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Ghost of LL

Certifiably Surly
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Everything posted by Ghost of LL

  1. Ok--exactly what constitutional concerns? Seriously, I want a legal cite to the section of the Constitution that could even arguably be violated. Hint: there isn't one.
  2. In the earlier bits of the Revolution, there was a brief time during which there were real proposals for the George III to retain sovereignty over the Colonies while restricting Parliament's authority. The proposal was about 90 years ahead of its time--it was essentially the formula that was followed with the 1867 North America Act that created the Dominion of Canada. Anyway, I think of that frequently these days as we repeatedly demonstrate the superiority of the parliamentary form of government. And really, it's never to late to admit a mistake. Rescind the Declaration of Independence, and have the Republicans notify the King that they cannot form a government so that he can dissolve Congress and call a general election.
  3. It really is virtually impossible to convert office space to residential, for a number of reasons. I mean, look around your office, and you'll probably notice a few. In your home, you want pretty much every room to have natural light. But an office building of any size has massive amounts of interior space. So unless you've got an odd sized or shaped office building, you're going to have to pretty much sell off an entire floor or half a floor to an individual apartment. And then there are practicalities. Offices aren't built with the types of firebreaks you need for residential construction. The elevator banks and staircases are typically in a spot that isn't ideal (or even practical) for residential. And they don't have water connections sufficient to support a residential use.
  4. Wow—there were clutch moments throughout that game. They’re still shitty, tho.
  5. It’s unreal that we have played only one home game, and we’re still undefeated in the postseason.
  6. That’s been a strike for Verlander all night.
  7. So I was driving home from Fort Worth a couple weeks ago down I-35W, and I see this billboard: And I honestly thought, "wait--I can get a drag show on my next flight to Vegas? That sounds awesome!" But then I realized it's an anti-Southwest group, and I have so many questions. Like why are you putting up a billboard in southern Tarrant County, of all places? Nobody from southern Tarrant County is driving over to DAL to fly Southwest, irrespective of the culture-war nonsense. And how much did American Airlines pay to front this stupid group? And seriously--why isn't there an airline that will do a drag show on a flight to Vegas?
  8. It tells me that I very much want Gym Jordan to become Speaker.
  9. First, have we established it's a real story yet? Because we've now seen it across multiple platforms. And as pointed out before, it is consistent with previous Israeli practice. Which brings us to . . . Second, I don't even know what you're talking about. Who said anybody needs to be perfect? I simply observed that arbitrarily bulldozing private property without due process of law is tyrannical. And if the government were to do that to virtually any American, he would rightly regard that as justification to revolt against the tyrannical government.
  10. I mean, with all due respect, fuck you. It's like you expect my son to go to the public golf course to learn the game. And that's ridiculous. Apart from being overcrowded . . . and let's be honest--overcrowded with the wrong kind of people (wink, wink) . . . the public course is poorly maintained and has inadequate facilities. And (Vengeful Republican) God knows that the best golf instructors won't work at the public course. My son needs to learn the game at the country club. And for me to have real choice over my son's golfing, the State needs to pay my country-club membership dues. And I just don't know why you would deprive my son of his golf education.
  11. I apply several rules to determine my cheering interest in any game: 1) What benefits Texas. No matter how attenuated or tenuous the connection may be, this is the overriding concern. 2) What hurts Oklahoma and/or aggy. Fuck them. So Arky over aggy. 3) Friends' alma maters. So give me ND over USC and Miami over Florida State. 4) Personal interactions with fans. So Michigan over Ohio State. Fuck Ohio State--they're the worst. 5) Flagship schools over ag schools. So Alabama over Auburn and Mississippi over Mississippi State. 6) Public schools over private schools. So give me Cal over Stanford (to the extent I can muster any interest at all). 7) Chaos/Upsets And after that, I'll just watch out of general interest. Army/Navy falls into that category. I'm not really going to cheer for one or the other. Maybe I'll cheer for the underdog, but more likely I'll just cheer for the offenses to score touchdowns, because that's more fun.
  12. "Box lunches"? No, thank you.
  13. How does that justify bulldozing the guy's pizza shop over a tasteless advertisement? And don't you think such arbitrary and tyrannical exercise of power might give rise to the Palestinian sentiment expressed in your quote? Look, man--I have long supported Israel. I think my posting history reflects that. And as a supporter of Israel, I am pretty comfortable saying that the policies successive Israeli governments have pursued--but none more vigorously than the Netanyahu Government--have been detrimental to Israeli security.
  14. Thank you. We're talking about two entirely different things. And my comments have been specifically toward addressing the twitter thread, which draws a conclusion that isn't supported by the underlying facts (or even the opinions expressed in the New York Times article). That conclusion is that Iran/Hizbullah are coordinating today as though there were some sort of unified command, and that we should expect an imminent expansion of the conflict.
