unclevlad

Oh my, now there is one magnificent piece of linguistic creation....

I also wonder if she will choose to abdicate after the period of mourning is over. She'll be 95 in less than 2 weeks. No one's going to say much if she chooses to do so, after this has happened. Whenever her reign ends, voluntarily or not, it will close an era.

The NHL won't shut them down until it's basically a fait accompli. Story today is they're hoping for mid to late next week. They're like every league: desperate to get as much of the schedule played as possible. Even if any given game or set of games is fundamentally non-competitive. That said, this NHL season is by far the most distorted, competitively, because they created a completely new set of divisions and far more importantly: all games are between division opponents. So, yes...in the divisions with 8 teams, each will match up 8 times. This was done because of Canadian border crossing rules. But, to make things worse: there's only 7 Canadian teams. So they're playing each other 9 times. It also suggests that trying to squeeze in a bunch of makeup games might be hard. (The regular season is set to end on May 8.) And that, IMO, it probably won't distort choosing the teams to go into the playoffs from this division; there should be enough of a track record anyway. The British Columbian government might ultimately pull the plug, tho... https://www.straight.com/covid-19-pandemic/april-7-coronavirus-update-bc-vancouver-almost-1000-new-cases-vancouver-canucks-update-and-more If the government cracks down, it's possible this'd be the straw to break the camel's back, to me, and the rest of the season might be written off. I'm still of the opinion that the NHL will bend over backwards to at least nominally fulfill contractual obligations, tho.

I can't remember the last time I actually wrote a check, honestly. I'm thinking it might've been for a service call at the house, and the repair guy wasn't set up to take a card. But that's probably 5, 6 years ago. Almost as bad: I'm fairly sure the ONLY things I've mailed out were my federal tax returns. Why? E-filing has one major issue: the data entry is a PITA. You're taking all the data from the forms and transcribing it...which is also error prone. Yeah, ok, building the standards and security measures won't be trivial but it should be implemented. So I have chosen the fillable PDF and snail mail route in some years, altho not this year. Old fart comments... "the drug store did a poor job AGAIN of developing the film...they're cheap for a reason, doofus!!!" Take a Polaroid, it lasts longer... And let's expand things just a bit. What things from today, would be included in this thread 20 years from now...what things haven't entirely disappeared, but they're close? --writing a check to pay at a store (in the checkout line I might see someone ahead of me write a check MAYBE a couple times a year) --going down to the bank to deposit a check

One of the most straightforward reforms for me, is that disciplinary records should be...maybe not completely public, but far more transparent. Being the subject of a review 79 times??? And from the sound of it, no one outside internal affairs knew squat. It also sounds like the department probably violated its own policies by not contacting the outside review board. In a case like this, for some time, ALL disciplinary investigations need to be overseen. I would also love to see impartial studies as to whether the police unions make the disciplinary process overly onerous. That is, if an impartial study was possible, of course; that can't be considered a given.

Wow...there are only 3 spells in the DnD 3.5 SRD that start with N. Nondetection.

Have to disagree there. The only difference with Barrett was the timing of the opportunity. Blocking Garland was equally blatant and venal.

Oh, come now. McConnell is entirely devoted to his convictions. What you have to recognize is what they are...by his actions. His words? They're worth the paper they're written on.

I still have to nominate this for the Damnation by Faint Praise Hall of Fame. Second, anyone? CEOs to MoConnell: "Well if you feel that way, we'll stop giving your faction any money."

Would you care to translate? Or would that draw down the Wrath of Simon? Does an invocation count as an incantation? Hastur! Hastur!!! <if you think I'm finishing it, you are out of your pointy little minds.....>

A spell I really wish I had as an ability sometimes... Dimension Door

Okay, fine, I'll take the layup. Again. Abracadabra!!!! argh...took too long...that's what I get for considering showing off... OK. Balefire. Sometimes a spell, sometimes a demonic ability, often described as unholy energy that burns like flame.

