Jump to content

berlinerbaer

Legacy Members
  • Posts

    745
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by berlinerbaer

  1. 9 hours ago, SDG said:

    Honestly, it won’t have an effect on many peoples lives. Realistically speaking, what % of the population thinks about or has an abortion?  That being said, it isn’t getting overturned and nor should it.   It’s just another piece of news to gather clicks or sell ad space.  

    One in four women has gotten or will get an abortion during their lifetime. I would guess that number grows if you include the women who will think or have thought about it.

    So, a lot.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2017/10/19/u-s-abortion-rate-fell-25-percent-from-2008-to-2014-one-in-four-women-have-an-abortion/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.c4a1e62b9b7b

  2. 7 hours ago, Parliament said:

    A valid concern. But you gotta remember our Military spending dwarfs the rest of the World. I don't know what we have to counter such hacking, but I know we have it.

    And hacking goes both ways. We can hack them too.

     

    We have the most to lose, that's the bottom line, and we've demonstrated just how easily damage can be inflicted upon us.

    Look, two countries far weaker than we are, as well as one non-state actor, gave us or are still giving us absolute fits for two decades, and one of those (Afghanistan) looks like a lost cause. They've done this using methods of asymmetric warfare not all that different than what the Vietnamese used on us forty years ago.

    And then there's the Russians, who seem to have thrown our political system into chaos without firing a single shot.

    But, yeah. We have the most ships and stuff. And really fucking expensive fighter jets.

  3. 11 hours ago, TahoeHorn said:

    I was talking Texas State House district 28, not US House. Incumbent John Zerwas has run unopposed since 2010. That district has really changed since then (only 47% white and only 22% Hispanic, so it's full of minorities more likely to vote).

    Switching gears to the US House, you don't even think Culberson's district is in play?

  4. I've met Meghan Scoggins a couple of times and left with the sense that she knew what she was doing. Getting quoted by the WSJ confirms that.

    Looking at the district she's running in, there's no way that seat isn't a flip in November. Hopefully it's one of several flips in suburban Houston.

    • Like 1
  5. On 4/24/2018 at 11:27 PM, MaybeACoordinator said:

    Sadly women are judged differently than men. By both men and women. 

    Or, more accurately, everybody else is judged differently than Donald Trump.

  6.  

    11 hours ago, Caracara said:

    Anybody besides me think the NK royal family will eventually be deposed or made strictly ornamental, and NK will go in a new direction closer to SK?

     

    Amobie, I'm with you.

    Only if we are off the peninsula entirely and it's China with all the regional influence. In that case then yes, I agree with you.

    8 hours ago, wildcat09 said:

    Rick Perry is in charge of the DOE. The State Department has been gutted. Trump is dismissive of experts, and famous for refusing to prepare for things. He thinks he just needs to get in the room with Kim and hash some shit out on the back of a napkin. All he ever does is wing it. I feel very confident that he's not consulting with experts who could advise on what an effective inspections regime would look like.

    But go ahead and keep thinking that he's secretly a genius. 

    Strange, isn't it? It doesn't make logical sense, especially with Trump pulling us out of the Iran deal, which should be a huge red flag to anyone trying to negotiate with the US. The fact that the chips are all falling into place with North Korea despite all of this is more than a little suspicious.

    My line of thinking is that this all will go over amazingly well, despite the blatantly obvious shortcomings of this administration. We will have to make a MAJOR concession, like leaving Korea completely, but the Norks will similarly make their own apparently huge concessions, like giving up their nukes with UN inspections or basically the Iran deal but with Trump involved so of course it'll be awesome.

    With us off the peninsula, the threat to Kim's regime is greatly reduced, if not completely eliminated. It also provides China with a key long-term goal. NK won't need the nukes anymore, with their big brother taking over the region.

    China is playing the long game here, knowing how badly Trump wants a "win" and doing their part to influence American public opinion to bump up Trump's approval. Short term, this will give them brownie points in trade negotiations. Long term, they know he's is the most effective way to cripple their rival.

    Don't get me wrong. I'll be happy to see the Korean peninsula denuclearized (big if whether Kim keeps his word...) and a part of me wants our military out of SK as well. I'm just apprehensive about China's regional dominance in Asia, our government  turning a blind eye to Chinese manipulation here at home, and of course fretting a boost to Trump's approval rating, prolonging and accelerating the damage he does to this country.

