To be fair to @IanB2 this is the view I am missing, from my balcony, as I watch the cricket. Perhaps foolish
Do you no longer need to work?
He is working. You see hills and mountains in @Leon's photos — he sees limitless supplies of flint.
And Kotor is the Banana Belt of Montenegro. Lot less ocean view and plenty more rocks inland & upward.
Imagine the scene in Leon's photo, with Venetian galleys riding in the bay.
Or the Austro-Hungarian Fleet on summer maneuvers, with Franz Joseph and Sisi and the rest of the imperial entourage enjoying the spectacle from the deck of the flagship.
Seeing the sun go down across that ridge to the west, between the bay and open Adriatic. On a day like today.
Old Town Kotor is ravishingly pretty…
… but horribly touristy. Like a Slavic Taormina with more billionaire yachties
Rural Armenia it is not. I shall lie in the sun, recharge my batteries, eat a few fish, then strike out for the Accursed Mountains. That is literally their name
Did the mountains get that name, because folks having to climb them at some point passed some remark like - how many more of these Goddamned Mountains are there, anyway?
See here for a kind-of explanation. They do look spectacularly rugged
The Lonely Planet guide says this Accursed Mountain bit of the country, the Montenegrin-Albanian border, is possibly the “least explored region in Europe”
OOOOOH. I have to go!
Kotor is gorgeous but very definitely explored. There’s a surprising number of Americans here. Wassat about? Yachties? Maybe cruises
You can get there from Dubrovnik. Which they go to 'cos of Game of Thrones. But it's a tourist hellhole, so you don't want to spend too long there.
I’ve been to Dubrovnik twice. Once was just after the Balkan Wars, when it was DESERTED, and me and my pals wandered the marble-paved, slightly shrapnel-shredded roads alone, and you could sit anywhere you liked and drink great wine for a quid a bottle, or whatever
Then I went ten years later. OMFG. Never again
Good lesson in life tho: always visit places that are just emerging from wars. You will have it to yourself, and everyone will be keen to see you
I have honestly applied this rule several times. Always works. I aim to be in Odessa in 2028
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Judicial Activism is like States Rights. It’s bad when the other lot did it.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
Do I sniff some of the old False Equivalence?
Hinted only but, yes, I think I do.
No. The Democrats universally stated that States Rights were evil, until they realised that they could use them.
Equally, judicial activism is awesome or horrific. Depending on what it is used for - hence Republican hypocracy on this.
The lesson in all this is to think of the future. And the past.
Which is why Biden is resisting court packing. Since it would result in the next Republican president packing the court to the point of undoing anything vaguely progressive back to 1900 or so. Maybe earlier.
I think the SC is in trouble whether packed or not after this. The bias and lack of integrity is too blatant.
Turing the Supreme Court into the only legislative body actually doing legislation resulted in it becoming a political body. A chamber of Congress with seats for life.
Stupid, horrible and utterly inevitable.
Yes, a mess. Not sure about inevitable though. Trump again for me. He rigged the Court good and proper. GOP - this new batshit crazy one - now empowered to refight the civil rights era with a stacked deck. Puppet SC. Gerrymandered voting. Structural Senate bias. Dark age beckons for America.
But America is not prospering after decades of restless progressivism and liberalism. It is being overtaken by China and its people have worse lives than Europeans, and its racial problems are not assisted by millions of Woke idiot 20-somethings pointing at Working Class Whitey and saying YOUR FAULT
America is not prospering after decades of neoliberal voodoo nonsense.
Weather in Seattle today is not dissimilar from Kotor; forecast high is 90F, sunny with fairly low humidity
Tad on the hot side for yours truly, was out and about early this morning, and am heading out in a bit. Wore my authentic pith helmet (with real or at least quasi-pith) earlier, it works very well for an hour or so if well-soaked for starters.
Does take considerable self-confidence to wear in public. Reckon it would be perfect for Glastonbury.
Once saw a chap cycling in an Oxford suimmer downpour in a solar topi from the army surplus place, and a rain cape.
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Judicial Activism is like States Rights. It’s bad when the other lot did it.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
Do I sniff some of the old False Equivalence?
Hinted only but, yes, I think I do.
No. The Democrats universally stated that States Rights were evil, until they realised that they could use them.
Equally, judicial activism is awesome or horrific. Depending on what it is used for - hence Republican hypocracy on this.
The lesson in all this is to think of the future. And the past.
Which is why Biden is resisting court packing. Since it would result in the next Republican president packing the court to the point of undoing anything vaguely progressive back to 1900 or so. Maybe earlier.
I think the SC is in trouble whether packed or not after this. The bias and lack of integrity is too blatant.
Turing the Supreme Court into the only legislative body actually doing legislation resulted in it becoming a political body. A chamber of Congress with seats for life.
Stupid, horrible and utterly inevitable.
Yes, a mess. Not sure about inevitable though. Trump again for me. He rigged the Court good and proper. GOP - this new batshit crazy one - now empowered to refight the civil rights era with a stacked deck. Puppet SC. Gerrymandered voting. Structural Senate bias. Dark age beckons for America.
Talking to my American relatives in the late 90s I raised exactly this point - “You say that you’ve won the culture wars because of the legal system. What happens when the Republicans get a majority on the SC?”
The answer, it seemed was that “all proper lawyers believe in the progressive, living Constitution. So we will control the Court forever”
I always thought this resembled the Underpants Gnomes business strategy, personally.
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Judicial Activism is like States Rights. It’s bad when the other lot did it.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
Do I sniff some of the old False Equivalence?
Hinted only but, yes, I think I do.
No. The Democrats universally stated that States Rights were evil, until they realised that they could use them.
Equally, judicial activism is awesome or horrific. Depending on what it is used for - hence Republican hypocracy on this.
The lesson in all this is to think of the future. And the past.
Which is why Biden is resisting court packing. Since it would result in the next Republican president packing the court to the point of undoing anything vaguely progressive back to 1900 or so. Maybe earlier.
I think the SC is in trouble whether packed or not after this. The bias and lack of integrity is too blatant.
Turing the Supreme Court into the only legislative body actually doing legislation resulted in it becoming a political body. A chamber of Congress with seats for life.
Stupid, horrible and utterly inevitable.
Yes, a mess. Not sure about inevitable though. Trump again for me. He rigged the Court good and proper. GOP - this new batshit crazy one - now empowered to refight the civil rights era with a stacked deck. Puppet SC. Gerrymandered voting. Structural Senate bias. Dark age beckons for America.
But America is not prospering after decades of restless progressivism and liberalism. It is being overtaken by China and its people have worse lives than Europeans, and its racial problems are not assisted by millions of Woke idiot 20-somethings pointing at Working Class Whitey and saying YOUR FAULT
America is not prospering after decades of neoliberal voodoo nonsense.
A fair point, but mine is equally fair
Let us agree that America needs a reset. Banning abortion is not the way to go about it, but nor is yielding the country to the Woke
That’s because they have trouble mass producing anything at good quality. The infrastructure for that is missing. And, largely, always has been. What they had has been lost since the end of the Cold War.
Hand built items are a different matter.
So they have zillions of tanks from 1984 which have welds so shitty they leak when it rains.
At the same time they have prototypes in the tank museum that are quite brilliant.
If you are comparing prototypes the Russians will still be a couple of generations behind.
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Judicial Activism is like States Rights. It’s bad when the other lot did it.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
Do I sniff some of the old False Equivalence?
Hinted only but, yes, I think I do.
No. The Democrats universally stated that States Rights were evil, until they realised that they could use them.
Equally, judicial activism is awesome or horrific. Depending on what it is used for - hence Republican hypocracy on this.
The lesson in all this is to think of the future. And the past.
Which is why Biden is resisting court packing. Since it would result in the next Republican president packing the court to the point of undoing anything vaguely progressive back to 1900 or so. Maybe earlier.
I think the SC is in trouble whether packed or not after this. The bias and lack of integrity is too blatant.
Turing the Supreme Court into the only legislative body actually doing legislation resulted in it becoming a political body. A chamber of Congress with seats for life.
Stupid, horrible and utterly inevitable.
Yes, a mess. Not sure about inevitable though. Trump again for me. He rigged the Court good and proper. GOP - this new batshit crazy one - now empowered to refight the civil rights era with a stacked deck. Puppet SC. Gerrymandered voting. Structural Senate bias. Dark age beckons for America.
But America is not prospering after decades of restless progressivism and liberalism. It is being overtaken by China and its people have worse lives than Europeans, and its racial problems are not assisted by millions of Woke idiot 20-somethings pointing at Working Class Whitey and saying YOUR FAULT
America is not prospering after decades of neoliberal voodoo nonsense.
A fair point, but mine is equally fair
Let us agree that America needs a reset. Banning abortion is not the way to go about it, but nor is yielding the country to the Woke
The difference is:
Banning abortions is real and happening now.
'Yielding the country to the Woke' on the other hand is a 'reds under the beds' level of paranoia on your part.
To be fair to @IanB2 this is the view I am missing, from my balcony, as I watch the cricket. Perhaps foolish
Do you no longer need to work?
He is working. You see hills and mountains in @Leon's photos — he sees limitless supplies of flint.
And Kotor is the Banana Belt of Montenegro. Lot less ocean view and plenty more rocks inland & upward.
Imagine the scene in Leon's photo, with Venetian galleys riding in the bay.
Or the Austro-Hungarian Fleet on summer maneuvers, with Franz Joseph and Sisi and the rest of the imperial entourage enjoying the spectacle from the deck of the flagship.
Seeing the sun go down across that ridge to the west, between the bay and open Adriatic. On a day like today.
Old Town Kotor is ravishingly pretty…
… but horribly touristy. Like a Slavic Taormina with more billionaire yachties
Rural Armenia it is not. I shall lie in the sun, recharge my batteries, eat a few fish, then strike out for the Accursed Mountains. That is literally their name
Did the mountains get that name, because folks having to climb them at some point passed some remark like - how many more of these Goddamned Mountains are there, anyway?
See here for a kind-of explanation. They do look spectacularly rugged
The Lonely Planet guide says this Accursed Mountain bit of the country, the Montenegrin-Albanian border, is possibly the “least explored region in Europe”
OOOOOH. I have to go!
Kotor is gorgeous but very definitely explored. There’s a surprising number of Americans here. Wassat about? Yachties? Maybe cruises
You can get there from Dubrovnik. Which they go to 'cos of Game of Thrones. But it's a tourist hellhole, so you don't want to spend too long there.
I’ve been to Dubrovnik twice. Once was just after the Balkan Wars, when it was DESERTED, and me and my pals wandered the marble-paved, slightly shrapnel-shredded roads alone, and you could sit anywhere you liked and drink great wine for a quid a bottle, or whatever
Then I went ten years later. OMFG. Never again
Good lesson in life tho: always visit places that are just emerging from wars. You will have it to yourself, and everyone will be keen to see you
I have honestly applied this rule several times. Always works. I aim to be in Odessa in 2028
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Judicial Activism is like States Rights. It’s bad when the other lot did it.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
Do I sniff some of the old False Equivalence?
Hinted only but, yes, I think I do.
No. The Democrats universally stated that States Rights were evil, until they realised that they could use them.
Equally, judicial activism is awesome or horrific. Depending on what it is used for - hence Republican hypocracy on this.
The lesson in all this is to think of the future. And the past.
Which is why Biden is resisting court packing. Since it would result in the next Republican president packing the court to the point of undoing anything vaguely progressive back to 1900 or so. Maybe earlier.
I think the SC is in trouble whether packed or not after this. The bias and lack of integrity is too blatant.
I agree the SC is in trouble, but that is not because of the reversal of R v W. This is a symptom not a cause.
Leaving aside polemic it is entirely rational to say that the law of abortion is obviously a matter which can't be dealt with by a constitution because science, medicine, philosophy and morality change. It is a matter for voters and legislators.
This is all they have done. They have opened the door for people to start voting and organising, and stop relying on courts to cover up the USA's democratic deficit. This is how it is in the UK and we get by.
The next step should be to do the same with guns. Incidentally, why didn't the SC do this when it had a more sane composition?
