood of seven days on safari. That's maybe about right. But if you wanted to do more, it's not like you were going to get bored. If you've been there a few days and you haven't seen something, you tell your guide and they're going to track it down for you.
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African Safari
I am more of a city guy when I travel--I'd much rather go to San Francisco than Yosemite or to Edinburgh than Cairngorns--but our African safari was one of my family's favorite trips. I'd put Kenya over Tanzania. It depends somewhat on what time of year you're going and where the wildebeest are on the Great Migration. But even so--I think we all preferred the Maasai Mara to Serengeti NP. But my preference for that may also have been from the property at which we stayed--the Angama Mara is one of the best properties I've ever stayed at. Zambia didn't have quite the wildlife variety on offer. But Victoria Falls way exceeded my expectations. For budgeting purposes, you should expect to spend $1,000 to $1,500 per person per day. That's generally going to cover all of your lodging, food, drinks, and wildlife fun. That is, however, exclusive of gratuities. That's a lot of coin. But at the same time, it's probably not outrageously greater than what you're going to spend in London or New York and doing the stuff you'd want to do in those cities. As I noted upthread, an African safari is unique in that it is something you almost always use a travel agent for. I booked most of the shit myself before I really figured that out. But there was one lodge we booked (and ended up really loving)--the Thorntree River Lodge in Zambia--that could only be booked through a travel agent. It's website wouldn't let you book directly. That's really weird, but there you have it.
- 2026 CFP Quarterfinals Rose Bowl - #1 Indiana vs. #9 Alabama