tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post8231634864974892508..comments2024-03-28T09:30:58.096-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: Reshaping Humanity - and EarthDavid Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger115125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-13585814145572845422018-06-27T20:59:59.418-07:002018-06-27T20:59:59.418-07:00@Larry Hart
Hell, they still chant "Lock her ...@Larry Hart<br />Hell, they still chant "Lock her up" at his rallies. They really are brain dead morons.<br />Dangerous brain dead morons.Zepp Jamiesonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16261339498383415026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-85460243856301213562018-06-27T20:58:39.851-07:002018-06-27T20:58:39.851-07:00@ Donzlion. After watching Rachel Maddow tonight,...@ Donzlion. After watching Rachel Maddow tonight, I'm persuaded the Dems might put up a fight. The Senate is 50-49 with McCain out, and so if they don't have any sellout in the ranks, they need only persuade one Republican to join them on nomination vote. That would hang things up until after the election.<br />Also, there is pressure to apply the "McConnell Rule"; no SC nominations during an election season. Zepp Jamiesonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16261339498383415026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-47945438661425591942018-06-27T15:34:39.206-07:002018-06-27T15:34:39.206-07:00Larryhart & Berial thanks. But right now I am ...Larryhart & Berial thanks. But right now I am in mourning. "Optimist" Brin just went from slightly over 50% odds we'll save the Republic... to below 50-50.<br /><br />Get Sean Smith's TEARS OF ABRAHAM.<br /><br />onward<br /><br />onwardDavid Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-70792533055056830042018-06-27T14:43:46.141-07:002018-06-27T14:43:46.141-07:00From my Twitter timeline:
"Merrick Garland w...From my Twitter timeline:<br /><br />"Merrick Garland was nominated on March 16, 2016 — or 237 days before that year’s election. <br />McConnell said that was too close to Election Day for Obama to pick and voters should decide. <br /><br />Justice Kennedy announced his retirement today — 132 days before this year’s election."<br /><br />Dan Diamond Verified account<br />@ddiamond<br /><br />Berialnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-37074588887142764882018-06-27T14:07:02.248-07:002018-06-27T14:07:02.248-07:00Zepp Jamieson:
Remember all the bullshit reasons...Zepp Jamieson:<br /><i><br /> Remember all the bullshit reasons they gave to put off replacing Dead Tony for over a year?<br /></i><br /><br />Mitch McConnell insisted at the time that the American people should get to decide who nominates Raptured-Tony's replacement in the next election. Now watch the same guy talk about how important it is to fill the seat <b>before</b> the next election.<br /><br />They don't even try to sound consistent or principled any more. Their supporters are fully into <i>1984</i> mode where facts are whatever the party tells them they are. Listen to any Trump rally speech, and you'll hear that he always tells his audience what to cheer for and what to boo for. "The great Neil Gorsuch," "The terrible Iran deal," that sort of thing. Because his audience isn't ever sure how to properly respond until he clues them in.LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-17755720467619658962018-06-27T13:32:12.647-07:002018-06-27T13:32:12.647-07:00How come it always backfires for Democrats but not...How come it always backfires for Democrats but not Republicans? Remember all the bullshit reasons they gave to put off replacing Dead Tony for over a year?Zepp Jamiesonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16261339498383415026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-79246542707429504082018-06-27T13:32:00.309-07:002018-06-27T13:32:00.309-07:00Regarding the Femi paradox, other than basic survi...Regarding the Femi paradox, other than basic survival questions (ie, the great filter(s)), my take is that it doesn’t matter. If we really are the only intelligent species, all we have to do is not screw it up and go extinct and bam, we’re Dr. Brin’s Progenators. We get to set the rules. <br /><br />Regarding current events, I always thought the Klingon Empire was over-the-top, and that no advanced race could survive being so aggressive and militaristic. Frankly, I look at our current military industrial complex and fetishization of the military, and I’m starting to worry.Interested Observerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04686192811380975495noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-43763186457625647972018-06-27T13:28:32.185-07:002018-06-27T13:28:32.185-07:00Zepp: "Yeah, there won't be a fight.