On the contrary, the basic right of a pregnant woman to choose whether she has the baby, since it underpins any semblance of gender equality, most certainly can and should be enshrined beyond the elected executive of the moment.
Why not? Is it because you don't think any human rights should be untouchable by elected politicians? Or is it that you do but this one - female bodily autonomy - doesn't pass muster?
To be fair to @IanB2 this is the view I am missing, from my balcony, as I watch the cricket. Perhaps foolish
Do you no longer need to work?
He is working. You see hills and mountains in @Leon's photos — he sees limitless supplies of flint.
And Kotor is the Banana Belt of Montenegro. Lot less ocean view and plenty more rocks inland & upward.
Imagine the scene in Leon's photo, with Venetian galleys riding in the bay.
Or the Austro-Hungarian Fleet on summer maneuvers, with Franz Joseph and Sisi and the rest of the imperial entourage enjoying the spectacle from the deck of the flagship.
Seeing the sun go down across that ridge to the west, between the bay and open Adriatic. On a day like today.
Old Town Kotor is ravishingly pretty…
… but horribly touristy. Like a Slavic Taormina with more billionaire yachties
Rural Armenia it is not. I shall lie in the sun, recharge my batteries, eat a few fish, then strike out for the Accursed Mountains. That is literally their name
Did the mountains get that name, because folks having to climb them at some point passed some remark like - how many more of these Goddamned Mountains are there, anyway?
See here for a kind-of explanation. They do look spectacularly rugged
The Lonely Planet guide says this Accursed Mountain bit of the country, the Montenegrin-Albanian border, is possibly the “least explored region in Europe”
OOOOOH. I have to go!
Kotor is gorgeous but very definitely explored. There’s a surprising number of Americans here. Wassat about? Yachties? Maybe cruises
You can get there from Dubrovnik. Which they go to 'cos of Game of Thrones. But it's a tourist hellhole, so you don't want to spend too long there.
I’ve been to Dubrovnik twice. Once was just after the Balkan Wars, when it was DESERTED, and me and my pals wandered the marble-paved, slightly shrapnel-shredded roads alone, and you could sit anywhere you liked and drink great wine for a quid a bottle, or whatever
Then I went ten years later. OMFG. Never again
Good lesson in life tho: always visit places that are just emerging from wars. You will have it to yourself, and everyone will be keen to see you
I have honestly applied this rule several times. Always works. I aim to be in Odessa in 2028
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Judicial Activism is like States Rights. It’s bad when the other lot did it.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
Do I sniff some of the old False Equivalence?
Hinted only but, yes, I think I do.
No. The Democrats universally stated that States Rights were evil, until they realised that they could use them.
Equally, judicial activism is awesome or horrific. Depending on what it is used for - hence Republican hypocracy on this.
The lesson in all this is to think of the future. And the past.
Which is why Biden is resisting court packing. Since it would result in the next Republican president packing the court to the point of undoing anything vaguely progressive back to 1900 or so. Maybe earlier.
I think the SC is in trouble whether packed or not after this. The bias and lack of integrity is too blatant.
Turing the Supreme Court into the only legislative body actually doing legislation resulted in it becoming a political body. A chamber of Congress with seats for life.
Stupid, horrible and utterly inevitable.
Yes, a mess. Not sure about inevitable though. Trump again for me. He rigged the Court good and proper. GOP - this new batshit crazy one - now empowered to refight the civil rights era with a stacked deck. Puppet SC. Gerrymandered voting. Structural Senate bias. Dark age beckons for America.
But America is not prospering after decades of restless progressivism and liberalism. It is being overtaken by China and its people have worse lives than Europeans, and its racial problems are not assisted by millions of Woke idiot 20-somethings pointing at Working Class Whitey and saying YOUR FAULT
Weather in Seattle today is not dissimilar from Kotor; forecast high is 90F, sunny with fairly low humidity
Tad on the hot side for yours truly, was out and about early this morning, and am heading out in a bit. Wore my authentic pith helmet (with real or at least quasi-pith) earlier, it works very well for an hour or so if well-soaked for starters.
Does take considerable self-confidence to wear in public. Reckon it would be perfect for Glastonbury.
Once saw a chap cycling in an Oxford suimmer downpour in a solar topi from the army surplus place, and a rain cape.
When wintry on my shorter 18 mile commute to work I would wear two woolly hats, double gloves, and lots of layers. When there was freezing fog I'd arrive covered in rime. At least they salted the roads.
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Judicial Activism is like States Rights. It’s bad when the other lot did it.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
Do I sniff some of the old False Equivalence?
Hinted only but, yes, I think I do.
No. The Democrats universally stated that States Rights were evil, until they realised that they could use them.
Equally, judicial activism is awesome or horrific. Depending on what it is used for - hence Republican hypocracy on this.
The lesson in all this is to think of the future. And the past.
Which is why Biden is resisting court packing. Since it would result in the next Republican president packing the court to the point of undoing anything vaguely progressive back to 1900 or so. Maybe earlier.
I think the SC is in trouble whether packed or not after this. The bias and lack of integrity is too blatant.
Turing the Supreme Court into the only legislative body actually doing legislation resulted in it becoming a political body. A chamber of Congress with seats for life.
Stupid, horrible and utterly inevitable.
Yes, a mess. Not sure about inevitable though. Trump again for me. He rigged the Court good and proper. GOP - this new batshit crazy one - now empowered to refight the civil rights era with a stacked deck. Puppet SC. Gerrymandered voting. Structural Senate bias. Dark age beckons for America.
But America is not prospering after decades of restless progressivism and liberalism. It is being overtaken by China and its people have worse lives than Europeans, and its racial problems are not assisted by millions of Woke idiot 20-somethings pointing at Working Class Whitey and saying YOUR FAULT
Weather in Seattle today is not dissimilar from Kotor; forecast high is 90F, sunny with fairly low humidity
Tad on the hot side for yours truly, was out and about early this morning, and am heading out in a bit. Wore my authentic pith helmet (with real or at least quasi-pith) earlier, it works very well for an hour or so if well-soaked for starters.
Does take considerable self-confidence to wear in public. Reckon it would be perfect for Glastonbury.
Once saw a chap cycling in an Oxford suimmer downpour in a solar topi from the army surplus place, and a rain cape.
When wintry on my shorter 18 mile commute to work I would wear two woolly hats, double gloves, and lots of layers. When there was freezing fog I'd arrive covered in rime. At least they salted the roads.
You were lucky. When I were a lad, I had to walk. And they never gritted t'roads neither.
To be fair to @IanB2 this is the view I am missing, from my balcony, as I watch the cricket. Perhaps foolish
Do you no longer need to work?
He is working. You see hills and mountains in @Leon's photos — he sees limitless supplies of flint.
And Kotor is the Banana Belt of Montenegro. Lot less ocean view and plenty more rocks inland & upward.
Imagine the scene in Leon's photo, with Venetian galleys riding in the bay.
Or the Austro-Hungarian Fleet on summer maneuvers, with Franz Joseph and Sisi and the rest of the imperial entourage enjoying the spectacle from the deck of the flagship.
Seeing the sun go down across that ridge to the west, between the bay and open Adriatic. On a day like today.
Old Town Kotor is ravishingly pretty…
… but horribly touristy. Like a Slavic Taormina with more billionaire yachties
Rural Armenia it is not. I shall lie in the sun, recharge my batteries, eat a few fish, then strike out for the Accursed Mountains. That is literally their name
Did the mountains get that name, because folks having to climb them at some point passed some remark like - how many more of these Goddamned Mountains are there, anyway?
See here for a kind-of explanation. They do look spectacularly rugged
The Lonely Planet guide says this Accursed Mountain bit of the country, the Montenegrin-Albanian border, is possibly the “least explored region in Europe”
OOOOOH. I have to go!
Kotor is gorgeous but very definitely explored. There’s a surprising number of Americans here. Wassat about? Yachties? Maybe cruises
You can get there from Dubrovnik. Which they go to 'cos of Game of Thrones. But it's a tourist hellhole, so you don't want to spend too long there.
I’ve been to Dubrovnik twice. Once was just after the Balkan Wars, when it was DESERTED, and me and my pals wandered the marble-paved, slightly shrapnel-shredded roads alone, and you could sit anywhere you liked and drink great wine for a quid a bottle, or whatever
Then I went ten years later. OMFG. Never again
Good lesson in life tho: always visit places that are just emerging from wars. You will have it to yourself, and everyone will be keen to see you
I have honestly applied this rule several times. Always works. I aim to be in Odessa in 2028
Weather in Seattle today is not dissimilar from Kotor; forecast high is 90F, sunny with fairly low humidity
Tad on the hot side for yours truly, was out and about early this morning, and am heading out in a bit. Wore my authentic pith helmet (with real or at least quasi-pith) earlier, it works very well for an hour or so if well-soaked for starters.
Does take considerable self-confidence to wear in public. Reckon it would be perfect for Glastonbury.
Once saw a chap cycling in an Oxford suimmer downpour in a solar topi from the army surplus place, and a rain cape.
When wintry on my shorter 18 mile commute to work I would wear two woolly hats, double gloves, and lots of layers. When there was freezing fog I'd arrive covered in rime. At least they salted the roads.
You were lucky. When I were a lad, I had to walk. And they never gritted t'roads neither.
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Judicial Activism is like States Rights. It’s bad when the other lot did it.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
Do I sniff some of the old False Equivalence?
Hinted only but, yes, I think I do.
No. The Democrats universally stated that States Rights were evil, until they realised that they could use them.
Equally, judicial activism is awesome or horrific. Depending on what it is used for - hence Republican hypocracy on this.
The lesson in all this is to think of the future. And the past.
Which is why Biden is resisting court packing. Since it would result in the next Republican president packing the court to the point of undoing anything vaguely progressive back to 1900 or so. Maybe earlier.
I think the SC is in trouble whether packed or not after this. The bias and lack of integrity is too blatant.
I agree the SC is in trouble, but that is not because of the reversal of R v W. This is a symptom not a cause.
Leaving aside polemic it is entirely rational to say that the law of abortion is obviously a matter which can't be dealt with by a constitution because science, medicine, philosophy and morality change. It is a matter for voters and legislators.
This is all they have done. They have opened the door for people to start voting and organising, and stop relying on courts to cover up the USA's democratic deficit. This is how it is in the UK and we get by.
The next step should be to do the same with guns. Incidentally, why didn't the SC do this when it had a more sane composition?
On the contrary, the basic right of a pregnant woman to choose whether she has the baby, since it underpins any semblance of gender equality, most certainly can and should be enshrined beyond the elected executive of the moment.
Why not? Is it because you don't think any human rights should be untouchable by elected politicians? Or is it that you do but this one - female bodily autonomy - doesn't pass muster?
How exactly do you make human rights untouchable by politicians?
Constitutions are, at best, a speed bump. See the Roman Republic and many, many others.
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Judicial Activism is like States Rights. It’s bad when the other lot did it.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
Do I sniff some of the old False Equivalence?
Hinted only but, yes, I think I do.
No. The Democrats universally stated that States Rights were evil, until they realised that they could use them.
Equally, judicial activism is awesome or horrific. Depending on what it is used for - hence Republican hypocracy on this.
The lesson in all this is to think of the future. And the past.
Which is why Biden is resisting court packing. Since it would result in the next Republican president packing the court to the point of undoing anything vaguely progressive back to 1900 or so. Maybe earlier.
I think the SC is in trouble whether packed or not after this. The bias and lack of integrity is too blatant.
Turing the Supreme Court into the only legislative body actually doing legislation resulted in it becoming a political body. A chamber of Congress with seats for life.
Stupid, horrible and utterly inevitable.
Yes, a mess. Not sure about inevitable though. Trump again for me. He rigged the Court good and proper. GOP - this new batshit crazy one - now empowered to refight the civil rights era with a stacked deck. Puppet SC. Gerrymandered voting. Structural Senate bias. Dark age beckons for America.
