Guard Dog

http://reason.com/blog/2018/07/18/florida-couple-gets-to-keep-starry-paint

The idea being that people who actually want power are the ones who should not have it.

Why? Few here would even know it happened! Actually in all seriousness I'm glad we can finally kill this angst among fans of the sport here about why it is not popular in the US. It is. It's just not #1. Or #2. Or even #3. And it does not have to be. The MLS has done a great job becoming what all the other "big" pro soccer leagues here should have been: a league that recognized where it was when it started and grew from that. The others tried to be the NFL right off the bat and did not survive. Besides, European stars who were past their prime and forced out by younger and better players had to go somewhere. Why not here. Hmmmm I haven't played Football Manager in years. Might need to give the new version a look.

I think DeMar will be less pissed when he sees how much tax is deducted from his check in Texas compared to Ontario.

Ain't happening! Sorry New York Red Bulls in your new stadium and league leading attendance but you finished last so down to the USL you go. Congrats on winning the USL Cup Dayton Dutch Lions. You and your 3000 seat stadium that you share with a high school are going to the MLS! That would fly like a lead zeppelin.

the irony is off the charts Let me know when they find one

How's this idea? We eliminate the Presidential elections altogether, No more voting for President. Every four years we take all the names of all the serving Congressmen, Senators, Governors, & Lt. Governors, etc and place them in a lottery pool. They must have served at least 6 years in an elected national or state wide office, and have no criminal record or ethics violations to be eligible. Then we pick a name from the pool at random. That person serves as President for a single four year term. Then in four years we do it again. If someone really, really wants to be President, odds are they should not be. MAGA!

To be fair to her, she's new to Congress. Not yet she's not. she will be in about 6 months.

And you guys think I'm nuts for wanting to take power away from these people.

Imagine a candidate whose ticket to Congress, Party Leadership, and ultimately higher offices is all but punched. All she has to do is STFU and not screw it up. Can't seem to pull it off though: https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/07/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-embarrasses-herself-on-firing-line/

Trump is walking back his denials of Russian... whatever they did... (still don't see how hacking the DNC is interfering with an election but whatever). The problem with walking back things you said is it sounds even worse than when you said it.

Which league is the best? https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/columnist/martin-rogers/2018/07/17/international-champions-cup-soccer-best-european-league/793933002/ Actually for my money it's the 2nd tier USL here in the US. Why? When the Tampa Bay Rowdies won the championship back in the '90s they had a keg party on the pitch. (OK it wasn't really the same kind of league back then) You gotta love that. Plus starting next season we are getting a team. In all seriousness though hard to argue against the EPL. They get as much air time here as out own MLS. It is kind of cool seeing that in NBC on Saturday mornings. Plus it comes one before all our sports so it's kind of like a pre-game warm up.

It turns out the US Marines drink more than any other US armed service. A LOT more. Well... I didn't need to read the article to know that's true. We drank a lot. I mean a LOT. https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2018/07/16/survey-military-binge-drinking-drops-but-this-service-stood-out-in-a-bad-way/

Don't blame me. I voted for Johnson. That never gets old!

Reaching space is far more about total speed then starting height.While there are some airborne launch systems it's just rarely worth the effort. Actually you are incorrect. Escape velocity is inversely proportional to the r (distance from center of mass). Get farther away from the center of mass and you need less V. You also need less energy to overcome air resistance if you begin thrust higher in the atmosphere. Less V means less fuel. So the idea would be to use lighter than air lift to elevate and orbital vehicle to an optimum altitude and then begin thrusting from there. The math just may not work. Otherwise I'm sure this would have been tried. But, in theory...

Article on feasibility of different orbital launch systems. https://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2018/07/14/will_we_ever_stop_using_rockets_to_get_to_space.html I've always wondered why lighter-that-air lift systems haven't gotten more thought in designing orbital launch systems? The USAF (then) and the DHS (now) run a program called TARS (Tethered Aerostat Radar System) that uses semi rigid aerostats to lift a 20k kg payload. The max the Falcon 9 can lift is 54k kg. take away the fuel requirements to generate sufficient lift from sea level and it should be in the ballpark. Just a thought. Edit: The TARS payload is actually 1k kg. The aerostats have a max theoretical lift of 5k kg. Multiple aerostats can be used. Again, theoretically. TARS does not need to do it but it can be done.

All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others: http://reason.com/blog/2018/07/13/arizona-lawmaker-speeding-immunity

touché

Note to Gromnir, when I stick a meme, particularly a humorous one, in a post whatever I said in that post was probably meant to be humorous. Or at the very least in the sarcasm spectrum. At the very, very least tongue-in-cheek. I don't resort to comedic crutches like memes if I have s serious point to make.

Playing Skyrim again. So help me THIS time I will finish it! Lots of mods on the SS Edition. But some of my favorites were never moved from regular. Oh well.

There were definitely a lot of good games. Very enjoyable tournament. Now I can go back to ignoring this sport until the Olympics in '20!

Cool story!

The California Democrat Party has endorsed Diane Feinstien's challenger. https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/07/14/feinstein-de-leon-california-democratic-party-endorsement-executive-board-oakland/ The Republican party lurches right and the Democrat party lurches left. Those of us who want to destroy them both are like: