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Ghost of LL

Burnt Ends
  • Joined

Posts posted by Ghost of LL

  1. On 12/9/2025 at 8:39 PM, atomheartbevo said:

    80s Me if I knew Ukrainians would be using F-16s to kill Russians: confused GIF

     

    Germany continues to build up, buying European-made weapons. I'd be willing to bet a lot more weapons purchases by NATO going forward will be European or Korean and not American.

    G7wh9kRWMAA4csz?format=jpg&name=medium

    We may be entering a really very dangerous time that mirrors the beginnings of World War I.

    The fundamental reason for World War I was that the key players--Germany, Austria-Hungry, and Russia--all adjudged 1914 to be a more favorable time for the war that they viewed as inevitable than would be 1915 or 1916.  Russia believed that its designs in the Balkans would be frustrated by Austria-Hungry's infrastructure improvements in eastern Hungry and its political liberalization (largely supported by the heir presumptive, Franz Ferdinand).  Austria-Hungry and Germany believed that Russia's demographics would make it unstoppable in the coming years.  They all were probably wrong.  But that didn't matter--1914 it was to be.

    It may be rational for Russia to believe that if it wants to retake the Baltics, 2026 is going to be its last chance.  After that, Europe's rearmament may make that impossible.

  2. 2 hours ago, Gatorubet said:

    Interesting thought.  Regarding the Miami Mayor, I saw where the Hispanic vote turned heavily democratic compared to past years.  I’m hopeful that the Texas gerrymander districts include the assumption that Hispanic vote will go largely GOP in the 2024 percentage. It would be a hoot if Texas created their own Democratic congressional districts if pissed off Hispanics turned heavily democratic in the midterm

    Well, I mean, yeah.  But you and I both know that Hispanics are not at all a monolithic group.  And between South Florida and South Texas, it's a pretty huge variation.

  3. On 11/11/2025 at 8:36 AM, Ghost of LL said:

    There is more and more chatter that Mary Peltola is going to run against Dan Sullivan for that seat in Alaska.  And a number of recent polls show her tied or ahead of him.

    As a reminder, she won the at-large House seat in 2020, but was narrowly defeated in 2024.  So she has a record of winning a statewide race.

    Alaska is politically a really weird state.  Given the candidate issues the Dems are having in Maine, Alaska may be a more likely pick-up than beating Collins.

    Going back to Alaska, I find it interesting that it supplied two of the four Republican senators who voted for extending the ACA tax credits.

    That's not an accident.  Alaska has the highest ACA subsidy per enrollee of any state ($867), with the exception of West Virginia ($1,038).*  That shouldn't surprise--heathcare in Alaska is expensive af.  So if those subsidies and tax credits go away, there are a whole lot of Alaskans who are going to be very pissed and very without healthcare.

    Now, if you're a senator from West Virginia, who gives a fuck.  You could anally rape every voter in the state and still win by 30 points so long as you have an (R) after your name.  But Alaska is different.  It's not exactly a "swing" state, but it is a state that has elected Democrats to statewide elective office in recent memory (and no--Joe Manchin doesn't count).

    I don't know how much of a chance Mary Peltola has.  I will tell you, however, that she has a record of winning in a statewide election.  And in a good Democratic year with the GQP doing everything it can to fuck over Alaskans, she might have a shot.

     

     

     

    * For those keeping score at home, Texas is right there in the middle at $536.

  4. 5 minutes ago, Sawbonz said:

    Anybody going to tell her she’s Mexican?

    Fuckers whose surname ends in "z" stanning for an overtly white-supremacist party will never not be amazing to me.

  5. 9 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

    Its worse than we thought.

    As I re-read Justice Sotomayor's dissent in Trump v. CASA, Inc., I hold out some possibility that Sotomayor, Jackson, and Kagen were three of the four votes needed to grant cert.

    Kavanaugh concurred in that case specifically arguing that CASA wasn't a big deal because SCOTUS would get a chance to decide the EO on its (complete lack of) merits.  Sotomayor was all "bullshit motherfucker, because the DOJ would know it'd get poured out and so it'd never petition for cert."  And so once the DOJ did petition for cert, I think it's possible that Sotomayor, Jackson, and Kagen voted in favor with Kavanaugh voting yes also because he kind of set himself up to do so with his concurrence in CASA.

     

    At least, I really really hope that's the deal.

  6. ·

    Edited by Ghost of LL

    I miss the lawyer I was when SCOTUS was something that could be respected by people in the legal profession.  That lawyer was so eager and energetic and thoughtful. 

     

    It's too bad the Roberts Court killed him (and many others like him--looking at you, @Brisketexan & @DDD Dad).

  7. 1 hour ago, miguelito said:

    Yeah, downtown is where people get raped, murdered, and raped. 

    That's not true at all.  Downtown you just get raped and assaulted.

    It's out by fucking MDW that you get raped, murdered, and raped.

    1 hour ago, HenryJames said:

    @spankytoes once said you should stay at a hotel near the airport when visiting Amsterdam.