But America is not prospering after decades of restless progressivism and liberalism. It is being overtaken by China and its people have worse lives than Europeans, and its racial problems are not assisted by millions of Woke idiot 20-somethings pointing at Working Class Whitey and saying YOUR FAULT
Luckily that is not happening.
It is if your main source of news is Fox News
Well, of course, that's what Fox News is for, same as every other Murdoch mouthpiece.
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Judicial Activism is like States Rights. It’s bad when the other lot did it.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
Do I sniff some of the old False Equivalence?
Hinted only but, yes, I think I do.
No. The Democrats universally stated that States Rights were evil, until they realised that they could use them.
Equally, judicial activism is awesome or horrific. Depending on what it is used for - hence Republican hypocracy on this.
The lesson in all this is to think of the future. And the past.
Which is why Biden is resisting court packing. Since it would result in the next Republican president packing the court to the point of undoing anything vaguely progressive back to 1900 or so. Maybe earlier.
I think the SC is in trouble whether packed or not after this. The bias and lack of integrity is too blatant.
Turing the Supreme Court into the only legislative body actually doing legislation resulted in it becoming a political body. A chamber of Congress with seats for life.
Stupid, horrible and utterly inevitable.
Yes, a mess. Not sure about inevitable though. Trump again for me. He rigged the Court good and proper. GOP - this new batshit crazy one - now empowered to refight the civil rights era with a stacked deck. Puppet SC. Gerrymandered voting. Structural Senate bias. Dark age beckons for America.
But America is not prospering after decades of restless progressivism and liberalism. It is being overtaken by China and its people have worse lives than Europeans, and its racial problems are not assisted by millions of Woke idiot 20-somethings pointing at Working Class Whitey and saying YOUR FAULT
Luckily that is not happening.
There is a really special kind of Stupid, which is prevalent on PB, which simply refuses to see what Woke is doing to American institutions, from the great universities outwards, and is therefore completely uncomprehending of what and why this new shit is unfolding across the USA
We can bicker about which came first, or who is really to blame, or why humans are sinful or whether we have free will or determinism, but the fact is this rightwing surge is not happening in a void where everyone else is behaving normally. The American Left is not behaving normally, nor is American media
Eg For the last two years a decent-sized army of leftwing hoodlums have spent many months tearing down the centres of several American cities in vast prolonged riots which were excused by liberal media as “anti racist” and as being “largely peaceful” despite people literally dying in them
This stuff makes ordinary folk angry, and more wiling to accept extreme solutions - but from the other side. This is called polarisation
Weather in Seattle today is not dissimilar from Kotor; forecast high is 90F, sunny with fairly low humidity
Tad on the hot side for yours truly, was out and about early this morning, and am heading out in a bit. Wore my authentic pith helmet (with real or at least quasi-pith) earlier, it works very well for an hour or so if well-soaked for starters.
Does take considerable self-confidence to wear in public. Reckon it would be perfect for Glastonbury.
Once saw a chap cycling in an Oxford suimmer downpour in a solar topi from the army surplus place, and a rain cape.
When wintry on my shorter 18 mile commute to work I would wear two woolly hats, double gloves, and lots of layers. When there was freezing fog I'd arrive covered in rime. At least they salted the roads.
You were lucky. When I were a lad, I had to walk. And they never gritted t'roads neither.
(Admittedly, it was only 50 yards.)
You had roads?
{opens a case of Chateau de Chassilier with a pry bar....}
To be fair to @IanB2 this is the view I am missing, from my balcony, as I watch the cricket. Perhaps foolish
Do you no longer need to work?
He is working. You see hills and mountains in @Leon's photos — he sees limitless supplies of flint.
And Kotor is the Banana Belt of Montenegro. Lot less ocean view and plenty more rocks inland & upward.
Imagine the scene in Leon's photo, with Venetian galleys riding in the bay.
Or the Austro-Hungarian Fleet on summer maneuvers, with Franz Joseph and Sisi and the rest of the imperial entourage enjoying the spectacle from the deck of the flagship.
Seeing the sun go down across that ridge to the west, between the bay and open Adriatic. On a day like today.
Old Town Kotor is ravishingly pretty…
… but horribly touristy. Like a Slavic Taormina with more billionaire yachties
Rural Armenia it is not. I shall lie in the sun, recharge my batteries, eat a few fish, then strike out for the Accursed Mountains. That is literally their name
Did the mountains get that name, because folks having to climb them at some point passed some remark like - how many more of these Goddamned Mountains are there, anyway?
See here for a kind-of explanation. They do look spectacularly rugged
The Lonely Planet guide says this Accursed Mountain bit of the country, the Montenegrin-Albanian border, is possibly the “least explored region in Europe”
OOOOOH. I have to go!
Kotor is gorgeous but very definitely explored. There’s a surprising number of Americans here. Wassat about? Yachties? Maybe cruises
You can get there from Dubrovnik. Which they go to 'cos of Game of Thrones. But it's a tourist hellhole, so you don't want to spend too long there.
I’ve been to Dubrovnik twice. Once was just after the Balkan Wars, when it was DESERTED, and me and my pals wandered the marble-paved, slightly shrapnel-shredded roads alone, and you could sit anywhere you liked and drink great wine for a quid a bottle, or whatever
Then I went ten years later. OMFG. Never again
Good lesson in life tho: always visit places that are just emerging from wars. You will have it to yourself, and everyone will be keen to see you
I have honestly applied this rule several times. Always works. I aim to be in Odessa in 2028
Ukraine or Texas?
Russia...
(BTW we now spell it with one S)
Rusia?
That's Muscovy. The Ukrainians are the true Rus.
Ah, Greater Ukrainian Nationalism.
Where do you think the Ukrainian border with China should be?
After the Russians retreated, Kotor was united in 1806 with this Kingdom of Italy and then in 1810 with the French Empire's Illyrian Provinces. Kotor was captured by the British in an attack on the Bay led by Commodore John Harper in the brig sloop HMS Saracen (18 guns).
Harper was thereafter routinely greeted with the question Ello John, got a new Kotor?
And the companion volume could be GOOD PLACES TO AVOID WATCHING AND HEARING ABOUT CRICKET
if we were married @cyclefree you could walk on to the balcony and sip chilled rose, and leave me to my cricket
*kneels, earnestly*
wouldn't that be biandry though?
I have just learnt a new word. And what it means. Depending on the male partners in question - and provided they don't interfere with my gardening time - it sounds bloody marvellous.
After the Russians retreated, Kotor was united in 1806 with this Kingdom of Italy and then in 1810 with the French Empire's Illyrian Provinces. Kotor was captured by the British in an attack on the Bay led by Commodore John Harper in the brig sloop HMS Saracen (18 guns).
Harper was thereafter routinely greeted with the question Ello John, got a new Kotor?
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Judicial Activism is like States Rights. It’s bad when the other lot did it.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
Do I sniff some of the old False Equivalence?
Hinted only but, yes, I think I do.
No. The Democrats universally stated that States Rights were evil, until they realised that they could use them.
Equally, judicial activism is awesome or horrific. Depending on what it is used for - hence Republican hypocracy on this.
The lesson in all this is to think of the future. And the past.
Which is why Biden is resisting court packing. Since it would result in the next Republican president packing the court to the point of undoing anything vaguely progressive back to 1900 or so. Maybe earlier.
I think the SC is in trouble whether packed or not after this. The bias and lack of integrity is too blatant.
Turing the Supreme Court into the only legislative body actually doing legislation resulted in it becoming a political body. A chamber of Congress with seats for life.
Stupid, horrible and utterly inevitable.
Yes, a mess. Not sure about inevitable though. Trump again for me. He rigged the Court good and proper. GOP - this new batshit crazy one - now empowered to refight the civil rights era with a stacked deck. Puppet SC. Gerrymandered voting. Structural Senate bias. Dark age beckons for America.
But America is not prospering after decades of restless progressivism and liberalism. It is being overtaken by China and its people have worse lives than Europeans, and its racial problems are not assisted by millions of Woke idiot 20-somethings pointing at Working Class Whitey and saying YOUR FAULT
America is not prospering after decades of neoliberal voodoo nonsense.
A fair point, but mine is equally fair
Let us agree that America needs a reset. Banning abortion is not the way to go about it, but nor is yielding the country to the Woke
The difference is:
Banning abortions is real and happening now.
'Yielding the country to the Woke' on the other hand is a 'reds under the beds' level of paranoia on your part.
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Judicial Activism is like States Rights. It’s bad when the other lot did it.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
Do I sniff some of the old False Equivalence?
Hinted only but, yes, I think I do.
No. The Democrats universally stated that States Rights were evil, until they realised that they could use them.
Equally, judicial activism is awesome or horrific. Depending on what it is used for - hence Republican hypocracy on this.
The lesson in all this is to think of the future. And the past.
Which is why Biden is resisting court packing. Since it would result in the next Republican president packing the court to the point of undoing anything vaguely progressive back to 1900 or so. Maybe earlier.
I think the SC is in trouble whether packed or not after this. The bias and lack of integrity is too blatant.
Turing the Supreme Court into the only legislative body actually doing legislation resulted in it becoming a political body. A chamber of Congress with seats for life.
Stupid, horrible and utterly inevitable.
Yes, a mess. Not sure about inevitable though. Trump again for me. He rigged the Court good and proper. GOP - this new batshit crazy one - now empowered to refight the civil rights era with a stacked deck. Puppet SC. Gerrymandered voting. Structural Senate bias. Dark age beckons for America.
Talking to my American relatives in the late 90s I raised exactly this point - “You say that you’ve won the culture wars because of the legal system. What happens when the Republicans get a majority on the SC?”
The answer, it seemed was that “all proper lawyers believe in the progressive, living Constitution. So we will control the Court forever”
I always thought this resembled the Underpants Gnomes business strategy, personally.
There's no straight line from that SC you were chatting with your family about in the 90s to this utterly fucked up one that's 6/3 and has Brett Kavanaugh on it. You're sliding into "FE" again.
It's not as blatant or silly as Leon's latest effort - which I won't be biting on - but it's there alright.
To be fair to @IanB2 this is the view I am missing, from my balcony, as I watch the cricket. Perhaps foolish
Do you no longer need to work?
He is working. You see hills and mountains in @Leon's photos — he sees limitless supplies of flint.
And Kotor is the Banana Belt of Montenegro. Lot less ocean view and plenty more rocks inland & upward.
Imagine the scene in Leon's photo, with Venetian galleys riding in the bay.
Or the Austro-Hungarian Fleet on summer maneuvers, with Franz Joseph and Sisi and the rest of the imperial entourage enjoying the spectacle from the deck of the flagship.
Seeing the sun go down across that ridge to the west, between the bay and open Adriatic. On a day like today.
Old Town Kotor is ravishingly pretty…
… but horribly touristy. Like a Slavic Taormina with more billionaire yachties
Rural Armenia it is not. I shall lie in the sun, recharge my batteries, eat a few fish, then strike out for the Accursed Mountains. That is literally their name
Did the mountains get that name, because folks having to climb them at some point passed some remark like - how many more of these Goddamned Mountains are there, anyway?
See here for a kind-of explanation. They do look spectacularly rugged
The Lonely Planet guide says this Accursed Mountain bit of the country, the Montenegrin-Albanian border, is possibly the “least explored region in Europe”
OOOOOH. I have to go!
Kotor is gorgeous but very definitely explored. There’s a surprising number of Americans here. Wassat about? Yachties? Maybe cruises
You can get there from Dubrovnik. Which they go to 'cos of Game of Thrones. But it's a tourist hellhole, so you don't want to spend too long there.
I’ve been to Dubrovnik twice. Once was just after the Balkan Wars, when it was DESERTED, and me and my pals wandered the marble-paved, slightly shrapnel-shredded roads alone, and you could sit anywhere you liked and drink great wine for a quid a bottle, or whatever
Then I went ten years later. OMFG. Never again
Good lesson in life tho: always visit places that are just emerging from wars. You will have it to yourself, and everyone will be keen to see you
I have honestly applied this rule several times. Always works. I aim to be in Odessa in 2028
Ukraine or Texas?
Russia...
(BTW we now spell it with one S)
Rusia?
