Kiloalpha

Every so often I get on here and wonder if little ol’ base ops has made the troll list in Beijing or Moscow. Today is one of those days 😂

Brownie, it’s a bit ironic... you coming on here and accusing people of not thinking for themselves... when that entire list was created two years ago by a Reddit user named “TrumpImpeachedAugust,” and you just copy/pasted it in here. Unless you moonlight as that guy, in which case bravo. However, I’ll dig through that info when I have more time and get back to you. But let’s be clear. I’d be doing more work than you did to post something that validated your feelings. Just saying.

Interesting. Maryland would have to agree to that, as the Constitution requires a new state made from the lands of another to have that state’s approval. Still poses a legal question, as the district was designed to have its own National Guard and City Government that answers to the Federal Govt. for protection’s sake. That’ll get bogged down for years.

SCOTUS has expanded and contracted in the past, but has been at 9 justices since 1869. They absolutely can try to “pack the court” if they have the votes. I think it’s in poor taste, but they’d have every right to do so. Congress can admit PR as well, but historically PR would have to draft a Constitution, submit it to Congress, then they’d have to pass a series of laws creating the state, and that takes time. Enough time that maybe an election cycle changes the party structure to prevent it. Worth noting that Puerto Ricans denied statehood at the ballot box in 1967, 1993, 1998 and 2012. The GAO in 2012 found statehood actually would hurt the island’s economy and set them back as they would have a higher tax burden. DC won’t happen without a long court fight. DC is actually created in the constitution as a federally administered area, not controlled by a state. Since you like facts, here’s why. I’ll even quote the source: “In 1783, a crowd of disbanded Revolutionary War soldiers angry about not having been paid gathered to protest outside the building where the Continental Congress was meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The soldiers blocked the door and initially refused to allow the delegates to leave. Despite requests from the Congress, the Pennsylvania state government declined to call out its militia to deal with the unruly mob, and so Congress was forced to abruptly adjourn to New Jersey.” After that incident, the founders realized having the nation’s seat of power in a state meant the state could control their access and/or deny them protection during the lawmaking process. To maintain impartiality, they decided, it needed to be an area without bias (I think all of this is in Federalist 43). So, the Constitution set out a plan to make that happen. Maryland and Virginia both gave land to create DC. VA ended up taking their contribution (modern day Alexandria) back after a while. So it’s not an open and shut case for DC. It’ll be in court for forever. These racist, fascist founders were real idiots, I tell you.

Stop for a second and think about this. California already has 53 members of the House of Representatives (more than any other state) and two Senators. Wyoming has 1 member of the House and two Senators. 1) California’s voters have a much greater impact on Federal legislation than Wyoming does due to their population giving them 52 more House members. 2) California‘s voters are much more likely to get budgetary dollars with that much representation. ... and you want to add in direct popular vote for the presidency on top of that? What in the world does Wyoming get out of the deal? Why would they sign up for that? You clearly haven’t read the Federalist papers, and they were in their mid 30’s when they wrote them. They advocated for the Electoral College and the representative system we have as a give and take between states... with a clear aim to prevent the “tyranny of the majority.” Why aren’t all the elections for every office held every 2 or 4 years? Why are judges lifetime positions? To prevent a tyrannical overthrow of the system in one election. Bottom line, it’s designed for stability. The founders were smart enough to know that time cools heads, but didn’t make it so aggressive to prevent change over time. We have 17 amendments and God knows how many political changes as proof that formula works.

Because we aren’t a nation of people. We’re a nation of states. Quick primer on the past: In 1777 we created the Articles of Confederation, during which the states largely acted as their own countries, with a small federal government for the purpose of war and certain aspects of trade. They actually used the term “League of Friendship,” to describe it. Didn’t last long for people to see issues with it, and by 1789 we replaced it with the Constitution, which still is a union of states (United States, after all), but with a stronger federal government. So the states, in their sovereignty, gave a little more (but not all) of their power to the federal government. Check enumerated vs reserved powers if you want info on that. Back to the point, that history is why each state has to elect a candidate for President via the electoral college, not a simple plurality of the population. Because the states allowed for the government to exist. Not the people. A worthy compromise is taking away winner-take-all states in the Electoral College. But a direct vote is a dissolution of federalism. “But it’s not democratic!?” Is the typical response. We aren’t a direct democracy. There hasn’t been a pure one since Greece (and look at how that one worked out). We have a Constitutional republic.

Oh boy

I think it’s fair to say I’m on the side of “COVID-19 is being overblown.” However, it pains me when people throw out the 6% number based on a reading of death certificates. My girlfriend had COVID and it really messed her up. Today, (nearly 6 months later) she can’t walk up more than a few flights of stairs because her lungs just won’t get the O2 needed. The doc has her on all kinds of things to try and help, and I think eventually she’ll regain her ability to breathe like before. I mention that because if she died today, say from just going too hard in a workout or straining herself, what would the coroner put down? Probably something pulmonary-related, but there’s a decent chance he/she would see COVID in her medical records and add that too. And you know what? They wouldn’t be wrong. COVID started the problems. For a parallel that might help, people don’t die only from HIV. That virus simply opens their bodies up to death from other things, such as infection. Should a coroner not note HIV alongside death by sepsis? Put simply, there’s far too much variability in what a coroner can put down on that paper to read too deeply into it. I think the death toll is significantly less than the 180,000 number, but it sure isn’t 0.

