kirklennon

1. Most Americans already knew he was a criminal and either strongly opposed him or strongly supported him, in part on that basis. There are a lot of other people who usually or often vote Republican, but also just don’t always vote. Those people aren’t going to be enthusiastic about showing up to vote for a felon. I think we’re looking at extremely low turnout among non-MAGA Republicans. Optimistically, this scenario can also lead to a blue wave as those same people skip down-ballot races as well.
2. First-time offenders get lighter sentences. He’s going to be convicted in multiple upcoming trials, and in all of them he’s now going to enter the sentencing phase as a felon. We can look forward to extended prison sentences in Georgia and the federal cases.

It’s up to the judge and can range from no prison to four years. A nonviolent first-time offense usually means a lighter sentence, but the judge can also factor in the complete lack of contrition and the numerous egregious gag order violations. These make prison significantly more likely than it otherwise would be.

A fine of less than $1 million is absolutely not what anyone except Google is asking for.

The DOJ can really only ask for treble damages. If Google paid ~$3 million, that’s realistically as good as the DOJ was going to get. It sounds like the initial estimates were just way off. Nobody should be shocked that the inept antitrust division screwed up again. They’re going after big, buzz-worthy names without the facts or law to actually back it up.

The headline is strange. The DOJ sued for money and Google just straight up gave them the money they could have won upfront. That’s not a “pay off”; it’s literally what they asked for. It’s a win for the DOJ. Google’s argument against a jury trial also seems on solid ground. The right to a trial by jury is meant as a protection for Americans; the government itself doesn’t have the right to demand a jury. If the defendant thinks the legal issues in the case are too arcane and a judge is more likely to get it right (and get it right faster, which is cheaper), that’s their prerogative.

A long exposure allows more of the light to be captured but that’s not the reason for the color discrepancy. They really are as colorful as they appear in photos but human night vision is primarily black and white. We just don’t see a lot of color unless it’s sufficiently bright and since auroras are still quite dim in absolute terms, our eyes aren’t capable of recognizing the full intensity of the color.

Of course you can. The iPhone never lost any of the basic features of the iPod and is perfectly capable of storing and playing DRM-free music in popular formats.

How is this relevant to anything at all? If you want a streaming music subscription, you can pay for one. If not, don’t. You can use any service you want on an iPhone, and you can likewise use Apple Music on an Android phone. The availability of services is just a totally separate issue.

No, because aspartame is not unhealthy.

it’s as valid IN ENGLISH to use it to refer to the country as it is to refer to the continent(s)

It’s really not but you already know that, just as you know the (s) is incorrect because, in English, there is absolutely no such thing as a continent called America.

It’s not about confusion, it’s about the US acting like the center of the fucking universe.

It’s about you being a hypocrite and accusing a group of people of acting like the center of the universe because they use a word differently in their language than you use it in yours. You are being incredibly disrespectful of other cultures by trying to impose foreign definitions on how people describes themselves.

when the “America” in that name actually refers to the continent too

In English, there is North America and there is South America. Collectively, you can call them the Americas. Just “America” on its own refers to the country. It doesn’t matter what A-M-E-R-I-C-A mean in a different language. Spanish has what is fundamentally a different word, with the same spelling, to refer to something else. In linguistic terms it’s a false friend. The etymological origins are, indeed, the same, but it took on separate meanings in different languages. Nobody is confused about this, however. You’re just being an asshole.

I consider your comment highly offensive. You can’t tell a people what they are allowed to call themselves in their own language just because the same word means something else in another language. In English “America” refers unambiguously to the United States because there is no continent called “America.”

I would love to see people’s reaction if France started calling itself Europe or China called itself Asia

This comparison would work only if “Europe” meant one thing in French, and if the word “China” meant one thing in Chinese, and they both meant something entirely different in other languages.

My optimistic way of looking at it is like this (admittedly US-centric but, well, a lot of things about Israel are US-centric): Israel should be a global pariah state but has historically been showered with aid by the US and given carte blanche to do whatever it wants. We’re not going to flip the switch over night but America’s abstention in an important votes marks a real turning point. Not helping, but not protecting either. We’re then on the journey to eventual outright condemnation. Netanyahu, genocidal fascist, has just barely managed to remain in political power (and out of prison) over the years due to deep divisions in Israel. I think single-handedly turning Israel’s most important ally against it might be enough to convince the Israeli public to finally permanently remove him from power and prosecute him for his myriad crimes.

Then why did you waste time describing what you believed was the intention behind it earlier when you said

I never said that was the intention. I said that’s what I think of it as. In practice all it does is underline a point. These same people also totally screwed up how we chose the president and vice president and failed to provide a proper mechanism for replacing a dead president.

horribly incompetent at writing legal language

Horribly incompetent? No. Flawless, or even particularly prescient? No. They got a lot of big stuff right; they got a whole lot wrong.

it is worded incredibly clearly and explicitly as a prohibition

And yet it’s inherently non-operative. I’m unconcerned with how it was intended since that’s totally irrelevant to what it actually is.

Indeed, the limitation in what can be amended is in practice totally powerless. I think of it as a rhetorical flourish to emphasize the importance they placed on representing states rather than people. For what it’s worth, I advocate for the full abolition of the Senate. It’s an anti-democratic institution. There’s no way to fix it without making it a clone of the House so let’s just do away with it entirely.

And yet that provision is itself still part of the constitution so really an amendment just needs to have an initial sentence to override that limitation first. If there’s actually support for a change, anything can be changed.

No, my phone went into SOS mode yesterday. No apps, just a button to call 911.

That’s not a thing that exists. The closest thing is the shutdown screen, where the options are “slide to power off,” “Medical ID,” “Emergency SOS” and a cancel button, which requires you to enter your passcode and then takes you back to the home screen.

Sounds a bit sensationalist and doesn’t contradict what I said: if you already added your boarding pass to your phone, it will still be there, regardless of whether you have internet access at the moment. Furthermore, the staff can still pull up your record so nobody is going to miss their flight.

Mattresses have an enormous variance in thickness, and sheets vary considerably in the depth of the “pocket.” If your sheets can barely fit over a too-thick mattress, then they’re going to pop off when you move on them. You might just want to buy some new sheets with a deeper pocket. Alternatively, you can buy elastic straps that go under the bed and clip onto the sheets. You’ll generally either find these as a four pack of short ones that are meant to go only at the corners, or as a two pack of long ones meant to stretch under the entire bed and attach opposite sides. Get the long ones; they generally perform much better.

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