That's Muscovy. The Ukrainians are the true Rus.
Ah, Greater Ukrainian Nationalism.
Where do you think the Ukrainian border with China should be?
Actually I think we should recreate the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, so there is a big powerful country between the rest of Europe and Muscovy.
Weather in Seattle today is not dissimilar from Kotor; forecast high is 90F, sunny with fairly low humidity
Tad on the hot side for yours truly, was out and about early this morning, and am heading out in a bit. Wore my authentic pith helmet (with real or at least quasi-pith) earlier, it works very well for an hour or so if well-soaked for starters.
Does take considerable self-confidence to wear in public. Reckon it would be perfect for Glastonbury.
Once saw a chap cycling in an Oxford suimmer downpour in a solar topi from the army surplus place, and a rain cape.
When wintry on my shorter 18 mile commute to work I would wear two woolly hats, double gloves, and lots of layers. When there was freezing fog I'd arrive covered in rime. At least they salted the roads.
You were lucky. When I were a lad, I had to walk. And they never gritted t'roads neither.
(Admittedly, it was only 50 yards.)
You had roads?
{opens a case of Chateau de Chassilier with a pry bar....}
Well, I say a road. It were naught but a bit of tarmac between two lines of 'ouses, but to us it were a road.
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Judicial Activism is like States Rights. It’s bad when the other lot did it.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
Do I sniff some of the old False Equivalence?
Hinted only but, yes, I think I do.
No. The Democrats universally stated that States Rights were evil, until they realised that they could use them.
Equally, judicial activism is awesome or horrific. Depending on what it is used for - hence Republican hypocracy on this.
The lesson in all this is to think of the future. And the past.
Which is why Biden is resisting court packing. Since it would result in the next Republican president packing the court to the point of undoing anything vaguely progressive back to 1900 or so. Maybe earlier.
I think the SC is in trouble whether packed or not after this. The bias and lack of integrity is too blatant.
Turing the Supreme Court into the only legislative body actually doing legislation resulted in it becoming a political body. A chamber of Congress with seats for life.
Stupid, horrible and utterly inevitable.
Yes, a mess. Not sure about inevitable though. Trump again for me. He rigged the Court good and proper. GOP - this new batshit crazy one - now empowered to refight the civil rights era with a stacked deck. Puppet SC. Gerrymandered voting. Structural Senate bias. Dark age beckons for America.
Talking to my American relatives in the late 90s I raised exactly this point - “You say that you’ve won the culture wars because of the legal system. What happens when the Republicans get a majority on the SC?”
The answer, it seemed was that “all proper lawyers believe in the progressive, living Constitution. So we will control the Court forever”
I always thought this resembled the Underpants Gnomes business strategy, personally.
In the late 90s the Republicans had a majority on the Supreme Court.
Here's the Washington Post's latest assessment of the war in Ukraine: 'The Russian military will soon exhaust its combat capabilities and be forced to bring its offensive in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region to a grinding halt, according to Western intelligence predictions and military experts.
“There will come a time when the tiny advances Russia is making become unsustainable in light of the costs and they will need a significant pause to regenerate capability,” said a senior Western official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive issue. . . . But conditions for Ukrainian troops are only likely to improve as more sophisticated Western weapons arrive, while those of Russian forces can be expected to deteriorate as they dig deeper into their stocks of old, outdated equipment, said retired Gen. Ben Hodges, a former commander of U.S. forces in Europe who is now with the Center for European Policy Analysis. At some point in the coming months, the Ukrainians will have received enough Western weaponry that it is likely they will be able to go on the counteroffensive and reverse the tide of the war, he said.' source($): https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/06/25/ukraine-russia-balance-of-forces/
Hodges believes "that things are going to be trending in favor of the Ukrainians in the next few weeks."
The Post cites another analyst by name, Michael Kofman, director of Russian studies at the Center for Naval Analysis, in support of this optimistic assessment.
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Judicial Activism is like States Rights. It’s bad when the other lot did it.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
Do I sniff some of the old False Equivalence?
Hinted only but, yes, I think I do.
No. The Democrats universally stated that States Rights were evil, until they realised that they could use them.
Equally, judicial activism is awesome or horrific. Depending on what it is used for - hence Republican hypocracy on this.
The lesson in all this is to think of the future. And the past.
Which is why Biden is resisting court packing. Since it would result in the next Republican president packing the court to the point of undoing anything vaguely progressive back to 1900 or so. Maybe earlier.
I think the SC is in trouble whether packed or not after this. The bias and lack of integrity is too blatant.
Turing the Supreme Court into the only legislative body actually doing legislation resulted in it becoming a political body. A chamber of Congress with seats for life.
Stupid, horrible and utterly inevitable.
Yes, a mess. Not sure about inevitable though. Trump again for me. He rigged the Court good and proper. GOP - this new batshit crazy one - now empowered to refight the civil rights era with a stacked deck. Puppet SC. Gerrymandered voting. Structural Senate bias. Dark age beckons for America.
Talking to my American relatives in the late 90s I raised exactly this point - “You say that you’ve won the culture wars because of the legal system. What happens when the Republicans get a majority on the SC?”
The answer, it seemed was that “all proper lawyers believe in the progressive, living Constitution. So we will control the Court forever”
I always thought this resembled the Underpants Gnomes business strategy, personally.
Does anyone know why the Democrats didn't legislate in favour of US-wide abortion law in 2009 when they controlled the presidency, House, and had 60 seats in the Senate.
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Judicial Activism is like States Rights. It’s bad when the other lot did it.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
Do I sniff some of the old False Equivalence?
Hinted only but, yes, I think I do.
No. The Democrats universally stated that States Rights were evil, until they realised that they could use them.
Equally, judicial activism is awesome or horrific. Depending on what it is used for - hence Republican hypocracy on this.
The lesson in all this is to think of the future. And the past.
Which is why Biden is resisting court packing. Since it would result in the next Republican president packing the court to the point of undoing anything vaguely progressive back to 1900 or so. Maybe earlier.
I think the SC is in trouble whether packed or not after this. The bias and lack of integrity is too blatant.
Turing the Supreme Court into the only legislative body actually doing legislation resulted in it becoming a political body. A chamber of Congress with seats for life.
Stupid, horrible and utterly inevitable.
Yes, a mess. Not sure about inevitable though. Trump again for me. He rigged the Court good and proper. GOP - this new batshit crazy one - now empowered to refight the civil rights era with a stacked deck. Puppet SC. Gerrymandered voting. Structural Senate bias. Dark age beckons for America.
Talking to my American relatives in the late 90s I raised exactly this point - “You say that you’ve won the culture wars because of the legal system. What happens when the Republicans get a majority on the SC?”
The answer, it seemed was that “all proper lawyers believe in the progressive, living Constitution. So we will control the Court forever”
I always thought this resembled the Underpants Gnomes business strategy, personally.
There's no straight line from that SC you were chatting with your family about in the 90s to this utterly fucked up one that's 6/3 and has Brett Kavanaugh on it. You're sliding into "FE" again.
It's not as blatant or silly as Leon's latest effort - which I won't be biting on - but it's there alright.
If you were interested in American politics at the time, you would have encountered the belief among the progressive that The Court was the key to their agenda, since the Republicans could at block the supra majorities required to legislate effectively. Control the court, you’ve got civil rights, gay marriage etc etc…
You’d have thought that Clarence Thomas would have been a wake up call, but no.
If you keep adding Federalist Society approved judges to the court, at some point they have a majority. To enact what the Federalist Society is all about. Which is what just happened.
Weather in Seattle today is not dissimilar from Kotor; forecast high is 90F, sunny with fairly low humidity
Tad on the hot side for yours truly, was out and about early this morning, and am heading out in a bit. Wore my authentic pith helmet (with real or at least quasi-pith) earlier, it works very well for an hour or so if well-soaked for starters.
Does take considerable self-confidence to wear in public. Reckon it would be perfect for Glastonbury.
Once saw a chap cycling in an Oxford suimmer downpour in a solar topi from the army surplus place, and a rain cape.
When wintry on my shorter 18 mile commute to work I would wear two woolly hats, double gloves, and lots of layers. When there was freezing fog I'd arrive covered in rime. At least they salted the roads.
You were lucky. When I were a lad, I had to walk. And they never gritted t'roads neither.
(Admittedly, it was only 50 yards.)
You had roads?
{opens a case of Chateau de Chassilier with a pry bar....}
Well, I say a road. It were naught but a bit of tarmac between two lines of 'ouses, but to us it were a road.
To be fair to @IanB2 this is the view I am missing, from my balcony, as I watch the cricket. Perhaps foolish
Do you no longer need to work?
He is working. You see hills and mountains in @Leon's photos — he sees limitless supplies of flint.
And Kotor is the Banana Belt of Montenegro. Lot less ocean view and plenty more rocks inland & upward.
Imagine the scene in Leon's photo, with Venetian galleys riding in the bay.
Or the Austro-Hungarian Fleet on summer maneuvers, with Franz Joseph and Sisi and the rest of the imperial entourage enjoying the spectacle from the deck of the flagship.
Seeing the sun go down across that ridge to the west, between the bay and open Adriatic. On a day like today.
Old Town Kotor is ravishingly pretty…
… but horribly touristy. Like a Slavic Taormina with more billionaire yachties
Rural Armenia it is not. I shall lie in the sun, recharge my batteries, eat a few fish, then strike out for the Accursed Mountains. That is literally their name
Did the mountains get that name, because folks having to climb them at some point passed some remark like - how many more of these Goddamned Mountains are there, anyway?
See here for a kind-of explanation. They do look spectacularly rugged
The Lonely Planet guide says this Accursed Mountain bit of the country, the Montenegrin-Albanian border, is possibly the “least explored region in Europe”
OOOOOH. I have to go!
Kotor is gorgeous but very definitely explored. There’s a surprising number of Americans here. Wassat about? Yachties? Maybe cruises
You can get there from Dubrovnik. Which they go to 'cos of Game of Thrones. But it's a tourist hellhole, so you don't want to spend too long there.
I’ve been to Dubrovnik twice. Once was just after the Balkan Wars, when it was DESERTED, and me and my pals wandered the marble-paved, slightly shrapnel-shredded roads alone, and you could sit anywhere you liked and drink great wine for a quid a bottle, or whatever
Then I went ten years later. OMFG. Never again
Good lesson in life tho: always visit places that are just emerging from wars. You will have it to yourself, and everyone will be keen to see you
I have honestly applied this rule several times. Always works. I aim to be in Odessa in 2028
Ukraine or Texas?
Russia...
(BTW we now spell it with one S)
Rusia?
That's Muscovy. The Ukrainians are the true Rus.
Ah, Greater Ukrainian Nationalism.
Where do you think the Ukrainian border with China should be?
Actually I think we should recreate the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, so there is a big powerful country between the rest of Europe and Muscovy.
Weather in Seattle today is not dissimilar from Kotor; forecast high is 90F, sunny with fairly low humidity
Tad on the hot side for yours truly, was out and about early this morning, and am heading out in a bit. Wore my authentic pith helmet (with real or at least quasi-pith) earlier, it works very well for an hour or so if well-soaked for starters.
Does take considerable self-confidence to wear in public. Reckon it would be perfect for Glastonbury.
Once saw a chap cycling in an Oxford suimmer downpour in a solar topi from the army surplus place, and a rain cape.
When wintry on my shorter 18 mile commute to work I would wear two woolly hats, double gloves, and lots of layers. When there was freezing fog I'd arrive covered in rime. At least they salted the roads.
You were lucky. When I were a lad, I had to walk. And they never gritted t'roads neither.
(Admittedly, it was only 50 yards.)
You had roads?
{opens a case of Chateau de Chassilier with a pry bar....}
Well, I say a road. It were naught but a bit of tarmac between two lines of 'ouses, but to us it were a road.
...Well, I say 'ouses - they were nothing but detached buildings with four bedrooms, three en-suites and a family bathroom, a lounge, dining room, study, TV room, kitchen, cloakroom, utility, walk-in larder, and a garden room...
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Judicial Activism is like States Rights. It’s bad when the other lot did it.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
Do I sniff some of the old False Equivalence?