    • Like 1
  7. Ruh-roh

    Quote

    There is growing concern among Republicans that Don Blankenship, a bombastic coal baron who has spent time in prison, is surging ahead of Tuesday’s West Virginia Senate primary — and a last-minute campaign is underway to stop him.

    As the tight contest hurtles to a close, four Republicans said they’d reviewed polling conducted in recent days showing Blankenship, who spent a year in jail following the 2010 explosion at his Upper Big Branch Mine that killed 29 workers, moving narrowly ahead of his more mainstream GOP rivals, Rep. Evan Jenkins and state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey.

    https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/05/blankenship-polls-west-virginia-senate-primary-570752

  8. 4 hours ago, TahoeHorn said:

    One of the interesting questions will be how to play Trump.  The Democrats need to run against Trump, but not too much.  Obviously the Republicans need to do the opposite.

    Trump is unpopular but the public isn't ready to impeach.

    The White House is trying to get the Dems to overplay their hand, and make the election about a Trump impeachment.  That would produce a backlash and drive an angry right to the polls. 

    Dem strategists are trying hard to develop an anti-Trump message which doesn't suggest that the Dems are trying to impeach Trump.

    GOP candidates aren't as enthusiastic about running on Trump.  If the Dems overplay their hand they want to run on impeachment fears.  But most smart GOPP folk seem to think that strategy requires the Dems to move first and to overreach.  If the GOP tries to create the issue out of whole cloth like the White House seems to want it won't work unless the Dems take the bait.

    Politico shares this view.

    https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/06/trump-midterms-republicans-presidency-571550

     

  9. His domestic policy agenda is looking like an unmitigated disaster, but I've seen some good things out of Trump's foreign policy. Not many, but some. He hasn't been drawn into Syria aside from some limited strikes and I can be hopeful, if pessimistic, about the upcoming meeting with Lil' Kim.

    His election and administration should force our country to do some real, long-overdue soul searching.

  10. NYT has called the AZ-08 race for the Republican, who is leading by 6 points with about 80% of the total vote counted (most early/vote by mail ballots). If the result holds, it would be a +19 swing for the Ds from 2016 results. The district is CVI +13 R, meaning only 93 districts are more Republican. Both candidates were plain vanilla, no scandals, no lack of money, so no excuses for the GOP.

    The partisan breakdown for the district by registration is 49/30/21 R/D/I. Looking at the current score of 53/47 R/D, there are a significant number of R -> D crossover voters and independents are breaking heavily for the D. That's a nasty combo for the Republicans.

     

     

    • Like 1
  11.  

    On 4/18/2018 at 9:44 AM, pearlandhorn said:

    Almost two year old puked on Friday after day care, twice on Saturday had had diarrhea as well.  Was fine Sunday and Monday.  Didn't eat much yesterday and decided he was done with dinner, got out of his chair and puked everything from the day up.  Had diarrhea again last night and puked again this morning with another bout of the shits.

    Is this rotavirus?  I felt pretty bad Sunday night and had the shits Monday.  Looked online and it looks sounds like it's rotavirus.  Comes and goes for days at a time for a little over a week, adults can get it but it's not as bad (typically nausea and diarrhea).  Feel bad for him.  Sounds like we just need to keep him hydrated.  Wife is taking him to the doc this morning.  Anybody care to share their experience with this type of behavior?

    Vaccines for rotavirus are routine nowadays, so it's likely one of the other dozens of causes of viral gastroenteritis.

  12. That NYT article is the first mention I've heard of my own TX 22nd district, and hopefully not the last.

    The incumbent, Pete Olson, is a fairly popular moderate who has stayed nearly out of sight since Trump got elected, aside from holding a town hall at 7:30 in the morning on the first day of school last September and co-sponsoring the Internet Privacy Raid of March 2017, IIRC. We'll see if he will feel the need to get in with the R loony bin.

    Sri Kulkarni, my pick, will face off against Leticia Plummer in the May Democratic runoff. Plummer, a Berniecrat, is an otherwise good candidate who plays the gender and race card too heavily to beat Olson, IMO. Her campaign has gathered steam since receiving an endorsement from the "establishment" candidate and last month's 3rd place finisher Steve Brown, who has engaged in a bit of mud-slinging with Kulkarni. I think Kulkarni has done a good job running as a progressive with some moderate appeal, and he impressed me in the few debates and town halls I've watched. Plus, the Indians (dot) of Sugar Land will fucking love him. He can make it a single digit race against Olson, if nominated, and with a good ground game and a few bounces his way, who knows?

