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SquishMitten

Certifiably Surly
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Posts posted by SquishMitten

  1. Can someone explain the tax return defense of “being under audit” to me? Are his returns for 2015 still under audit? What about 2010? Surely there’s a year that’s not under audit that he could easily provide. And in any case, why does it matter if they’re under audit? He either did them correctly or he did not. The conclusion of the audit isn’t going to make things look BETTER. At most, it will just confirm they are correct. I don’t get it.

  2. On 3/30/2019 at 6:44 PM, EMAWesome said:

    The reason why he wanted to usurp the power of Congress was because Congress was not using their power.  This country has needed immigration reform since the 1980s.  Every term Congress kicked the can down the road to the next term of Congress.  His point has always been that Congress should have been fixing this decades ago.  If Congress does their job then there is no reason for him to try to do their job.  I'm not saying he should do their job.  I'm saying they should do their job.

    There’s a pretty big fallacy in your point. Congress also has the right to NOT do something. They represent the interests of their constituents. If said constituents aren’t demanding action, then they are doing their job properly by doing nothing. Now, if the majority of those constituents wanted the border closed, if Congress refused to act, and there was an actual emergency, you may have a point. But none of those things are true.

    You’re setting aside the reality of the situation and excusing the totalitarian actions of Trump because it aligns with your specific beliefs on the subject. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but our country is founded on broader principles than the individual. You seem to acknowledge as much in your posts, but you’re not holding yourself to the same expectations you imply everyone else should.

  3. 1 hour ago, RamjetFDO said:

    Actually ... not an opinion, but a demonstrable fact.

    Computers and unmanned devices are an absolutely critical, but limited, first step (and continued partner) in staged space exploration. 

    • Critical, in that (1) they're less expensive, (2) quicker to produce, and (3) allow us to gather lots of core fundamental data without risking a human.  No one debates that.  You seem to not have the visionary capacity to think beyond this tiny little bubble.
    • Limited, in that they cannot go beyond the fundamental hardware/software capabilities of the original design (conceived, designed, and built many years prior to actual arrival on-site).

    Humans provide the ability to modify and adapt to the situation. 

    • If a Mars Rover or future probe is designed and built to accomplish Tasks "A" through "D", is that all you want to do?  Ever? 
    • What happens if some REALLY COOL thing is right there, in front of the amazingly cool Mars Rover Version 23, but is not even considered, because it's not in the programming for Tasks "A" through "D"?  
    • And, before you say "well, I'd just program Mars Rover Version 24 to do it"... what if MRv23 was not even capable of reporting the new scenario so that v24 could be programmed to handle it?

    Are you so 100% arrogantly confident that you have the sum total knowledge of EVERYTHING that you will encounter in an unknown environment that you think you can program a remote-sensing platform to account for it?  The fact that *you* don't "see the ROI in sending humans" does not mean that the return on that investment isn't there.  

    That, my friend, is *your* opinion... and is demonstrably wrong.

     

    One of many examples:

     

    I get what you’re saying, but couldn’t you somewhat account for that by programming in something like “if you encounter something that is not catalogued in your database, run scans on it, report the results, carry on with Tasks A -D, and await instructions if more detailed scans are needed.”

  4. No idea who all had signed it. They said “Shaka and the team.” He certainly did not disrespect any particular kid. And low class? Is everybody who abstained from bidding also low class? I was bidding for a while because I wanted the football, but the b-ball did not factor into my descision at all. Guess that makes me low class. Either way, the end result was that they got to auction it again which lead to more money for cancer families.

  5. 11 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

    It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if the powers that be said "no new accounts" for a few weeks.

    That’s not going to happen. But there could be a post-number requirement before gaining access to this forum. That’d force someone to make 50 or so quality posts elsewhere before getting in here. 

  6. 4 hours ago, JimmyJames said:

    I am an optimistic sort. 

    The longer and  harder the Republicans fight against its release the more and more the interest as to what it actually says will go up.

    Everyone, including sycophantic Republicans, will start to wonder what’s in it and how bad could it be? They really should just get it over with and release it. 

    While that would make sense in a normal world, I’m not so sure. Up until the day the report was filed, Fox News and Trump were demanding the full report to be released ASAP. Trump’s base was - and for the moment still is - conditioned to say “release the full report.” Every day this drags out, more of his base will be re-conditioned to say “we already know everything that mattered, he was exonerated, and anything Barr omitted was irrelevant, too sensitive/national security, etc.” I may be wrong, but anybody who doesn’t see that as a very real possibility hasn’t been paying attention.

    Edit to add: And, unless they somehow get access to the report, it would be shocking if FN/Trump don’t go this route. They currently talk about this as a complete and total win. They’d be crazy to demand the full report now when there is little upside and a lot of potential downside.

    • Like 1
  7. 5 hours ago, Lat22 said:

    You don’t think that if Barr was covering stuff up, Mueller or one of his 19 Trump hating investigators would be all over TV? More delusion from your side. 

    Actually, yes. Mueller and his team have seemingly been exceptional at staying tight lipped, as their positions require. Unless/until he is called before Congress, I would expect them to remain silent and adhere to their legal obligations.

    • Like 1
  8. 1 hour ago, closetojumping said:

    Is this whole recruiting thing new to you? Do you think today's updates are worthy of completely erasing a clear and negative trend? 

    To be fair, one bad update has always been worthy of completely erasing a clear and positive trend

    • Like 5
    • Haha 1
  9. On 3/26/2019 at 7:13 PM, Anastasis said:

    We went to moon on the back of a military cold war missile development/space race justification for funding.  Can we find another similar type justification to go back? Cause I don't see that happening. 

    We could acknowledge global warming is real, that we aren’t going to do anything about it here, and just plan for off-world colonization

  10. 36 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

    Ah, I see, he didn't have a lawsuit against them, just damaging info.  Ok, the extortion may stick.

    He wouldn’t need an active suit as long as he had a client with a claim. Doesn’t sound like that’s the case, but he had to get his info from someone. 

    Either way this seems like it’ll be bad for Nike. The story will come out either way now. Hopefully Shaka is implicated. 

  11. I think we should all be happy there wasn't clear evidence that our fucking president is a Russian agent. Is he still a huge piece of shit, criminal, grifter, etc? Absolutely. But him maybe not being under the thumb of Putin (which I still find extremely hard to believe based on his actions) is a good thing. If the report came out saying he was a Russian agent and 40% of the population continued to support him - which they would - we would all be joining Brisket on the ledge. 

    • Like 3
  12. 2 hours ago, Homercles said:

     


    That is a perfect summary of our trip to Thailand when visiting remote beaches. Never seen so many chicks posing in the surf, the sand, on every available swing/bench/boat, with a breathless boyfriend taking endless pics from every available angle...both totally unwilling to just stop for a moment to take in the exotic surroundings...just as a euro dude in a banana hammock wanders by letting it all hang.

    My wife and I got our photos for sure, but then went on to just soak it all in.

     

    When the wife and I went to South Beach, I donned a neon pink banana hammock and did a photo shoot. You judging me, bro?

  13. 1 hour ago, Scraps said:

    School districts shut down all over the place...because you know when you are at school you breathe different air than when you aren't 

    Yeah...so I think it’s because a lot of the parents have taken their children out of the area. The closures keep them from accruing absences. 

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