The Celts are revolting – politicalbetting.com

Leon said:

JohnLilburne said:

Leon said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

Leon said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

DecrepiterJohnL said:

Casino_Royale said:

Leon said:

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


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accursed_Mountains


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

Leon said:

kinabalu said:

Malmesbury said:

kinabalu said:

Malmesbury said:

kinabalu said:

Malmesbury said:

Alistair said:

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

kinabalu said:

Malmesbury said:

kinabalu said:

Malmesbury said:

kinabalu said:

Malmesbury said:

Alistair said:

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.

Leon said:

Thinking of a coffee table book.

GOOD PLACES TO WATCH CRICKET

Cyclefree said:

Leon said:

Thinking of a coffee table book.

GOOD PLACES TO WATCH CRICKET

And the companion volume could be GOOD PLACES TO AVOID WATCHING AND HEARING ABOUT CRICKET

Leon said:

Toms said:

If you have sore feet don't go here.

https://tinyurl.com/2s3t6zmx

Is that the Accursed Mountains?!

Oh. OK

Maybe i won’t go there. Lawks

dixiedean said:

Leon said:

JohnLilburne said:

Leon said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

Leon said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

DecrepiterJohnL said:

Casino_Royale said:

Leon said:

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


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accursed_Mountains


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?

JohnLilburne said:

dixiedean said:

Leon said:

JohnLilburne said:

Leon said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

Leon said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

DecrepiterJohnL said:

Casino_Royale said:

Leon said:

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


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accursed_Mountains


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)

Leon said:

kinabalu said:

Malmesbury said:

kinabalu said:

Malmesbury said:

kinabalu said:

Malmesbury said:

Alistair said:

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

Leon said:

Cyclefree said:

Leon said:

Thinking of a coffee table book.

GOOD PLACES TO WATCH CRICKET

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*

Toms said:

Carnyx said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

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.

kinabalu said:

algarkirk said:

kinabalu said:

Malmesbury said:

kinabalu said:

Malmesbury said:

Alistair said:

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?

dixiedean said:

I see the PM has described his government as "remarkable" and "quite exceptional".
I could not agree more firmly.

ydoethur said:

Toms said:

Carnyx said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

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.)

IshmaelZ said:

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?

Malmesbury said:

kinabalu said:

Malmesbury said:

kinabalu said:

Malmesbury said:

kinabalu said:

Malmesbury said:

Alistair said:

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.

Malmesbury said:

kinabalu said:

Malmesbury said:

kinabalu said:

Malmesbury said:

kinabalu said:

Malmesbury said:

Alistair said:

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.

Andy_JS said:

Is it worth going to Headingley tomorrow? The match could be finished during the morning session.

Andy_JS said:

Is it worth going to Headingley tomorrow? The match could be finished during the morning session.

Cyclefree said:

Leon said:

Cyclefree said:

Leon said:

Thinking of a coffee table book.

GOOD PLACES TO WATCH CRICKET

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 ....*

ydoethur said:

Malmesbury said:

ydoethur said:

Toms said:

Carnyx said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

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.

ydoethur said:

Leon said:

Cyclefree said:

Leon said:

Thinking of a coffee table book.

GOOD PLACES TO WATCH CRICKET

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?

JohnLilburne said:

Malmesbury said:

JohnLilburne said:

BartholomewRoberts said:

JohnLilburne said:

dixiedean said:

Leon said:

JohnLilburne said:

Leon said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

Leon said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

DecrepiterJohnL said:

Casino_Royale said:

Leon said:

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


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accursed_Mountains


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.

Alistair said:

Malmesbury said:

kinabalu said:

Malmesbury said:

kinabalu said:

Malmesbury said:

kinabalu said:

Malmesbury said:

Alistair said:

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.

Andy_JS said:

Malmesbury said:

kinabalu said:

Malmesbury said:

kinabalu said:

Malmesbury said:

kinabalu said:

Malmesbury said:

Alistair said:

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.

Andy_JS said:

Is it worth going to Headingley tomorrow? The match could be finished during the morning session.

Malmesbury said:

JohnLilburne said:

Malmesbury said:

JohnLilburne said:

BartholomewRoberts said:

JohnLilburne said:

dixiedean said:

Leon said:

JohnLilburne said:

Leon said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

Leon said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

DecrepiterJohnL said:

Casino_Royale said:

Leon said:

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


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accursed_Mountains


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.

Malmesbury said:

kinabalu said:

Malmesbury said:

kinabalu said:

Malmesbury said:

kinabalu said:

Malmesbury said:

kinabalu said:

Malmesbury said:

Alistair said:

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.

Malmesbury said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Alistair said:

Malmesbury said:

kinabalu said:

Malmesbury said:

kinabalu said:

Malmesbury said:

kinabalu said:

Malmesbury said:

Alistair said:

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…

Malmesbury said:

Sunil_Prasannan said:

Malmesbury said:

JohnLilburne said:

Malmesbury said:

JohnLilburne said:

BartholomewRoberts said:

JohnLilburne said:

dixiedean said:

Leon said:

JohnLilburne said:

Leon said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

Leon said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

DecrepiterJohnL said:

Casino_Royale said:

Leon said:

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


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accursed_Mountains


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

Alistair said:

dixiedean said:

Alistair said:

Malmesbury said:

kinabalu said:

Malmesbury said:

kinabalu said:

Malmesbury said:

kinabalu said:

Malmesbury said:

Alistair said:

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.

JohnLilburne said:

Malmesbury said:

Sunil_Prasannan said:

Malmesbury said:

JohnLilburne said:

Malmesbury said:

JohnLilburne said:

BartholomewRoberts said:

JohnLilburne said:

dixiedean said:

Leon said:

JohnLilburne said:

Leon said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

Leon said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

DecrepiterJohnL said:

Casino_Royale said:

Leon said:

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


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accursed_Mountains


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.

TheScreamingEagles said:

Alistair said:

Malmesbury said:

kinabalu said:

Malmesbury said:

kinabalu said:

Malmesbury said:

kinabalu said:

Malmesbury said:

Alistair said:

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.

Sunil_Prasannan said:

Pet Shop Boys!

kinabalu said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Alistair said:

Malmesbury said:

kinabalu said:

Malmesbury said:

kinabalu said:

Malmesbury said:

kinabalu said:

Malmesbury said:

Alistair said:

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.

tlg86 said:

tlg86 said:

Hahaha

BBC introduce Glastonbury by warning of discriminatory language. Some choice lyrics in Kendrick Lamar’s songs?

Oh, it’ll be the N word, won’t it?

Kevin_McCandless said:

Just saw the clip with David Lammy coming out against BA workers going on strike.

The impression it gives is that David Lammy recently had to wait a long time at Terminal 5 at Heathrow.

Andy_JS said:

Kevin_McCandless said:

Just saw the clip with David Lammy coming out against BA workers going on strike.

The impression it gives is that David Lammy recently had to wait a long time at Terminal 5 at Heathrow.

The secret of how to change someone's mind has finally been revealed. Spending 3 hours in a Heathrow passport queue.

dixiedean said:

Andy_JS said:

Here's an interesting thought about Glastonbury.

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 27 year olds had a habit of dying though.

Alistair said:

dixiedean said:

Alistair said:

Malmesbury said:

kinabalu said:

Malmesbury said:

kinabalu said:

Malmesbury said:

kinabalu said:

Malmesbury said:

Alistair said:

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.