    • Like 1
  13. Was that earlier report of a Hezbollah C&C target getting hit accurate? Sounds like only 3 targets were actually destroyed.

    Quote
    • General Dunford detailed in the briefing tonight the first target was a scientific research center in the greater Damascus area, specifically for testing chemical and biological warfare.
    • The second was chemical weapon storage facility west of Homs, Syria, Dunford added "this was the primary location of Syrian sarin...production equipment."
    • The third target was in the vicinity Homs, and contained a chemical weapons equipment storage facility and was an important Syrian command post.

    https://www.axios.com/united-states-strikes-syria-b81c0842-ba04-4278-a583-47207ecd840a.html?utm_source=sidebar

  14. 12 hours ago, Sbbruin said:

    As a lifelong Republican (who voted in the Presidential election but abstained from any selection for President), I was convinced then and believe moreso now that is getting elected President was the worst possible outcome for the party.  Hillary would have flamed out as well, and we could have been there to swoop in and capitalize, much like the dems are now.  Could be 2 or 3 cycles before we recover.  

     

    It will be funny when he doesn't even secure the Republican nomination for President in 2020.

    No doubt that if Hillary were president right now the Republicans would be looking at a supermajority in both chambers, 40+ governors mansions, another decade of favorably gerrymandered districts, and possibly the ratification of the balanced budget amendment by 2021 at the latest.

  15. 6 hours ago, Mapache said:

    THE US President is widely expected to green-light revenge attacks on the President Bashar Assad regime in the coming days supported by Britain and France. 

    AN US aircraft carrier is on its way and a guided missile destroyer is reportedly lurking off the coast of Syria amid calls for revenge for Assad's poison gas attack. 

    It comes as Donald Trump renewed his vow to decide on his military response to the outrage which left scores dead “probably by the end of today". 

    Meanwhile USS Harry Truman aircraft carrier strike group was on its way to the Syrian coast armed with cruise missiles and an array of warplanes. 

    Yet it emerged today Russia has started jamming US military drones operating over Syria seriously affecting America's ability to strike targets.


    Read more: https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/6019299/uss-harry-s-truman-missiles-deployed-mediterranean-syria/ 

    The US providing cover for French and British airstrikes. I saw this movie in 2011.

    One dictator dead, the country is still a mess.

  16. Another vote for skyscanner. That site always worked for me.

    I lived in Berlin for 4 years. That city has it all, which is why I'm a bad person to ask about where else in the country to go...

    If you are outdoorsy, I recommend the Saechischer Schweiz. An easy day trip out of Dresden (itself a beautifully restored city worth a day's visit), you can hike along the Elbe River near the Czech border in some of Europe's coolest scenery.

     

    basteibruecke-saechsische-schweiz.jpg

    ss26.jpg

  17. On 4/5/2018 at 2:30 PM, hornian said:

    My 2.5 year old just quit napping right around 2. The only way now is if we are driving somewhere in the afternoon. Otherwise, NO NAP FOR YOU.

    He does sleep from about 8:30pm - 7:30am though, so not worried about him getting enough sleep. 

    This is where we are with our 2 yo son. Daycare has been informing me the last few weeks that he hasn't been napping for at least one day each week. This week, it went to two days, including yesterday when he fell asleep on the ride home before dinner. That left my wife and I with the dilemma of whether to wake him up and try to feed him and give him a bath, or let him sleep until he wakes up hungry in the middle of the night. We chose the former and he pitched a two hour-long fit but slept solid from 8:30 to 7:00 this morning.

    The drives in the car on weekends, a tried and true method to knock him out, have progressively gotten longer. I'm resigned to the fact that the early afternoon P&Q will come to an eventual end.

  18. On 3/25/2018 at 9:57 PM, Hook'Em0608 said:

    Had Truth BBQ the other day for the 2nd time. Wasn't near as good as the first time. The first time I went it was possibly the best BBQ I ever ate. This time it was no better than most of the top tier joints you hear about. With as slow as the line moves, they gotta keep bringing the heat. There were maybe 20-25 people in front of me and it took 45 minutes. And I got there prior to opening on a weekday. I guess that is to be expected, but man it's a beating waiting in line that long when you go during a Wednesday in Brenham, Tx of all places. 

    I went to Truth for the first time a couple weekends ago and it was fantastic. The jalapeno cheddar sausage was worth the 45 min wait, IMO. Even the cole slaw looked like they spent years perfecting. The free beer with tips was a nice touch, too.

    Curious what you ordered both times you went.

×
×
  • Create New...