&quo...Zepp: "Yeah, there won't be a fight."<br /><br />There will be a fight, and we're gonna lose this one on Gorsuch II: the Sequel. But so long as we turn up, show up, broaden our arsenal, expand our efforts, unite, and refuse to be defeated, we may win the next one. <br /><br />Hope you're doing your part, wherever you are. I'm taking to the streets, and may go dark for a while here.donzelionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05991849781932619746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-54519443038686162742018-06-27T12:56:32.349-07:002018-06-27T12:56:32.349-07:00Zepp Jamieson:
Not unless there is such a public ...Zepp Jamieson:<br /><i><br />Not unless there is such a public outcry that Trump is forced to wait until January 2019.<br /></i><br /><br />That could also backfire, if it becomes a winning campaign issue for Senate Republicans. Why don't Democratic voters think about such things until after it's too late?<br /><br /><i><br />Don't it always seem to go,<br />That you don't know what you've got 'til its gone?<br />They paved paradise, and put up a parking lot.<br /></i>LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-71014144708279416552018-06-27T12:53:41.680-07:002018-06-27T12:53:41.680-07:00Only the Rapture can save us now.
(Kidding on the...Only the Rapture can save us now.<br /><br />(Kidding on the square)LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-13163990440867429832018-06-27T12:50:36.020-07:002018-06-27T12:50:36.020-07:00Damn. I've been afraid of the Republican Party...Damn. I've been afraid of the Republican Party having an opportunity to change the balance of the SC decisively in their favor since Bush Jr.'s reign. I thought back then it had the potential to be the longest lasting damage they could inflict. Seems to me to be even more so today. This could end up being especially bad.Darrell Ehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14054311762477388637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-47833413722744288772018-06-27T12:38:35.815-07:002018-06-27T12:38:35.815-07:00Yeah, there won't be a fight. Not unless ther...Yeah, there won't be a fight. Not unless there is such a public outcry that Trump is forced to wait until January 2019. The centrists won't fight and the more strident Dems can't. So we'll get another young, corrupt piece of shit like Gorsuch on the court for the next 35 years.Zepp Jamiesonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16261339498383415026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-69358348794351249722018-06-27T12:34:56.799-07:002018-06-27T12:34:56.799-07:00Alfred Differ:
Alfred… I do not want to be annoyin...Alfred Differ:<br />Alfred… I do not want to be annoying. I say these things only because I know you are a good person and what I am saying is exactly the same as I would say to a close relative. It is not my intention to be annoying. After saying this; I hope I can remember that we are already talking about this in the future. (I remember chicken when it comes to remembering what I said before), so if I insist on the future in these matters, it is because I forgot we talked beforehand. In fact ... We had not already talked about these matters? .....<br /><br />Alfred. I understand that you insist on sticking to a line of ethics. But sometimes we must be flexible to survive. If humans were not flexible, 37,000 ago, the ice age would have exterminated us.<br /><br />If you were only talking about you; we could suppose that it is correct to choose a difficult path. But you have a wife. Men must make sure to protect our families. And you know that women live longer than men. Because of that, it would be convenient to change your mind. It is not the same to be taken care of in an asylum that care for relatives, I think you already know that. We are not eternal. We must do what is necessary while there is still time.<br /><br />I know you can go the hard way to be according to your ethics. But…. Will you ask for the same sacrifice to your family?<br />If you are worried that the burden of responsibility is too much for two children. Adopt four. (two men and two women) In this way responsibilities will be shared while running the small family business; a small supermarket that you will prepare in advance; since you are very foresighted.<br />But in the end it's your decision, of course.