    I didn't see this thread, but was his point that AMS is pretty unique among European airports in that it is very close to the city it serves and is well connected by train to Centraal Station (which is right in downtown)?  So you could conceivably get a cheap rate on an airport hotel and use the train to be in downtown in less than 20 minutes?

    I mean, I still disagree.  But I at least understand it as a discussion point.

  8. 20 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

    While often used as a substitute (I have done so myself), that is incorrect.  See, e.g.: https://simplywanderfull.com/the-ultimate-russian-dressing-for-a-classic-reuben-sandwich/

    1) Russian dressing is the only proper dressing on a Reuben.  Putting Thousand Island on it just turns it into a kosher Big Mac.

    2) Russian dressing isn't proper Russian dressing unless it has caviar in it.

    3) Aside from Katz's, the best Reuben I've ever had is at Scholz's.  Damn--I'm hungry.

  9. Turnout in Williamson County is going to be critical for Van Epps.  It is the most educated county in the district. But unusually for such a well-educated area, it is heavily Republican.

    Van Epps either needs to hold trump’s margin or run up the score with a good turnout. He doesn’t need to do both. But he can’t do neither.

  10. 13 hours ago, Gap03 said:

    So if Trump pardons all these fucks, does the next Dem administration (if there is one) just turn them over for trial in the Hague instead?

    There's a real jurisdictional question in there.  If Hegseth ordered a murder in the Pentagon, is it a crime under Virginia law even if it was carried out elsewhere?

  11. 15 minutes ago, texasdago said:

    Man, its been a while since I was in Venice so my info is probably dated.  When we went it was in late November and it was foggy and dreary but that had its own charm.  We just liked wandering around and getting somewhat lost which is great with Google Maps (unlike what it used to be like).  The gondola ride is super touristy... if you try to catch you from a less busy spot when the weather is crappy, you might be able to get a better deal.  If there is the acqua alta, you might have to deal with some flooding so just be aware.  Honestly, the last time we went, I was happiest when not around the San Marco area so the further from there, the better it was.  That's a personal opinion but maybe not uncommon.

    Yeah--I think that's kind of where I am.  It's been probably 20 years since I was in Venice, but my key takeaways were:

    1) It's incredibly hot, humid, smelly, and crowded (none of which should be a real issue in January);

    2) Even so, you don't have to go far from San Marco to find yourself completely lost and wondering down the most magical little alleys; 

    3) It's expensive AF.

    4) But . . . you can hop from bacaro to bacaro eating cicchetti and have a fantastic "meal" for 15 Euro.  You can buy a day pass on the Vaporetto for 25 Euro and ride the boat all around the Lagoon.  You can walk through some of the most amazing churches in the world for nothing or next to nothing.  In other words, you can fill a full day in Venice doing all the Venice stuff for less than 50 Euro.

     

    Anyway--this'll be different.  I figure a gondola ride will be nice when it's cold.  I imagine the gondaliers have blankets underneath which I can get handsy with Mrs.LL--that's definitely something you can't do in the Summer.

  12. 37 minutes ago, texasdago said:

    I mean, free is free

    So with that one detail out of the way, any thoughts on restaurants or stuff to do?

    Keeping in mind that it's January.  So it'll be cold.  Sitting on a patio isn't much in the cards.  But drinking in a bacaro definitely is.

  13. 12 minutes ago, gsoda3 said:

    I'm guessing you're arriving sometime in the morning which makes B a no brainer. Unless you like jostling amongst the unwashed masses at Wetherspoon.

    To be clear--if I followed Option A, I wouldn't be going to Weatherspoon's.  I'd go straight to the BA First Class Lounge as soon as I cleared the connection security at T5.  The real issue with that plan is that the showers at the BA First Lounge are inferior and there aren't many of them.  But at the AA Arrivals lounge, there are a ton of showers.

    I just don't know the geography of LHR well enough to remember if clearing customs and going to the AA Arrivals lounge is going to commit me to a whole ton of extra walking.

  14. On 11/11/2025 at 2:51 PM, Chopper said:

    A tragic and interesting story about connecting through LHR if you don't follow the fucking signs.

     

    Ok--I have a very specific scenario/question on this.

    I am going through LHR in January, and I have to transfer from Terminal 3 to Terminal 5 on the outbound leg.  I am Executive Platinum on AA.  I will have no checked luggage.  My layover is 3 hours 15 minutes.  With that information, should I:

    (A) Follow the purple "Flight Connections" signs and take the airside bus to Terminal 5, where I'd still have to go through security (though they do have a premium line), or 

    (B) Clear immigration, hit the AA arrivals lounge at Terminal 3 to grab a shower and cup of coffee, take the Underground over to Terminal 5 where I can go through the BA First check-in situation which has a minimal security line and empties directly into the First Class Lounge?

  15. As someone who is an alumnus of SMU but who has a son for whom Berkeley is pretty high on his college list, I'll agree for this week only "Fuck Cal."

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