Hinted only but, yes, I think I do.
No. The Democrats universally stated that States Rights were evil, until they realised that they could use them.
Equally, judicial activism is awesome or horrific. Depending on what it is used for - hence Republican hypocracy on this.
The lesson in all this is to think of the future. And the past.
Which is why Biden is resisting court packing. Since it would result in the next Republican president packing the court to the point of undoing anything vaguely progressive back to 1900 or so. Maybe earlier.
I think the SC is in trouble whether packed or not after this. The bias and lack of integrity is too blatant.
Turing the Supreme Court into the only legislative body actually doing legislation resulted in it becoming a political body. A chamber of Congress with seats for life.
Stupid, horrible and utterly inevitable.
Yes, a mess. Not sure about inevitable though. Trump again for me. He rigged the Court good and proper. GOP - this new batshit crazy one - now empowered to refight the civil rights era with a stacked deck. Puppet SC. Gerrymandered voting. Structural Senate bias. Dark age beckons for America.
Talking to my American relatives in the late 90s I raised exactly this point - “You say that you’ve won the culture wars because of the legal system. What happens when the Republicans get a majority on the SC?”
The answer, it seemed was that “all proper lawyers believe in the progressive, living Constitution. So we will control the Court forever”
I always thought this resembled the Underpants Gnomes business strategy, personally.
In the late 90s the Republicans had a majority on the Supreme Court.
You see. That's what is all wrong about it. Neither Party should have a majority. They're supposed to be enforcing the Constitution without prejudice.
And the companion volume could be GOOD PLACES TO AVOID WATCHING AND HEARING ABOUT CRICKET
if we were married @cyclefree you could walk on to the balcony and sip chilled rose, and leave me to my cricket
*kneels, earnestly*
*checks flights to Montenegro*
*Contemplates bigamy and/or adultery.*
*Then thinks about the headers she could write on that - and many other - balconies.*
*.... sighs ....*
Yes, but your plants need care and attention. Men come and go, but a garden is forever...
Plants and men are very similar.
Often gorgeous, bring much joy, their scent can be intoxicating, are a must have in the bedroom, need lots of care, wilt occasionally and need frequent watering and feeding.
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Judicial Activism is like States Rights. It’s bad when the other lot did it.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
Do I sniff some of the old False Equivalence?
Hinted only but, yes, I think I do.
No. The Democrats universally stated that States Rights were evil, until they realised that they could use them.
Equally, judicial activism is awesome or horrific. Depending on what it is used for - hence Republican hypocracy on this.
The lesson in all this is to think of the future. And the past.
Which is why Biden is resisting court packing. Since it would result in the next Republican president packing the court to the point of undoing anything vaguely progressive back to 1900 or so. Maybe earlier.
I think the SC is in trouble whether packed or not after this. The bias and lack of integrity is too blatant.
Turing the Supreme Court into the only legislative body actually doing legislation resulted in it becoming a political body. A chamber of Congress with seats for life.
Stupid, horrible and utterly inevitable.
Yes, a mess. Not sure about inevitable though. Trump again for me. He rigged the Court good and proper. GOP - this new batshit crazy one - now empowered to refight the civil rights era with a stacked deck. Puppet SC. Gerrymandered voting. Structural Senate bias. Dark age beckons for America.
Talking to my American relatives in the late 90s I raised exactly this point - “You say that you’ve won the culture wars because of the legal system. What happens when the Republicans get a majority on the SC?”
The answer, it seemed was that “all proper lawyers believe in the progressive, living Constitution. So we will control the Court forever”
I always thought this resembled the Underpants Gnomes business strategy, personally.
Does anyone know why the Democrats didn't legislate in favour of US-wide abortion law in 2009 when they controlled the presidency, House, and had 60 seats in the Senate.
In order to put Roe vs Wade into law, it would require a supermajority and 75% of states to agree. Anything less than a Constitutional ammendment could be ruled unconconstitutional by the SC.
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Judicial Activism is like States Rights. It’s bad when the other lot did it.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
Do I sniff some of the old False Equivalence?
Hinted only but, yes, I think I do.
No. The Democrats universally stated that States Rights were evil, until they realised that they could use them.
Equally, judicial activism is awesome or horrific. Depending on what it is used for - hence Republican hypocracy on this.
The lesson in all this is to think of the future. And the past.
Which is why Biden is resisting court packing. Since it would result in the next Republican president packing the court to the point of undoing anything vaguely progressive back to 1900 or so. Maybe earlier.
I think the SC is in trouble whether packed or not after this. The bias and lack of integrity is too blatant.
Turing the Supreme Court into the only legislative body actually doing legislation resulted in it becoming a political body. A chamber of Congress with seats for life.
Stupid, horrible and utterly inevitable.
Yes, a mess. Not sure about inevitable though. Trump again for me. He rigged the Court good and proper. GOP - this new batshit crazy one - now empowered to refight the civil rights era with a stacked deck. Puppet SC. Gerrymandered voting. Structural Senate bias. Dark age beckons for America.
Talking to my American relatives in the late 90s I raised exactly this point - “You say that you’ve won the culture wars because of the legal system. What happens when the Republicans get a majority on the SC?”
The answer, it seemed was that “all proper lawyers believe in the progressive, living Constitution. So we will control the Court forever”
I always thought this resembled the Underpants Gnomes business strategy, personally.
In the late 90s the Republicans had a majority on the Supreme Court.
They had a majority in sane, expert lawyers, sort of. Hence Roe vs Wade was safe. And hence my relatives believing that even Republican judges on the court would rule… if not their way, not massively against them.
And the Republican base was increasingly angry at that.
To be fair to @IanB2 this is the view I am missing, from my balcony, as I watch the cricket. Perhaps foolish
Do you no longer need to work?
He is working. You see hills and mountains in @Leon's photos — he sees limitless supplies of flint.
And Kotor is the Banana Belt of Montenegro. Lot less ocean view and plenty more rocks inland & upward.
Imagine the scene in Leon's photo, with Venetian galleys riding in the bay.
Or the Austro-Hungarian Fleet on summer maneuvers, with Franz Joseph and Sisi and the rest of the imperial entourage enjoying the spectacle from the deck of the flagship.
Seeing the sun go down across that ridge to the west, between the bay and open Adriatic. On a day like today.
Old Town Kotor is ravishingly pretty…
… but horribly touristy. Like a Slavic Taormina with more billionaire yachties
Rural Armenia it is not. I shall lie in the sun, recharge my batteries, eat a few fish, then strike out for the Accursed Mountains. That is literally their name
Did the mountains get that name, because folks having to climb them at some point passed some remark like - how many more of these Goddamned Mountains are there, anyway?
See here for a kind-of explanation. They do look spectacularly rugged
The Lonely Planet guide says this Accursed Mountain bit of the country, the Montenegrin-Albanian border, is possibly the “least explored region in Europe”
OOOOOH. I have to go!
Kotor is gorgeous but very definitely explored. There’s a surprising number of Americans here. Wassat about? Yachties? Maybe cruises
You can get there from Dubrovnik. Which they go to 'cos of Game of Thrones. But it's a tourist hellhole, so you don't want to spend too long there.
I’ve been to Dubrovnik twice. Once was just after the Balkan Wars, when it was DESERTED, and me and my pals wandered the marble-paved, slightly shrapnel-shredded roads alone, and you could sit anywhere you liked and drink great wine for a quid a bottle, or whatever
Then I went ten years later. OMFG. Never again
Good lesson in life tho: always visit places that are just emerging from wars. You will have it to yourself, and everyone will be keen to see you
I have honestly applied this rule several times. Always works. I aim to be in Odessa in 2028
Ukraine or Texas?
Russia...
(BTW we now spell it with one S)
Rusia?
That's Muscovy. The Ukrainians are the true Rus.
Ah, Greater Ukrainian Nationalism.
Where do you think the Ukrainian border with China should be?
Actually I think we should recreate the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, so there is a big powerful country between the rest of Europe and Muscovy.
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Judicial Activism is like States Rights. It’s bad when the other lot did it.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
Do I sniff some of the old False Equivalence?
Hinted only but, yes, I think I do.
No. The Democrats universally stated that States Rights were evil, until they realised that they could use them.
Equally, judicial activism is awesome or horrific. Depending on what it is used for - hence Republican hypocracy on this.
The lesson in all this is to think of the future. And the past.
Which is why Biden is resisting court packing. Since it would result in the next Republican president packing the court to the point of undoing anything vaguely progressive back to 1900 or so. Maybe earlier.
I think the SC is in trouble whether packed or not after this. The bias and lack of integrity is too blatant.
Turing the Supreme Court into the only legislative body actually doing legislation resulted in it becoming a political body. A chamber of Congress with seats for life.
Stupid, horrible and utterly inevitable.
Yes, a mess. Not sure about inevitable though. Trump again for me. He rigged the Court good and proper. GOP - this new batshit crazy one - now empowered to refight the civil rights era with a stacked deck. Puppet SC. Gerrymandered voting. Structural Senate bias. Dark age beckons for America.
Talking to my American relatives in the late 90s I raised exactly this point - “You say that you’ve won the culture wars because of the legal system. What happens when the Republicans get a majority on the SC?”
The answer, it seemed was that “all proper lawyers believe in the progressive, living Constitution. So we will control the Court forever”
I always thought this resembled the Underpants Gnomes business strategy, personally.
In the late 90s the Republicans had a majority on the Supreme Court.
Compare and contrast GOP appointed John Paul Stevens, David Souter, and Anthony Kennedy with today's hacks Alito, Kavanagh, and ACB.
This test series has been fantastic. Largely because the first innings' have all been close. Have often wondered if the ideal format for cricket would have be 2 day single innings matches.
To be fair to @IanB2 this is the view I am missing, from my balcony, as I watch the cricket. Perhaps foolish
Do you no longer need to work?
He is working. You see hills and mountains in @Leon's photos — he sees limitless supplies of flint.
And Kotor is the Banana Belt of Montenegro. Lot less ocean view and plenty more rocks inland & upward.
Imagine the scene in Leon's photo, with Venetian galleys riding in the bay.
Or the Austro-Hungarian Fleet on summer maneuvers, with Franz Joseph and Sisi and the rest of the imperial entourage enjoying the spectacle from the deck of the flagship.
Seeing the sun go down across that ridge to the west, between the bay and open Adriatic. On a day like today.
Old Town Kotor is ravishingly pretty…
… but horribly touristy. Like a Slavic Taormina with more billionaire yachties
Rural Armenia it is not. I shall lie in the sun, recharge my batteries, eat a few fish, then strike out for the Accursed Mountains. That is literally their name
Did the mountains get that name, because folks having to climb them at some point passed some remark like - how many more of these Goddamned Mountains are there, anyway?
See here for a kind-of explanation. They do look spectacularly rugged
The Lonely Planet guide says this Accursed Mountain bit of the country, the Montenegrin-Albanian border, is possibly the “least explored region in Europe”
OOOOOH. I have to go!
Kotor is gorgeous but very definitely explored. There’s a surprising number of Americans here. Wassat about? Yachties? Maybe cruises
You can get there from Dubrovnik. Which they go to 'cos of Game of Thrones. But it's a tourist hellhole, so you don't want to spend too long there.
I’ve been to Dubrovnik twice. Once was just after the Balkan Wars, when it was DESERTED, and me and my pals wandered the marble-paved, slightly shrapnel-shredded roads alone, and you could sit anywhere you liked and drink great wine for a quid a bottle, or whatever
Then I went ten years later. OMFG. Never again
Good lesson in life tho: always visit places that are just emerging from wars. You will have it to yourself, and everyone will be keen to see you
I have honestly applied this rule several times. Always works. I aim to be in Odessa in 2028
Ukraine or Texas?
Russia...
(BTW we now spell it with one S)
Rusia?
That's Muscovy. The Ukrainians are the true Rus.
Ah, Greater Ukrainian Nationalism.
Where do you think the Ukrainian border with China should be?
Actually I think we should recreate the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, so there is a big powerful country between the rest of Europe and Muscovy.