  15. No--fascists are typically pretty efficient at governing. I mean, tyrannical and murderous. But efficient.
  16. I know--I've been in the ones in Downtown Houston. This is what it is to live under a tyrannical foreign occupation. I'm sorry if this offends people, but the military's ability to arbitrarily take and destroy your property, livelihood, and life with no notice, right to compensation, or recourse to the judiciary or other authority is the definition of tyranny. And I can hold the two thoughts in my brain simultaneously that (1) Hamas has committed monstrous atrocities and should justifiably be destroyed and (2) Israel has been operating a tyrannical occupation for more than a half-century that ought to end.
  17. Pretty much any gun store in Texas.
  18. You don't have shit. You have a bunch of people talking to The New York Times offering their conclusions based on scattered pieces of evidence. Perhaps you find their conclusions persuasive; I do not. It doesn't mean I'm posting "weird shit," as you allege. It means that I disagree with conclusions that are contrary to other facts that we all see. There is nothing going on right now in any other theater that would reflect any ongoing coordination with Iran or Hizbullah. Iran has certainly provided weapons and materiel to Hamas. It provided those weapons with the specific objective and intent that they be used to attack Israel. And I'm sure they have talked about the means and methods of perpetrating such an attack. But this discussion started in the context of the action expanding into a broader conflict. And there's no evidence of ongoing coordination between Hamas and Iran/Hizbullah that would indicate an expansion is imminent. And that's a real good thing for Israel, because it has its hands full right now with Gaza. And Israel has demonstrated in the past that it can get real bogged down in Southern Lebanon if it also has to go take on Hizbullah. So the last thing it needs is a two-front war that may even draw in Syria.
  19. They're welcome to call me. That'd be a fun lawsuit.
  20. Right. And that is not a "political party" as that term has ever been understood in political science. I don't really know what it is, beyond a complete and total clusterfuck.
  21. I did read the thread. I just don't draw the same inferences as you do. So there were meetings between Hamas and Hizbullah. No shit. There are routinely meetings between Hamas and Hizbullah. But one cannot conclude from those meetings that they coordinated this particular attack. In fact, there's no evidence that Hamas and Hizbullah coordinated the timing, means, and methods of Hamas's present attack. There's no evidence of any coordination; all the evidence indicates a complete absence of coordination. And the Hamas statements you identify reflects that this is a Hamas-only operation. When the Hamas spokesman says "we have been preparing for this for two years," the "we" in that sentence is Hamas. That is very clear from the context. I used the Leroy Jenkins analogy purposefully. I have no doubt that Hamas joins in with Hizbullah, the IRGC, the PFLP, and Islamic Jihad in regular meetings to discuss how they're going to go attack the "Zionist Entity." But Hamas is charging in on its own right now and leaving everyone else to decide what to do now.
  22. You talk as though the GQP is a party, and it's just not. At this point, it is a non-functioning coalition of about four different parties. But in no way does it resemble an actual political party right now. But I agree that electing Hakeem Jeffries is incredibly far-fetched. The only thing that is even more unlikely is any Republican getting 217 votes. And if no Republican can get to 217 votes, then we're going to have a governmental shutdown in a month. And what do the "Republicans"--put in scare quotes, because I don't concede that there is a such thing as a "Republican" anymore--do at that point? I mean, one of those parties within their nonfunctioning coalition will be happy to watch it burn. But another of those parties is going to be very worried about its own electoral prospects in 2024. How long are they going to let a governmental shutdown go on because of the likes of Matt Gaetz?
  23. Broadly speaking, the Speaker can determine what bills can make it to the floor for a vote. But obviously, everything is negotiable, and Jeffries would have to cede some control over floor management to any Republicans who would vote for him. So, I don't know. And really, nobody does. It's never been done before.
  24. But all evidence indicates that there is no coordination between Hamas and Iran/Hizbullah. If Iran were coordinating all this, presumably it would have had Hizbullah conduct attacks from Lebanon at the same time Hamas was attacking from Gaza. But there has been no meaningful attack from Lebanon. The only thing Hizbullah has done is fire off some rockets that were already positioned and could be fired off with little/no preparation. Nor has there been any real move by Iran against . . . anybody. Iran could ramp up its activities in the Gulf to draw the United States Navy away from the Eastern Mediterranean. Or it could prompt action from the Houthis to strike at the Saudi oilfields. Or it could do all manner of shit in Iraq. It's done nothing. It's issuing a bunch of mean tweets, and that's it. That's not to say that things can develop. This is a serious shooting war in a volatile region. But it is to say that I don't see any basis to believe that there is some grand scheme or stratagem at play here. It looks like Hamas just Leeroy Jenkinsed this shit.
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