The other aspect that really rags me...remember the (late) start of last season? Yeah I know, covid's made us all braindead but still, it was only 9 months ago. I'm fairly sure that MLB had a very firm policy about coming off the bench, in that the optics were so particularly bad during the pandemic. That reason has definitely NOT gone. Ask the Nats or the Canucks...the Canucks may have to try to make up a bunch of games with a seriously depleted roster, as 19 of their 22 players tested positive. NOT contact tracing, but positive testing. A bench-clearing brawl isn't necessarily the worst thing...pitcher throws behind the batter, pitcher buzzes the batter, pitcher hits the batter, you're GOING to get a fight...but this was nothing. Right now, a single case can explode in a BIG hurry, with the more-infectious strains out there. So <SMACK> those idiots that come off the bench, and the idiots like Molina that escalate. Sorry. I'll get off my high horse now...

The NBA also has rules for players leaving the bench area. MLB somehow thinks it's good theater still. (Or the MLBPA is obstinate. That possibility can never be ignored.)

Also, if I give money to a PAC I support, and half of it goes to the opposition....??? Strike the "almost." Quite honestly, I would be surprised if it ever hit the full Supreme Court. This sounds so blatantly unlawful that a summary judgment (tossing it out) could well be in order.

Way back in the day, one of the more...colorful...gamers in the local circle, brought in a new character...Hero, probably 4th Ed. The GM's comment was "how can someone spend so much and get so little for it?" The Jets kinda remind me of that. No focus, no direction. Fire the GM AFTER letting him run the free agency signings and the draft? That's kinda hard to rationalize, and to me points a finger squarely at the owner. Not like they're unique there.

And so the Jets jettison Sam Darnold for next to nothing...a 6th round pick this year and 2nd and 4th next year. Darnold was the #3 pick in 2018; had they traded the pick at the time, they could've gotten MUCH more. It also strongly hints that they're going to repeat history by taking another QB with the 2nd pick.

Some of it, too, is that the pitcher's knees landed on Castellanos' lower back. Plus, the pitcher had hit him...but he'd also hit a no-doubt home run opening day, and started his circle of the bases with skipping the first few steps...ergo there's the contention that being hit was payback. CRT has a point here. Baseball really suffers from hypersensitivity; ANYTHING that seems like an insult is blown completely out of proportion, it seems...and demands response. Also, Yahoo writer Jack Baer points out that the escalator here was Yadier Molina. Molina wasn't tossed, OR suspended, for charging in; he did get fined, but suspensions are without pay, so Castellanos loses 2 game checks. His salary's reported at $14M a year, or about $85,000 a game. Personally, I'd love to see everyone coming into the altercation suspended a game. Or fined notably. I suspect the MLBPA would block something like that, tho.

I don't think anything can be done right now. Nothing *can* be done until real dialogue can be re-started. First things first: fix the sick culture. "Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing." "Second place is first loser." Compromise means you lost. Related aspects include lack of trust in institutions...not just government, but business. Enron. Duke Energy in California. The Texas energy fiasco not so long ago. Athletics...baseball's doping. The Pats have had several. Right-wing talking heads have the longstanding practice of demonizing anything and anyone liberal, which only increases lack of trust. And in recent years, we've got fake news, which too often IMO is outright, cynical lying. The damage it's done to crush trust has been immense. This creates, IMO, a vicious cycle. Erode trust in the broad institutions --> increase the "I can only rely on myself and maybe a very few friends" where that latter clearly has a connection to "people who think like I do" --> the tighter and tighter polarization --> "I can only trust those who think like I do" --> less trust in the institutions. So I think the problem with political advertising is derivative from the deeper problems. Just go back to Trump's attempts to overturn the elections. It never had any legal traction, but it had great social traction. Don't get me wrong; I'd love to see political advertising cleaned up, but it's a consequence of the problems that led to Trump's efforts having the credence they had. And, yes, it's fair to say I'm a social pessimist, but no, I don't think things will improve; I think they'll get worse. Any momentum to restore the ReTrumplican Party to the Republican Party seems to be gone. Instead, there's a greater push to hold onto power, which very clearly erodes trust and increases polarization. The liberal side has its 2 issues that are being inflamed: racism especially in policing, and gun control. If I counted right: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mass_shootings_in_the_United_States_in_2021 in March alone there were 46 incidents, with 70 people killed and another 188 injured. And of course there's the incidents none of us need to be reminded of. But nothing gets done. If we can't address gun violence, is there reason to think we can address anything substantive? (It also doesn't help that I think we've passed the point of averting MAJOR climate problems; our only hope now is mitigating how bad it will be. And the problems, like the Texas energy fiasco, will just contribute to the social disintegration. IF we had time, maybe we could fix the communications issues; I don't think we have long enough.)