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Judicial Activism is like States Rights. It’s bad when the other lot did it.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
Do I sniff some of the old False Equivalence?
Hinted only but, yes, I think I do.
No. The Democrats universally stated that States Rights were evil, until they realised that they could use them.
Equally, judicial activism is awesome or horrific. Depending on what it is used for - hence Republican hypocracy on this.
The lesson in all this is to think of the future. And the past.
Which is why Biden is resisting court packing. Since it would result in the next Republican president packing the court to the point of undoing anything vaguely progressive back to 1900 or so. Maybe earlier.
I think the SC is in trouble whether packed or not after this. The bias and lack of integrity is too blatant.
Turing the Supreme Court into the only legislative body actually doing legislation resulted in it becoming a political body. A chamber of Congress with seats for life.
Stupid, horrible and utterly inevitable.
Yes, a mess. Not sure about inevitable though. Trump again for me. He rigged the Court good and proper. GOP - this new batshit crazy one - now empowered to refight the civil rights era with a stacked deck. Puppet SC. Gerrymandered voting. Structural Senate bias. Dark age beckons for America.
Talking to my American relatives in the late 90s I raised exactly this point - “You say that you’ve won the culture wars because of the legal system. What happens when the Republicans get a majority on the SC?”
The answer, it seemed was that “all proper lawyers believe in the progressive, living Constitution. So we will control the Court forever”
I always thought this resembled the Underpants Gnomes business strategy, personally.
There's no straight line from that SC you were chatting with your family about in the 90s to this utterly fucked up one that's 6/3 and has Brett Kavanaugh on it. You're sliding into "FE" again.
It's not as blatant or silly as Leon's latest effort - which I won't be biting on - but it's there alright.
If you were interested in American politics at the time, you would have encountered the belief among the progressive that The Court was the key to their agenda, since the Republicans could at block the supra majorities required to legislate effectively. Control the court, you’ve got civil rights, gay marriage etc etc…
You’d have thought that Clarence Thomas would have been a wake up call, but no.
If you keep adding Federalist Society approved judges to the court, at some point they have a majority. To enact what the Federalist Society is all about. Which is what just happened.
There’s nothing especially deep in any of that.
It's not deep no. It's "dems and progs shouldn't have gone out dressed like that" sentiment.
Don't buy it tbh. Comes from the same stable as "Trump is a symptom not a cause".
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Judicial Activism is like States Rights. It’s bad when the other lot did it.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
Do I sniff some of the old False Equivalence?
Hinted only but, yes, I think I do.
No. The Democrats universally stated that States Rights were evil, until they realised that they could use them.
Equally, judicial activism is awesome or horrific. Depending on what it is used for - hence Republican hypocracy on this.
The lesson in all this is to think of the future. And the past.
Which is why Biden is resisting court packing. Since it would result in the next Republican president packing the court to the point of undoing anything vaguely progressive back to 1900 or so. Maybe earlier.
I think the SC is in trouble whether packed or not after this. The bias and lack of integrity is too blatant.
Turing the Supreme Court into the only legislative body actually doing legislation resulted in it becoming a political body. A chamber of Congress with seats for life.
Stupid, horrible and utterly inevitable.
Yes, a mess. Not sure about inevitable though. Trump again for me. He rigged the Court good and proper. GOP - this new batshit crazy one - now empowered to refight the civil rights era with a stacked deck. Puppet SC. Gerrymandered voting. Structural Senate bias. Dark age beckons for America.
Talking to my American relatives in the late 90s I raised exactly this point - “You say that you’ve won the culture wars because of the legal system. What happens when the Republicans get a majority on the SC?”
The answer, it seemed was that “all proper lawyers believe in the progressive, living Constitution. So we will control the Court forever”
I always thought this resembled the Underpants Gnomes business strategy, personally.
In the late 90s the Republicans had a majority on the Supreme Court.
Compare and contrast GOP appointed John Paul Stevens, David Souter, and Anthony Kennedy with today's hacks Alito, Kavanagh, and ACB.
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Judicial Activism is like States Rights. It’s bad when the other lot did it.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
Do I sniff some of the old False Equivalence?
Hinted only but, yes, I think I do.
No. The Democrats universally stated that States Rights were evil, until they realised that they could use them.
Equally, judicial activism is awesome or horrific. Depending on what it is used for - hence Republican hypocracy on this.
The lesson in all this is to think of the future. And the past.
Which is why Biden is resisting court packing. Since it would result in the next Republican president packing the court to the point of undoing anything vaguely progressive back to 1900 or so. Maybe earlier.
I think the SC is in trouble whether packed or not after this. The bias and lack of integrity is too blatant.
Turing the Supreme Court into the only legislative body actually doing legislation resulted in it becoming a political body. A chamber of Congress with seats for life.
Stupid, horrible and utterly inevitable.
Yes, a mess. Not sure about inevitable though. Trump again for me. He rigged the Court good and proper. GOP - this new batshit crazy one - now empowered to refight the civil rights era with a stacked deck. Puppet SC. Gerrymandered voting. Structural Senate bias. Dark age beckons for America.
Talking to my American relatives in the late 90s I raised exactly this point - “You say that you’ve won the culture wars because of the legal system. What happens when the Republicans get a majority on the SC?”
The answer, it seemed was that “all proper lawyers believe in the progressive, living Constitution. So we will control the Court forever”
I always thought this resembled the Underpants Gnomes business strategy, personally.
In the late 90s the Republicans had a majority on the Supreme Court.
Compare and contrast GOP appointed John Paul Stevens, David Souter, and Anthony Kennedy with today's hacks Alito, Kavanagh, and ACB.
Thomas…
There's a special circle of hell reserved for him and his insurrectionist wife.
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Judicial Activism is like States Rights. It’s bad when the other lot did it.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
Do I sniff some of the old False Equivalence?
Hinted only but, yes, I think I do.
No. The Democrats universally stated that States Rights were evil, until they realised that they could use them.
Equally, judicial activism is awesome or horrific. Depending on what it is used for - hence Republican hypocracy on this.
The lesson in all this is to think of the future. And the past.
Which is why Biden is resisting court packing. Since it would result in the next Republican president packing the court to the point of undoing anything vaguely progressive back to 1900 or so. Maybe earlier.
I think the SC is in trouble whether packed or not after this. The bias and lack of integrity is too blatant.
Turing the Supreme Court into the only legislative body actually doing legislation resulted in it becoming a political body. A chamber of Congress with seats for life.
Stupid, horrible and utterly inevitable.
Yes, a mess. Not sure about inevitable though. Trump again for me. He rigged the Court good and proper. GOP - this new batshit crazy one - now empowered to refight the civil rights era with a stacked deck. Puppet SC. Gerrymandered voting. Structural Senate bias. Dark age beckons for America.
Talking to my American relatives in the late 90s I raised exactly this point - “You say that you’ve won the culture wars because of the legal system. What happens when the Republicans get a majority on the SC?”
The answer, it seemed was that “all proper lawyers believe in the progressive, living Constitution. So we will control the Court forever”
I always thought this resembled the Underpants Gnomes business strategy, personally.
In the late 90s the Republicans had a majority on the Supreme Court.
You see. That's what is all wrong about it. Neither Party should have a majority. They're supposed to be enforcing the Constitution without prejudice.
The Supreme Court has always been a nakedly political body. It has been stuffed with cronies and people we would consider totally unqualified in the past. It is only in the last 50 or so years that this idea of an august formal body has taken hold when the history of the institution is anything but.
To be fair to @IanB2 this is the view I am missing, from my balcony, as I watch the cricket. Perhaps foolish
Do you no longer need to work?
He is working. You see hills and mountains in @Leon's photos — he sees limitless supplies of flint.
And Kotor is the Banana Belt of Montenegro. Lot less ocean view and plenty more rocks inland & upward.
Imagine the scene in Leon's photo, with Venetian galleys riding in the bay.
Or the Austro-Hungarian Fleet on summer maneuvers, with Franz Joseph and Sisi and the rest of the imperial entourage enjoying the spectacle from the deck of the flagship.
Seeing the sun go down across that ridge to the west, between the bay and open Adriatic. On a day like today.
Old Town Kotor is ravishingly pretty…
… but horribly touristy. Like a Slavic Taormina with more billionaire yachties
Rural Armenia it is not. I shall lie in the sun, recharge my batteries, eat a few fish, then strike out for the Accursed Mountains. That is literally their name
Did the mountains get that name, because folks having to climb them at some point passed some remark like - how many more of these Goddamned Mountains are there, anyway?
See here for a kind-of explanation. They do look spectacularly rugged
The Lonely Planet guide says this Accursed Mountain bit of the country, the Montenegrin-Albanian border, is possibly the “least explored region in Europe”
OOOOOH. I have to go!
Kotor is gorgeous but very definitely explored. There’s a surprising number of Americans here. Wassat about? Yachties? Maybe cruises
You can get there from Dubrovnik. Which they go to 'cos of Game of Thrones. But it's a tourist hellhole, so you don't want to spend too long there.
I’ve been to Dubrovnik twice. Once was just after the Balkan Wars, when it was DESERTED, and me and my pals wandered the marble-paved, slightly shrapnel-shredded roads alone, and you could sit anywhere you liked and drink great wine for a quid a bottle, or whatever
Then I went ten years later. OMFG. Never again
Good lesson in life tho: always visit places that are just emerging from wars. You will have it to yourself, and everyone will be keen to see you
I have honestly applied this rule several times. Always works. I aim to be in Odessa in 2028
Ukraine or Texas?
Russia...
(BTW we now spell it with one S)
Rusia?
That's Muscovy. The Ukrainians are the true Rus.
Ah, Greater Ukrainian Nationalism.
Where do you think the Ukrainian border with China should be?
Actually I think we should recreate the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, so there is a big powerful country between the rest of Europe and Muscovy.
Hmmm… I like it.
That’s light weight irredentism
P-L certainly reached the Black Sea at some points in its history.
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Judicial Activism is like States Rights. It’s bad when the other lot did it.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
Do I sniff some of the old False Equivalence?
Hinted only but, yes, I think I do.
No. The Democrats universally stated that States Rights were evil, until they realised that they could use them.
Equally, judicial activism is awesome or horrific. Depending on what it is used for - hence Republican hypocracy on this.
The lesson in all this is to think of the future. And the past.
Which is why Biden is resisting court packing. Since it would result in the next Republican president packing the court to the point of undoing anything vaguely progressive back to 1900 or so. Maybe earlier.
I think the SC is in trouble whether packed or not after this. The bias and lack of integrity is too blatant.
Turing the Supreme Court into the only legislative body actually doing legislation resulted in it becoming a political body. A chamber of Congress with seats for life.
Stupid, horrible and utterly inevitable.
Yes, a mess. Not sure about inevitable though. Trump again for me. He rigged the Court good and proper. GOP - this new batshit crazy one - now empowered to refight the civil rights era with a stacked deck. Puppet SC. Gerrymandered voting. Structural Senate bias. Dark age beckons for America.
Talking to my American relatives in the late 90s I raised exactly this point - “You say that you’ve won the culture wars because of the legal system. What happens when the Republicans get a majority on the SC?”
The answer, it seemed was that “all proper lawyers believe in the progressive, living Constitution. So we will control the Court forever”
I always thought this resembled the Underpants Gnomes business strategy, personally.
In the late 90s the Republicans had a majority on the Supreme Court.
Compare and contrast GOP appointed John Paul Stevens, David Souter, and Anthony Kennedy with today's hacks Alito, Kavanagh, and ACB.
It has been noted by some that Judges entered the Supreme Court as firm conservatives and left it as soggy liberals - thus the requirement for the Federalist Society Cult to groom zealots from a young age.
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Judicial Activism is like States Rights. It’s bad when the other lot did it.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
Do I sniff some of the old False Equivalence?
Hinted only but, yes, I think I do.
No. The Democrats universally stated that States Rights were evil, until they realised that they could use them.
Equally, judicial activism is awesome or horrific. Depending on what it is used for - hence Republican hypocracy on this.
The lesson in all this is to think of the future. And the past.