<br /><br />And now, I have to check my computer. I think the request to update my antivirus was actually a virus. I have shield deactivation alerts and the computer starts getting very slow.<br /><br />Winter7<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-86496128505651909712018-06-27T12:07:01.266-07:002018-06-27T12:07:01.266-07:00https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/27/us/politics/ant...https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/27/us/politics/anthony-kennedy-retire-supreme-court.html<br /><i><br />The bitter 14-month battle over Justice Scalia’s seat, during which Republican senators refused to consider President Barack Obama’s nomination of Judge Merrick B. Garland, will most likely pale in comparison to the coming fight over Justice Kennedy’s seat.<br /></i><br /><br />I don't see that there's any kind of coming fight. 50 Republican Senators can approve whomever Trump is told by his corporate and Russian masters to appoint, and that will be that. Jeff Flake and Bob Corker and Susan Collins will make token complaints about the right-wing nutjob being appointed, and then vote "Aye" anyway.<br /><br /><i>"It's a sad day for racing in Gotham City, Mr. Wayne."</i><br />LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-9010201844555260312018-06-27T12:01:06.368-07:002018-06-27T12:01:06.368-07:00More fruits of the poisonous tree. And now even R...More fruits of the poisonous tree. And now even Republicans who are lukewarm if best for Trump and congress will come out to vote for "constitutionalist" judges.<br /><br />As far as I'm concerned, the supreme court is as illegitimate as Trump is, and wherever Democrats regain power, the proper response to interference by the court is "John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it!"LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-28615979296024632502018-06-27T11:37:11.730-07:002018-06-27T11:37:11.730-07:00Kennedy announced he was going to retire, so Trump...Kennedy announced he was going to retire, so Trump gets another pick. Maybe Trump will nominate that skinhead with the tiki torch.Zepp Jamiesonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16261339498383415026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-43406053010548504382018-06-27T10:55:06.292-07:002018-06-27T10:55:06.292-07:00Zepp Jamieson:
The problem, as I see it, is that ...Zepp Jamieson:<br /><i><br />The problem, as I see it, is that the US is moving rapidly AWAY from a "peacefully prosperous and middle class" society; <br /></i><br /><br />Yes, it doesn't look as if we're in a position to Uplift anyone else. We're barely keeping ourselves sapient. Maybe the only path of redemption left to us is the glavers' route.<br /><br /><i><br />as Larry notes, the Supreme Court is undermining rights left and right. <br /></i><br /><br />I've lost all respect for the supreme court (no more capitalization) as any kind of voice of wisdom. They're essentially a third house of congress now, "legislating" along party lines. We can't fix that without the presidency and the Senate, and we can't fix those without overturning gerrymandering and Citizens United, so essentially, the will of the people is blocked at every turn.<br /><br />So what's the appropriate decorum when the United States is no longer a government of, by, and for the people? 1776, or 1789?<br />LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-40949216329573542282018-06-27T10:10:19.011-07:002018-06-27T10:10:19.011-07:00The problem, as I see it, is that the US is moving...The problem, as I see it, is that the US is moving rapidly AWAY from a "peacefully prosperous and middle class" society; as Larry notes, the Supreme Court is undermining rights left and right. Today, they ruled that private entities (unions) must give away their services for free or abandon the value of those services altogether. Zepp Jamiesonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16261339498383415026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-7540683768219180122018-06-27T08:42:56.275-07:002018-06-27T08:42:56.275-07:00David I'd phrase that as "Wouldn't it... David I'd phrase that as "Wouldn't it be more fun to make life suck less there?", though your way sounds more respectable.Tim H.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-69904015539818068142018-06-27T08:34:38.458-07:002018-06-27T08:34:38.458-07:00Alfred & Winter7, there are strategically no m...Alfred & Winter7, there are strategically no more important US goals than a peacefully prosperous and middle class Mexico. Look at a freaking map. Mexico's border with Guatemala is a lot shorter than the US has to "defend" against Mexico. And if we also uplift Guatemala and Honduras? Then it gets shorter still.