Refine "spending limits on political ads for a campaign." Does it apply to PACs? Does it apply to PAC ads run for individual candidates? I don't think we've seen that many...but what about political ads run against multiple candidates? Does this mean that the combined spending between a candidate and PACs is limited? Point is: nailing down what is, or is not, allowed, is much messier. A secondary thought: how do you address fake news, which can become attack ads under the guise of news reporting? archer: the 10% threshold may also completely freeze out ANY third party. I'd also expect your plan would strongly favor incumbents. Also, the current system would still be massively preferable to rules set and administered by the government. That just begs for manipulation by whoever's in power. Can you imagine what Trump and McConnell would've tried to pull off, had this been the case a year ago? The core problem: any attempt at limiting political ads immediately butts up against the First Amendment, so what is *possible* is limited.

I go way back to some old D&D arguments: that arcane and divine magic were, in fact, different on some level, and the arcane version of Dispel Magic didn't work on divine magic, and vice versa. And later on, there's the magic/psionic separation; the default ruling was, they're different. But an optional, simpler interpretation was "magic is magic is magic" and the heck with worrying about any petty differences. So, is Magic in and of itself a special effect that has significance? Does a magical ward versus teleports block a teleporting super...or just a spellcasting super? Or, another angle is, does the world have magically suppressed or null areas, does a generic Dispel/Suppress Magic work on ANY magical effect? Another interpretation is that psionic powers and magical powers often don't overlap. Mental powers are not the realm of the magical caster. So if Magic Only means no Mental: --Defense --Illusions --Blast --Entangle --Telepathy/Empathy --Mind Link/Scan/Control --AVAD/NND targeting Mental Defense That's a fairly sizable and useful collection that's barred.

I will admit that the only time I was there, was a while back...1977...but the Egyptian Museum was not, as I recall, even *slightly* impressive, in terms of decor. A better term for the atmospheere would probably have been.....grungy. So yeah, I can see why they maybe wanted a new facility... EDIT: elsewhere...another charge of racial slurs in European soccer. I don't follow the sport, but there does seem to be a notable uptick, both from the stands and, as in this case apparently, from the opposing team. It's very sad to think that the most pervasive trait of humanity is the ease with which we hate....

Mmm...you know, they might be. I went back to 2019 numbers. Forgot about that.

I'm not sure there is a V, honestly. And no one's offered one in over 36 hours, so...I say we forfeit the V. For W: Wuyi tea. It's a mountain area; produces black teas and oolongs. It's the homeland of Lapasang Souchong.

The Supreme Court would overturn that in a heartbeat. And I don't mean just *this* Court; it'd never fly, it's far, far too restrictive. Also a LARGE percentage of the money spent in politics isn't given to a campaign; it's given to PACs who can choose to spend it however they want. For example, PAC money was, I think, a big factor in Yvette Herrell's election. Torres-Small was *constantly* painted as anti-energy, anti-mining, and that's huge down here. Some of that was from Herrell's campaign, but a lot of it was the broader Congressional Republican PAC.