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Eastwood

Certifiably Surly
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Everything posted by Eastwood

  1. Use the money to file lawsuits? Trump is known for skipping out on the bill at the end of the day. Trump isn't paying for the lawsuits that will be inevitably filed. He'll probably even try to use tax payer money to fund it.
  2. Yeah, how dare I advise exercising caution when other evidence of voter suppression exists in the state, such as limiting ballot drop offs to only one location in an area that has millions of people.
  3. I would assume that they would try to claim some constitutionally vested right in the state was violated by the decision. It's a Hail Mary, but it's all they have left.
  4. The only relief left for them is to take it to SCOTUS. If SCOTUS doesn't grant cert between now and then, which I don't think they will, then I would have serious doubts that SCOTUS would step in at any point in the future. It's a very positive development, IMO.
  5. Wow. I'm pleasantly surprised that they called them on their shit and there was only one dissent. Fantastic.
  6. Remember when Obama tweeted around twice a day and Fox News labeled him Twitterer in Chief? Those were the days...
  7. Pretty much. As long as a non-zero amount is permitted, they can go ahead. I can't remember the case off the top of my head, but there is a specific case that dealt with trespass and seismic.
  8. All we really need is another round of direct payments and the streamlined PPP forgiveness for borrowers under a certain amount. That will at least kick the can to January.
  9. No CR, but WH just announced they are stopping negotiation on the stimulus until after the election. Lookout below.
  10. Yeah, that's my fault for not distinguishing in-person early voting from mail-in ballot voting.
  11. Should and could are the operative words. We might just be left shaking our heads while reading an opinion. Look, I'm not trying to be chicken little here. If a person absolutely must vote any time between the 13th and 19th because of their circumstances, then please, please, please vote. I don't care if you're R or D or I, just vote. We need 100% of the eligible voices to let the country and world know who we are as a people. However, due to the conditions of our time and the uncertainty that the Texas GOP has put around the extension, however minute, I choose to follow the legislature's start date for in-person voting and not Abbott's. I intend to remove all doubt, within my control, that my vote will be counted.
  12. I think you and I are actually circling the same thing here, but with different results. The Republicans are attack the Abbott extension BECAUSE it wasn't done by the legislature. Therefore, it was an illegal extension and the votes cast during it were not under the laws enacted by the legislature.
  13. There is absolutely a distinction. The states set their own dates on when a vote can begin. Why would Republicans challenge their own governor over the extension of the early voting period? They are attacking it by saying that it was an overreach of emergency powers and that it was the state legislature's job to issue the extension. There is a non-zero chance that it could happen, so why risk it? I could see them pulling language out of Bush v. Gore to attack it. For example, "The individual citizen has no federal constitutional right to vote for electors for the President of the United States unless and until the state legislature chooses a statewide election as the means to implement its power to appoint members of the electoral college." That's pulled directly from Bush v. Gore. You can say it is literal nonsense, but the case law is there for the possibility. Further, "History has now favored the voter, and in each of the several States the citizens themselves vote for Presidential electors. When the state legislature vests the right to vote for President in its people, the right to vote as the legislature has prescribed is fundamental; and one source of its fundamental nature lies in the equal weight accorded to each vote and the equal dignity owed to each voter. The State, of course, after granting the franchise in the special context of Article II, can take back the power to appoint electors." Your vote is vulnerable in Texas, even after you cast it. SCOTUS has said so. The Texas legislature is accusing Abbott of overstepping his bounds and will lean on this language. I choose to remove all doubt and use the state legislature appointed date of 10/19.
  14. It is all family with me. I blocked friends who are deep into it. This actually started a decade ago. Forwards from grandpa. Lots of easily refutable information. I even had a compassionate sit down with him to explain exactly what he was forwarding. I showed him that the House Bill referenced in one of his emails was not about confiscating guns, but was a bill affecting nurses. I did this with several emails, picking apart all of the patently false information. I carefully explained to him that these emails are created by people who know the information is false in order to dupe trusting souls into buying their products and agenda. He nodded along like he understood. Two days later I got 5 more forwards from him. About once a month, I will get a text or phone call from my mom. She'll start with a soft opening then dive in once she feels comfortable. She's more blunt over text. For example, she sent a simple "Have you seen this, yet?" with a link to the Plandemic video. I do a quick Google search, see the doctor that is the centerpiece to all this. "Mom, this doctor is an anti-vaxxer." Her response: "She's not against all vaccines. She spoke out against the big medical companies about what they put in them and they had her arrested." Fuck's sake. Happening this way to a lot of my friends, too. My friends and I actually had a long conversation about it last week. Our parents have become everything they taught us not to be: gullible, lacking sympathy or empathy, cruel in thought, bigoted... Turns out TV and Facebook really do rot your brain. It's a positive feedback loop for them. It's an addiction. It's a shame that my final memories of them might be from this period of time.