Which is why Biden is resisting court packing. Since it would result in the next Republican president packing the court to the point of undoing anything vaguely progressive back to 1900 or so. Maybe earlier.
I think the SC is in trouble whether packed or not after this. The bias and lack of integrity is too blatant.
Turing the Supreme Court into the only legislative body actually doing legislation resulted in it becoming a political body. A chamber of Congress with seats for life.
Stupid, horrible and utterly inevitable.
Yes, a mess. Not sure about inevitable though. Trump again for me. He rigged the Court good and proper. GOP - this new batshit crazy one - now empowered to refight the civil rights era with a stacked deck. Puppet SC. Gerrymandered voting. Structural Senate bias. Dark age beckons for America.
Talking to my American relatives in the late 90s I raised exactly this point - “You say that you’ve won the culture wars because of the legal system. What happens when the Republicans get a majority on the SC?”
The answer, it seemed was that “all proper lawyers believe in the progressive, living Constitution. So we will control the Court forever”
I always thought this resembled the Underpants Gnomes business strategy, personally.
In the late 90s the Republicans had a majority on the Supreme Court.
You see. That's what is all wrong about it. Neither Party should have a majority. They're supposed to be enforcing the Constitution without prejudice.
The Supreme Court has always been a nakedly political body. It has been stuffed with cronies and people we would consider totally unqualified in the past. It is only in the last 50 or so years that this idea of an august formal body has taken hold when the history of the institution is anything but.
Yeah. I'm naïve. And an idealist. See also my cricket post.
The identification of "red" as the Republican color dates from about 2000, and was created by US news organizations, not the parties. Earlier, most scholars would have used blue for Republicans and red for Democrats. I have, for example, a historical atlas by Kenneth Martis showing US parties in Congress from 1789 to 1989, which uses blue for Republicans, and red for Democrats.
It is a fairly compelling critique, although I do find the analysis at times, simplistic. Ie marriage is great on lots of different indicators, therefore it should be promoted etc etc. What about shit marriages, that can be abusive and a disaster for those involved and their kids?
Depth and nuance are somewhat lacking. Nice phrase, though, “luxury beliefs” and it’s not entirely without merit.
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Judicial Activism is like States Rights. It’s bad when the other lot did it.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
Do I sniff some of the old False Equivalence?
Hinted only but, yes, I think I do.
No. The Democrats universally stated that States Rights were evil, until they realised that they could use them.
Equally, judicial activism is awesome or horrific. Depending on what it is used for - hence Republican hypocracy on this.
The lesson in all this is to think of the future. And the past.
Which is why Biden is resisting court packing. Since it would result in the next Republican president packing the court to the point of undoing anything vaguely progressive back to 1900 or so. Maybe earlier.
I think the SC is in trouble whether packed or not after this. The bias and lack of integrity is too blatant.
Turing the Supreme Court into the only legislative body actually doing legislation resulted in it becoming a political body. A chamber of Congress with seats for life.
Stupid, horrible and utterly inevitable.
Yes, a mess. Not sure about inevitable though. Trump again for me. He rigged the Court good and proper. GOP - this new batshit crazy one - now empowered to refight the civil rights era with a stacked deck. Puppet SC. Gerrymandered voting. Structural Senate bias. Dark age beckons for America.
Talking to my American relatives in the late 90s I raised exactly this point - “You say that you’ve won the culture wars because of the legal system. What happens when the Republicans get a majority on the SC?”
The answer, it seemed was that “all proper lawyers believe in the progressive, living Constitution. So we will control the Court forever”
I always thought this resembled the Underpants Gnomes business strategy, personally.
Does anyone know why the Democrats didn't legislate in favour of US-wide abortion law in 2009 when they controlled the presidency, House, and had 60 seats in the Senate.
Due to death and election law suits they only had the 60 seat super-majority for a tiny handful of days, which was almost entirely used to pass the affordable care act.
And numerous Dem Senators would have been anti-abortion.
To be fair to @IanB2 this is the view I am missing, from my balcony, as I watch the cricket. Perhaps foolish
Do you no longer need to work?
He is working. You see hills and mountains in @Leon's photos — he sees limitless supplies of flint.
And Kotor is the Banana Belt of Montenegro. Lot less ocean view and plenty more rocks inland & upward.
Imagine the scene in Leon's photo, with Venetian galleys riding in the bay.
Or the Austro-Hungarian Fleet on summer maneuvers, with Franz Joseph and Sisi and the rest of the imperial entourage enjoying the spectacle from the deck of the flagship.
Seeing the sun go down across that ridge to the west, between the bay and open Adriatic. On a day like today.
Old Town Kotor is ravishingly pretty…
… but horribly touristy. Like a Slavic Taormina with more billionaire yachties
Rural Armenia it is not. I shall lie in the sun, recharge my batteries, eat a few fish, then strike out for the Accursed Mountains. That is literally their name
Did the mountains get that name, because folks having to climb them at some point passed some remark like - how many more of these Goddamned Mountains are there, anyway?
See here for a kind-of explanation. They do look spectacularly rugged
The Lonely Planet guide says this Accursed Mountain bit of the country, the Montenegrin-Albanian border, is possibly the “least explored region in Europe”
OOOOOH. I have to go!
Kotor is gorgeous but very definitely explored. There’s a surprising number of Americans here. Wassat about? Yachties? Maybe cruises
You can get there from Dubrovnik. Which they go to 'cos of Game of Thrones. But it's a tourist hellhole, so you don't want to spend too long there.
I’ve been to Dubrovnik twice. Once was just after the Balkan Wars, when it was DESERTED, and me and my pals wandered the marble-paved, slightly shrapnel-shredded roads alone, and you could sit anywhere you liked and drink great wine for a quid a bottle, or whatever
Then I went ten years later. OMFG. Never again
Good lesson in life tho: always visit places that are just emerging from wars. You will have it to yourself, and everyone will be keen to see you
I have honestly applied this rule several times. Always works. I aim to be in Odessa in 2028
Ukraine or Texas?
Russia...
(BTW we now spell it with one S)
Rusia?
That's Muscovy. The Ukrainians are the true Rus.
Ah, Greater Ukrainian Nationalism.
Where do you think the Ukrainian border with China should be?
Actually I think we should recreate the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, so there is a big powerful country between the rest of Europe and Muscovy.
Hmmm… I like it.
That’s light weight irredentism
P-L certainly reached the Black Sea at some points in its history.
The first festival was held in September 1970. If the average age of the performers was say 27, which seems entirely plausible, it means that Paul McCartney, who just performed at this year's festival, was older than the average performer at that first 1970 festival, because he would have been 28 at the time.
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Judicial Activism is like States Rights. It’s bad when the other lot did it.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
Do I sniff some of the old False Equivalence?
Hinted only but, yes, I think I do.
No. The Democrats universally stated that States Rights were evil, until they realised that they could use them.
Equally, judicial activism is awesome or horrific. Depending on what it is used for - hence Republican hypocracy on this.
The lesson in all this is to think of the future. And the past.
Which is why Biden is resisting court packing. Since it would result in the next Republican president packing the court to the point of undoing anything vaguely progressive back to 1900 or so. Maybe earlier.
I think the SC is in trouble whether packed or not after this. The bias and lack of integrity is too blatant.
Turing the Supreme Court into the only legislative body actually doing legislation resulted in it becoming a political body. A chamber of Congress with seats for life.
Stupid, horrible and utterly inevitable.
Yes, a mess. Not sure about inevitable though. Trump again for me. He rigged the Court good and proper. GOP - this new batshit crazy one - now empowered to refight the civil rights era with a stacked deck. Puppet SC. Gerrymandered voting. Structural Senate bias. Dark age beckons for America.
Talking to my American relatives in the late 90s I raised exactly this point - “You say that you’ve won the culture wars because of the legal system. What happens when the Republicans get a majority on the SC?”
The answer, it seemed was that “all proper lawyers believe in the progressive, living Constitution. So we will control the Court forever”
I always thought this resembled the Underpants Gnomes business strategy, personally.
There's no straight line from that SC you were chatting with your family about in the 90s to this utterly fucked up one that's 6/3 and has Brett Kavanaugh on it. You're sliding into "FE" again.
It's not as blatant or silly as Leon's latest effort - which I won't be biting on - but it's there alright.
If you were interested in American politics at the time, you would have encountered the belief among the progressive that The Court was the key to their agenda, since the Republicans could at block the supra majorities required to legislate effectively. Control the court, you’ve got civil rights, gay marriage etc etc…
You’d have thought that Clarence Thomas would have been a wake up call, but no.
If you keep adding Federalist Society approved judges to the court, at some point they have a majority. To enact what the Federalist Society is all about. Which is what just happened.
There’s nothing especially deep in any of that.
It's not deep no. It's "dems and progs shouldn't have gone out dressed like that" sentiment.
Don't buy it tbh. Comes from the same stable as "Trump is a symptom not a cause".
Nope. It’s simple maths - if you make control of The Supreme Court your point of failure, you invite an attempt to take control of it by your opponents.
As Herman Kahn observed, enemies are often like that - doing the most inconvenient thing possible, for you. Almost as if they have it in for you.
What was needed was to reinforce success on a broad and deep front. OK, getting an abortion amendment through might not be possible immediately. Get the Amendment written and ratified by as many states as you can. Write as much protection for abortion into law as possible. Get to work winning more states, by hook or crook. Find 50 versions of Stacey Abrams.
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Judicial Activism is like States Rights. It’s bad when the other lot did it.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
Do I sniff some of the old False Equivalence?
Hinted only but, yes, I think I do.
No. The Democrats universally stated that States Rights were evil, until they realised that they could use them.
Equally, judicial activism is awesome or horrific. Depending on what it is used for - hence Republican hypocracy on this.
The lesson in all this is to think of the future. And the past.
Which is why Biden is resisting court packing. Since it would result in the next Republican president packing the court to the point of undoing anything vaguely progressive back to 1900 or so. Maybe earlier.
I think the SC is in trouble whether packed or not after this. The bias and lack of integrity is too blatant.
Turing the Supreme Court into the only legislative body actually doing legislation resulted in it becoming a political body. A chamber of Congress with seats for life.
Stupid, horrible and utterly inevitable.
Yes, a mess. Not sure about inevitable though. Trump again for me. He rigged the Court good and proper. GOP - this new batshit crazy one - now empowered to refight the civil rights era with a stacked deck. Puppet SC. Gerrymandered voting. Structural Senate bias. Dark age beckons for America.
Talking to my American relatives in the late 90s I raised exactly this point - “You say that you’ve won the culture wars because of the legal system. What happens when the Republicans get a majority on the SC?”
The answer, it seemed was that “all proper lawyers believe in the progressive, living Constitution. So we will control the Court forever”
I always thought this resembled the Underpants Gnomes business strategy, personally.
In the late 90s the Republicans had a majority on the Supreme Court.
Compare and contrast GOP appointed John Paul Stevens, David Souter, and Anthony Kennedy with today's hacks Alito, Kavanagh, and ACB.
Yes that's a big part of it - the dip in quality. It's perfectly possible to have bright ethical humane lawyers with right of centre political views.
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Judicial Activism is like States Rights. It’s bad when the other lot did it.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
Do I sniff some of the old False Equivalence?
Hinted only but, yes, I think I do.
No. The Democrats universally stated that States Rights were evil, until they realised that they could use them.
Equally, judicial activism is awesome or horrific. Depending on what it is used for - hence Republican hypocracy on this.
The lesson in all this is to think of the future. And the past.
Which is why Biden is resisting court packing. Since it would result in the next Republican president packing the court to the point of undoing anything vaguely progressive back to 1900 or so. Maybe earlier.
I think the SC is in trouble whether packed or not after this. The bias and lack of integrity is too blatant.
Turing the Supreme Court into the only legislative body actually doing legislation resulted in it becoming a political body. A chamber of Congress with seats for life.
Stupid, horrible and utterly inevitable.
Yes, a mess. Not sure about inevitable though. Trump again for me. He rigged the Court good and proper. GOP - this new batshit crazy one - now empowered to refight the civil rights era with a stacked deck. Puppet SC. Gerrymandered voting. Structural Senate bias. Dark age beckons for America.
