Guard Dog

Oh good, this s--t has to come to an end sooner or later. Might as well be sooner.

This was a very good (if long) read: What did Medieval peasants know As I written here a hundred time I get annoyed when actual history is subverted or outright misrepresented for modern political ends. The "dark ages" following the fall of the Western Roman Empire to the beginning of the "high Middle Ages" period are good fodder for that because there is very little in the way of preserved history or writing. Also I've had a subscription to The Atlantic about 10 years ago and let it lapse. But it seems like they have upped their game in the past decade and are doing some interesting writing again. I may have to buy back in.

I've always loved cast iron cook wear. I have a full set in my storage back in TN. But it is definitely maintenance intensive.

This one looks interesting

Don't hold your breath on "the people" correcting any bad management by their political leaders. God help us all the day "the people" do more than elect the same types of candidates and bitching about why things never change. As for the rest of your point regarding the "defund" movement (and this also applies equally well to any question where "the people" are led into rabbit holes by politicians) I'll quote you an answer from a man far wiser than I will ever be: “The reason so many people misunderstand so many issues is not that these issues are so complex, but that people do not want a factual or analytical explanation that leaves them emotionally unsatisfied. They want villains to hate and heroes to cheer - and they don't want explanations that fail to give them that.” Thomas Sowell

Now reading: I have always been a big fan of memoirs, diaries, and eye witness accounts of historical actions. They offer an invaluable account of what life was like for the people doing the writing. But it must be understood they are not great references for actual history. A perfect example was one I finished a little while ago; Blood Red Snows. It was written by a man who fought in the Wehrmacht as a machine gunner at Stalingrad. You will learn nothing about the battle from him. Most of the time he didn't know where they were or what was going on. But if you want to get an insight on what life was like for a low ranking German soldier on the Eastern Front it's a great read. So far this book is in the same vein.

Sniper Super Bowl how cool is this?

As long as you are in Mexico Hermasillo and Monterrey are also great places for great food

It’s not real it’s just funny. Or at least I thought so.

I bet @Amentep never read THIS one!

G is working at Westby's today. They have a really nice restaurant there so I'm going to surprise her there with a nice lunch. She really needs to live a little!

Obstinance is part of our charm! Actually in the wonderful world of engineering all measurements are metric.

I think I've shared this one before but who cares, it's worth a repeat:

People really get into a twist over what happens in comic books they don't even read!

Yep. It's called cloture. If they decide to filibuster then the only thing you can do is actually MAKE them do it. And then make use of that in the midterms. Nothing else you can do.

Trust me, you do NOT want that to happen

Sinema would. No doubt. Manchin maybe, maybe not. But I know at least two Republicans will be a yes and maybe as many as four. Collins is a yes and Murkowski is a yes. Romney, Lee, Toomey, & Ernst could go either way. You only need one IF Sinema & Manchin are a "no".

Article 6 in the Constitution contains the "Supremacy Clause". To make a long complicated explanation in to a short and equally true one: Federal Law > State Law. So long as that federal law does not violate previous law without replacing it, or violate the Constitution in some other way, and the Congress actually has the power to do whatever it was they did.

Hey even blind squirrels find nuts occasionally. But a potential upside here is to get voters to take a long overdue interest in who is in their state legislatures.

Right now it would pass 52-48 by my guessing. Maybe even 54-46 depending on Romney. Mike Lee is the other wildcard but will likely vote "no" as long as the vote doesn't matter. It's unlikely the balance of power will change greatly in November but the House is almost certainly going to flip. So if they want to do it and the SCOTUS leak is correct the window to do it is rapidly closing.

Just throwing this out there but Congress could fix the abortion thing once and for all by passing a very simple bill that says something to he effect of "neither congress nor the states nor municipalities shall intercede nor infringe on lawful and consenting transactions between citizens/residents/guests etc and doctors/nurses/etc". Make is simple, clean, don't hide a bunch of nebulous s--t in it so it turns into a 2k page rubber fire that frightened congress critters would feel justified in opposing. Keep all on one page and make it a simple yea or nay vote on permitting abortion or any other medical service offered by a licensed medical professional. Out of the 435 reps in the House I guarantee you 3/4 would be scared s-----ss to oppose it.

I'm really into watching Hell on Wheels these days. One exchange I particularly liked was in season 1 between Bohannaen (one of the the four main characters and a CSA vet) and an Army Cavalry officer. They are discussing the battle of Antietam or Sharpsburg as Bohannen called it. The conversation, including the disagreement over the name and details of the battle, and the fact that they nearly came to blows over it, struck me as very historically authentic. There are a lot of little details like that in the show and I love that stuff when they do it right.