  15. I know I've repeated it ad naseum on here, but please wait until the 19th. The 13th was an extension by Abbott that is under attack in the courts. Until it is a 100% settled matter, please plan on voting during the early voting period starting on the 19th. My concern is that the courts will find the extension illegal, thereby invalidating any votes cast between the 13th and the 19th. If you are able through your circumstances, I would wait until the 19th or later.
  16. They'll just revert a lot quicker to "just asking questions" to end the conversation. It's been a fairly consistent formula. Step 1: plan on bringing up a topic out of the blue to someone that they clearly have been reading about the past day. They have all these talking points to bum rush someone with and that someone doesn't have actual facts on hand because they didn't know that friend/family member/coworker was going to be doing this today. Step 2: simple logic would usually be enough of a rebuttal, but whatever they read or listened to already addressed the easy logical counterarguments and prepared them with a rebuttal to memorize. Step 3: their victim is now irritated enough to go to a credible source to try to shut the conversation down so everyone can move on with their day. However, that source is "fake news" and not a credible source to them, even though it could even be a .gov website or the NIH or CDC, etc. Step 4: their victim now pulls 5 to 10 more sources saying the same thing and asks the aggressor for their sources. Surprise, it's only one source and it's some far right or worse propaganda machine, it's their only source, and when you ask them for more... Step 5: "I'm just asking questions." That's their parachute for when the jump out of a conversation. They are all out of the arguments and rebuttals that were prepared for them by their source. They did none of the leg work themselves, their education doesn't go much farther beyond that, and once that supply is exhausted they have to end the conversation as soon as possible to preserve what little false sense of superiority they feel they have left. Someone acting in good faith would actually visit some of the opposing sources to see if maybe they were in the wrong there, but instead they run back to the propaganda playbook to see where they went wrong and move on to the next opponent. I do this dance about once a month with my mom and have recognized this pattern with friends who are also dealing with loved ones and friends who are deep in it. I don't think it will go away, but the source material will be less. I think we are still in for a tumultuous year 1 of Biden's presidency. What happened over the last 4 years isn't going away on 01/20/2021. It's going to have to burn itself out and there is going to be some lashing out, unfortunately. I think it will go the opposite of NO POLITICS for at least a year. Think of the screaming woman at the inauguration that was memed. We're going to get a lot of that in 2021 from the other side.
  17. Worse. Trump is Wonka himself. Whips the world into an unhealthy consumerism frenzy that caused mobs in the streets. The select few that are chosen by pure fate are then subjected to a quick horror show, followed by each person meeting a horrible end that exemplifies their worst qualities. He then leaves the horror show to be inherited by the sole survivor who was originally going to assist in Wonka's destruction but in the end had a change of heart because Wonka was able to use the deaths, that he caused by the way, as evidence of how people are awful and that Charlie should continue his evil works as Wonka retires without consequence.
  18. You know what's fitting about this meme? Most of the people who applauded Willy Wonka after this either died or lost a loved one.
  19. Our Bar analytics showed that 100% of those who completed 80% or more of their Bar prep program, regardless of program (Barbri, Themis, etc.) passed and 100% of those who completed 20% or less failed. The average amount of studying per day over a 10 week period for those who passed was around 8 hours per day. Those who failed, around 6.7 hours per day. The margin was surprisingly small. However, that portion of the survey required people to be honest. I'm sure there was some lying about how much those who failed actually studied.
  20. The transition to the UBE was announced during my 2L year and my school began advising people to focus on UBE classes and leave Texas specific classes as electives. They don't even require Texas Civ Pro anymore, just highly recommend it. I took it before the announcement, but I'm glad I did because Texas Civ Pro can be kind of wild, at times.
  21. https://www.ncbex.org/exams/ube/ Texas is joining the majority of states that use the UBE. The quick and short of it is that each state has its own pass threshold. A Texas JD taking the UBE can apply for admission to a UBE state's Bar if they pass that state's minimum score threshold.
  22. This year's bar exam process, country wide, has been a disaster. I have a friend sitting for this one, as well. People generally want to peak in their studying in July before taking the exam and that timing has been thrown off by a mile. Also, this will be the last Texas bar exam given because the switch to the UBE happens in February. This led to some feeling immense pressure to go ahead and take this one anyway instead of delaying until February since their study material would have to change a good bit. Good luck to your son. I'll be sitting for it next July and I'm simultaneously looking forward to it/dreading it.
  23. Certain companies are more than happy to do the bare minimum of contact and then force pool if they don't get something signed. Don't like it? Sue.
  24. Yeah, they are probably pooling some leases out of those two units to make a new unit that is in a different formation. It's been a long time since I was involved in Karnes, but Marathon at one time was tinkering with formations as deep as the Pearsall, which is very deep. I don't think they ever got anything really going that deep, though. Shoot me a PM and I'll see what the permit situation looks like in that area when I get some free time. If anything is concerning you, though, I'd give them a call. There are so many variables in these situations that I wouldn't be able to give you a 100% answer.
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