Talking to my American relatives in the late 90s I raised exactly this point - “You say that you’ve won the culture wars because of the legal system. What happens when the Republicans get a majority on the SC?”
The answer, it seemed was that “all proper lawyers believe in the progressive, living Constitution. So we will control the Court forever”
I always thought this resembled the Underpants Gnomes business strategy, personally.
In the late 90s the Republicans had a majority on the Supreme Court.
Compare and contrast GOP appointed John Paul Stevens, David Souter, and Anthony Kennedy with today's hacks Alito, Kavanagh, and ACB.
Yes that's a big part of it - the dip in quality. It's perfectly possible to have bright ethical humane lawyers with right of centre political views.
The problem was that once the Supreme Court became *the game* in town, Christopher Mulready won’t be the nominee.
The first festival was held in September 1970. If the average age of the performers was say 27, which seems entirely plausible, it means that Paul McCartney, who just performed at this year's festival, was older than the average performer at that first 1970 festival, because he would have been 28 at the time.
The reason why the likes of Kavanaugh et al were appointed when they weren't before was because the filibuster on SCOTUS appointees was abolished by the GOP. And the reason why they abolished it? In direct retaliation for good old Democrat Majority Leader in the Senate Harry Reid abolishing the filibuster for Federal judges and cabinet appointees in 2013, with the backing of Obama.
Which is why it's always bad to start messing around with the structure. Because once you do it, the other side feels they have carts blanche to do the same.
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Judicial Activism is like States Rights. It’s bad when the other lot did it.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
Do I sniff some of the old False Equivalence?
Hinted only but, yes, I think I do.
No. The Democrats universally stated that States Rights were evil, until they realised that they could use them.
Equally, judicial activism is awesome or horrific. Depending on what it is used for - hence Republican hypocracy on this.
The lesson in all this is to think of the future. And the past.
Which is why Biden is resisting court packing. Since it would result in the next Republican president packing the court to the point of undoing anything vaguely progressive back to 1900 or so. Maybe earlier.
I think the SC is in trouble whether packed or not after this. The bias and lack of integrity is too blatant.
Turing the Supreme Court into the only legislative body actually doing legislation resulted in it becoming a political body. A chamber of Congress with seats for life.
Stupid, horrible and utterly inevitable.
Yes, a mess. Not sure about inevitable though. Trump again for me. He rigged the Court good and proper. GOP - this new batshit crazy one - now empowered to refight the civil rights era with a stacked deck. Puppet SC. Gerrymandered voting. Structural Senate bias. Dark age beckons for America.
Talking to my American relatives in the late 90s I raised exactly this point - “You say that you’ve won the culture wars because of the legal system. What happens when the Republicans get a majority on the SC?”
The answer, it seemed was that “all proper lawyers believe in the progressive, living Constitution. So we will control the Court forever”
I always thought this resembled the Underpants Gnomes business strategy, personally.
In the late 90s the Republicans had a majority on the Supreme Court.
Compare and contrast GOP appointed John Paul Stevens, David Souter, and Anthony Kennedy with today's hacks Alito, Kavanagh, and ACB.
Yes that's a big part of it - the dip in quality. It's perfectly possible to have bright ethical humane lawyers with right of centre political views.
The identification of "red" as the Republican color dates from about 2000, and was created by US news organizations, not the parties. Earlier, most scholars would have used blue for Republicans and red for Democrats. I have, for example, a historical atlas by Kenneth Martis showing US parties in Congress from 1789 to 1989, which uses blue for Republicans, and red for Democrats.
The first festival was held in September 1970. If the average age of the performers was say 27, which seems entirely plausible, it means that Paul McCartney, who just performed at this year's festival, was older than the average performer at that first 1970 festival, because he would have been 28 at the time.
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Judicial Activism is like States Rights. It’s bad when the other lot did it.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
Do I sniff some of the old False Equivalence?
Hinted only but, yes, I think I do.
No. The Democrats universally stated that States Rights were evil, until they realised that they could use them.
Equally, judicial activism is awesome or horrific. Depending on what it is used for - hence Republican hypocracy on this.
The lesson in all this is to think of the future. And the past.
Which is why Biden is resisting court packing. Since it would result in the next Republican president packing the court to the point of undoing anything vaguely progressive back to 1900 or so. Maybe earlier.
I think the SC is in trouble whether packed or not after this. The bias and lack of integrity is too blatant.
Turing the Supreme Court into the only legislative body actually doing legislation resulted in it becoming a political body. A chamber of Congress with seats for life.
Stupid, horrible and utterly inevitable.
Yes, a mess. Not sure about inevitable though. Trump again for me. He rigged the Court good and proper. GOP - this new batshit crazy one - now empowered to refight the civil rights era with a stacked deck. Puppet SC. Gerrymandered voting. Structural Senate bias. Dark age beckons for America.
Talking to my American relatives in the late 90s I raised exactly this point - “You say that you’ve won the culture wars because of the legal system. What happens when the Republicans get a majority on the SC?”
The answer, it seemed was that “all proper lawyers believe in the progressive, living Constitution. So we will control the Court forever”
I always thought this resembled the Underpants Gnomes business strategy, personally.
In the late 90s the Republicans had a majority on the Supreme Court.
You see. That's what is all wrong about it. Neither Party should have a majority. They're supposed to be enforcing the Constitution without prejudice.
The Supreme Court has always been a nakedly political body. It has been stuffed with cronies and people we would consider totally unqualified in the past. It is only in the last 50 or so years that this idea of an august formal body has taken hold when the history of the institution is anything but.
No doubt you are right, but the game they play is that they are an august, formal body, and they don't even seem to be pretending anymore.
Comments
It has the real man of the moment (=Z) playing his fictional self before his real self became that. Worth a look, quite funny and unbelievably prescient.
https://www.channel4.com/programmes/servant-of-the-people/on-demand/73985-001
The answer, it seemed was that “all proper lawyers believe in the progressive, living Constitution. So we will control the Court forever”
I always thought this resembled the Underpants Gnomes business strategy, personally.
Let us agree that America needs a reset. Banning abortion is not the way to go about it, but nor is yielding the country to the Woke
*kneels, earnestly*
I could not agree more firmly.
Keep safe.
Banning abortions is real and happening now.
'Yielding the country to the Woke' on the other hand is a 'reds under the beds' level of paranoia on your part.
(BTW we now spell it with one S)
Why not? Is it because you don't think any human rights should be untouchable by elected politicians? Or is it that you do but this one - female bodily autonomy - doesn't pass muster?
(Admittedly, it was only 50 yards.)
Constitutions are, at best, a speed bump. See the Roman Republic and many, many others.
We can bicker about which came first, or who is really to blame, or why humans are sinful or whether we have free will or determinism, but the fact is this rightwing surge is not happening in a void where everyone else is behaving normally. The American Left is not behaving normally, nor is American media
Eg For the last two years a decent-sized army of leftwing hoodlums have spent many months tearing down the centres of several American cities in vast prolonged riots which were excused by liberal media as “anti racist” and as being “largely peaceful” despite people literally dying in them
This stuff makes ordinary folk angry, and more wiling to accept extreme solutions - but from the other side. This is called polarisation
{opens a case of Chateau de Chassilier with a pry bar....}
*Contemplates bigamy and/or adultery.*
*Then thinks about the headers she could write on that - and many other - balconies.*
*.... sighs ....*
That’s basically YES, right?
We could have PB’S FIRST WEDDING
Where do you think the Ukrainian border with China should be?
Harper was thereafter routinely greeted with the question Ello John, got a new Kotor?
Think about it!
BBC introduce Glastonbury by warning of discriminatory language. Some choice lyrics in Kendrick Lamar’s songs?
No need to pack much. All one needs for adventure is a passport, change of lingerie and a winning smile.
🥂
It's not as blatant or silly as Leon's latest effort - which I won't be biting on - but it's there alright.
'The Russian military will soon exhaust its combat capabilities and be forced to bring its offensive in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region to a grinding halt, according to Western intelligence predictions and military experts.
“There will come a time when the tiny advances Russia is making become unsustainable in light of the costs and they will need a significant pause to regenerate capability,” said a senior Western official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive issue.
. . .
But conditions for Ukrainian troops are only likely to improve as more sophisticated Western weapons arrive, while those of Russian forces can be expected to deteriorate as they dig deeper into their stocks of old, outdated equipment, said retired Gen. Ben Hodges, a former commander of U.S. forces in Europe who is now with the Center for European Policy Analysis. At some point in the coming months, the Ukrainians will have received enough Western weaponry that it is likely they will be able to go on the counteroffensive and reverse the tide of the war, he said.'
source($): https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/06/25/ukraine-russia-balance-of-forces/
Hodges believes "that things are going to be trending in favor of the Ukrainians in the next few weeks."
The Post cites another analyst by name, Michael Kofman, director of Russian studies at the Center for Naval Analysis, in support of this optimistic assessment.
In 1999 the court had judges appointed by
Ford
Reagan
Reagan
Reagan
Reagan
Bush
Bush
Clinton
Clinton
You’d have thought that Clarence Thomas would have been a wake up call, but no.
If you keep adding Federalist Society approved judges to the court, at some point they have a majority. To enact what the Federalist Society is all about. Which is what just happened.
There’s nothing especially deep in any of that.
That bloody beer snake.
Edit - Also saw Boris Johnson getting chased by the police as well.
...but to us they were 'ouses.
Neither Party should have a majority. They're supposed to be enforcing the Constitution without prejudice.
Plants and men are very similar.
Often gorgeous, bring much joy, their scent can be intoxicating, are a must have in the bedroom, need lots of care, wilt occasionally and need frequent watering and feeding.
Sold out anyway
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/live/cricket/58516913/page/3
And the Republican base was increasingly angry at that.
Clarence Thomas was still fairly unique.
Have often wondered if the ideal format for cricket would have be 2 day single innings matches.
Don't buy it tbh. Comes from the same stable as "Trump is a symptom not a cause".
I'm naïve. And an idealist. See also my cricket post.
And so does Dave Leip's very useful on-line atlas, currently: https://uselectionatlas.org/
In the 1930's expressions like "parlor pink" were used in the US, so the identification of pink and red with the left has a long hsitory here.
I think the news organizations should correct this mistake, but recognize that they won't. (I am careful not to make this mistake myself.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Slm6K8XsYwk
It is a fairly compelling critique, although I do find the analysis at times, simplistic. Ie marriage is great on lots of different indicators, therefore it should be promoted etc etc. What about shit marriages, that can be abusive and a disaster for those involved and their kids?
Depth and nuance are somewhat lacking. Nice phrase, though, “luxury beliefs” and it’s not entirely without merit.
And numerous Dem Senators would have been anti-abortion.
The first festival was held in September 1970. If the average age of the performers was say 27, which seems entirely plausible, it means that Paul McCartney, who just performed at this year's festival, was older than the average performer at that first 1970 festival, because he would have been 28 at the time.
As Herman Kahn observed, enemies are often like that - doing the most inconvenient thing possible, for you. Almost as if they have it in for you.
What was needed was to reinforce success on a broad and deep front. OK, getting an abortion amendment through might not be possible immediately. Get the Amendment written and ratified by as many states as you can. Write as much protection for abortion into law as possible. Get to work winning more states, by hook or crook. Find 50 versions of Stacey Abrams.
I always liked this - https://youtu.be/AdtLnkH7W3A
The impression it gives is that David Lammy recently had to wait a long time at Terminal 5 at Heathrow.
The reason why the likes of Kavanaugh et al were appointed when they weren't before was because the filibuster on SCOTUS appointees was abolished by the GOP. And the reason why they abolished it? In direct retaliation for good old Democrat Majority Leader in the Senate Harry Reid abolishing the filibuster for Federal judges and cabinet appointees in 2013, with the backing of Obama.
Which is why it's always bad to start messing around with the structure. Because once you do it, the other side feels they have carts blanche to do the same.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gendered_associations_of_pink_and_blue#Pink–blue_reversal