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-12657266137844712452018-06-27T07:54:21.193-07:002018-06-27T07:54:21.193-07:00Meanwhile, the Supreme Court continues to dismantl...Meanwhile, the Supreme Court continues to dismantle checks and balances on our out-of-control illegitimate executive.<br /><br />Recently, on Bill Maher's show, George Will opined that eventually the Supreme Court would declare Robert Mueller's investigation to be unconstitutional because he was neither appointed by the president nor confirmed by the Senate. Will then asserted that all fruits of the poisonous tree--any indictments or convictions or even evidence gathered under subpoena--would be vacated.<br /><br />I say two sides can play at that game. When our illegitimate president is revealed to have been an agent of a hostile foreign power all along, he should not simply be impeached, but annulled. All of his court appointments, executive orders, and bills he signed into law should be revoked as fruits of an even more poisonous tree.<br /><br />I realize that in real life, that's not likely to happen, but there has to be some way of preventing the evil doers from capturing the mechanisms of democracy.LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-16435357096920137592018-06-27T07:37:53.821-07:002018-06-27T07:37:53.821-07:00Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez pulled a massive upset ye...Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez pulled a massive upset yesterday, ousting #4 House Democrat Joe Crowley by a large margin.<br />There's a lot of areas in the south and the plains states where Dems will have to run centrists. But in the west and NE, they cannot and will not win without a strong leftist presence. People won't want Republican lights who talk up rights of the oppressed while letting Republicans destroy those same people economically.Zepp Jamiesonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16261339498383415026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-92038415055130865062018-06-27T06:47:53.103-07:002018-06-27T06:47:53.103-07:00And, btw, RH sensitivity is an immune response rat...<br />And, btw, RH sensitivity is an immune response rather than a true 'allergy', one that leads to the production of anti-RH antibodies by the RH (-) mother, whereas true allergies trigger a histamine cascade mediated by mast cells.<br /><br />During the first pregnancy-related exposure, small amounts of RH(+) fetal blood may migrate over the placenta into the maternal bloodstream, leading to the production of maternal anti-RH antibodies which attack RH(+) fetuses like an infection in subsequent pregnancies.<br /><br />This immune response can be prevented by the post-partum administration of Rhogam to the affected mother which acts by binding fetal RH antigen & preventing the maternal production of anti-RH antibodies.<br /><br /><b>Again, RH sensitivity is NOT an allergy.</b><br /><br />Bestlocumranchnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-8477338821597992412018-06-27T06:28:43.463-07:002018-06-27T06:28:43.463-07:00The "provocative idea that life exists becaus...<br />The "provocative idea that life exists because the law of increasing entropy drives matter to acquire life-like physical properties" (aka 'Life exists because entropy favours life') is illogically recursive, tantamount to arguing that human eyes & ears are positioned 'just so' so humans may benefit from the current design of eye glasses.<br /><br />Neither profound nor informative, that's some twisted Benny Hill logic offered up by Darrell_E's physicist, a nonsense argument that suggests yet another solution to the so-called Fermi Paradox:<br /><br /><b>Our inability to discover extraterrestrial intelligence springs from an absence of terrestrial intelligence.</b> <br /><br /><br />Bestlocumranchnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-2375117895936993492018-06-27T06:26:16.329-07:002018-06-27T06:26:16.329-07:00"They can see that Bannon & ilk are tryin..."They can see that Bannon & ilk are trying desperately to make the fourth American "crisis" happen and in gruesomely violent ways. They can see that the right's apocalypse junkies are bent on triggering calamity. "<br /><br />Banno is currently in my poor country, playing Wormtongue to our wannabe far right minister of internal affairs (who poses as if he was the true Prime Minister).<br />Export of such people (for a very wide definition of "people") should be deemed as an act of war.Marinonoreply@blogger.com