Fear drives some people away from liberty and into tyranny. It happens all the time, we’re just seeing it more pronounced now. People are actually turning in neighbors for not wearing masks or having people over. Pretty crazy stuff. I’d like to think the majority of the American people are worried about the virus, but are becoming more irritated at the size and scope of the shutdown. My parents’ town has had two cases. One death, and the man was in his 80s. They have a mandatory curfew at 8pm. The city police actually pulled over my sister (an essential employee) and interrogated her for her “papers” on the way home. That same area is mandating masks. So... you know what? Yeah. I’d protest too. It’s the most unconstitutional bunch of shit I have ever seen.

Just an update, girlfriend has strong chest pain/shortness of breath about a week after the fever/aches/chills ceased. Took her to the ER, and apparently it’s becoming very common in people who kick the COVID and don’t have pneumonia. The virus causes inflammation along the lung wall, and (allegedly) strikes a week or so later for some because the body is trying to repair that damage. She was prescribed muscle relaxers and she says it’s the first time she’s had a full breath in a long time. Just in case one of you guys see/experience something similar in a family or friend.

Sua, sorry to hear it. The pain isn’t good, but the big thing to watch for is increasing shortness of breath, as that could mean pneumonia is starting. The doc here has had my girlfriend take a deep breath and exhale while counting down from 50. Eventually she’ll run out of air and stop counting. Do that once a day, and she’ll be able to keep a log of if it’s getting worse.

Well, turns out me and the girlfriend have/had the Kung Flu. I’m over it already, but she’s still sick (has more of the respiratory issues than I ever did). It’s insane how different it impacts people. I’m sub-30, reasonably healthy and so is my gf. I was done in 3 days. She’s getting ready to hit a week, and she’s struggling. The blood type stuff is BS by the way. According to that I should still be sick and she be the healthy one.

At some point you have to escalate. The drone being shot down, the tankers being hijacked, the embassy being stormed... not to include the blood list of service members killed at the hands of Iran-based proxies. The question is whether this is the right escalation. Side note, this really puts a wrench in Iraqi-US relations, but that was coming when they were working with the group that ended up attacking the embassy (allegedly).

x2 🍺

This is a very good point. However, the food industry has been living in a sheltered economy for a long time, with illegal immigrants working as insanely cheap labor, and farm act subsidies keeping the market costs for certain crops over-competitive internationally. Corn in particular, ever since GWB’s wonderful ethanol idea, has been the definition of a boondoggle. That ear of corn in Walmart should be at least triple the price, but due to insane subsidies and cheap labor it remains that low. Not to even get started on how the blended fuels are worse for engines... Ted Cruz, even with his dad having assassinated JFK, was right when he stood in Iowa and told the corn farmers to their faces that those subsidies need to end.

No.

Vertigo, go outside and look around. The sky isn’t Soviet red, the government hasn’t bugged your house and nuclear war isn’t breaking out. Occam’s razor is a real thing, and the easiest conclusion isn’t that a Trump is an agent of Russia. It seriously must be hard thinking up these global conspiracies all the time.

Can verify. Duck called some folks on my behalf and it made all the difference. He's your guy.

Anyone seen Super Troopers 2? Curious if it can live up to the first movie...

Wilt Chamberlain right? The dude who played for the Lakers and Harlem Globetrotters? This was when he signed his contract and told the world how good he would be.

Fuck off already.

Agree wholeheartedly. Although, I have a suspicion that the 6th gen F-X winner will just copy what LockMart has done with the JSF. So much money and influence at stake, why wouldn't they market it similarly or at least plant seeds in every state and across the world to guarantee revenue? The days of "____ platform was designed, tested and fielded in 200 days" is long gone. The military industrial complex might as well be congress. Slow, controlled by money/power... but occasionally create some things that we all like and agree with. Glad to know that you're a capitalist, Clark. Here's a question that is interesting to think about... To what degree does the US DoD own the plans/rights to its own material? I ask, because imagine this scenario for a second: Trump/Abe agree to a deal based on the speculation in the article (Japan funding the startup). Trump tells Lockheed they need to either make space to create the new Raptor, or start a whole new manufacturing plan to find capacity. LockMart says they can't do either because they're focused on the JSF, and it would take too long (in Trump/Abe's opinion) to make that space available. So... Trump gives the F-22's plans to Boeing and tells them to get cracking. Lockheed wins somewhat (but also loses, admittedly), because they still get to supply parts/materials for the project and keep the JSF on time/plan. Boeing wins because they're back in the game, and they have the manufacturing slack available to take the project. I only ask, because I know in the past the DoD has "taken ownership" of plans/licensing. The M4 is a recent example, where they moved the production from Colt to FN Herstal once the licensing expired. Not sure how that works for aircraft.