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now that don't surprise us. sure, the level which they exploit 1/2 or more o' the population don't bother gifted, but they are doing... something. 'course the chinese government lies 'bout what they are doing, so is so hard to tell what has actual been done, but gifted likes do. the chinese did anywhere between 2000 and 10000 in response to tiananmen square. 'course they don't do much 'bout their aids problem and their actua per capita gdp is placing them not in the economic heavyweight category, but rather in the featherweight range. as o' march 2019, world bank has china per cap gdp right behind kazakhstan at #72... which is probable a dozen or so places too high as is based on china's numbers which is so utter cooked as to be useless. to get to 72, all they need do is keep a billion people living in squalor. the chinese economic miracle has been mostly myth for as long as economists has been predicting eventual fail. *chuckle* am personal quite happy with a little less o' china-style do. we weren't born to one o' the privileged families, so in china we likely woulda' got done... hard. HA! Good Fun! ps given our age, we got some perspective on the emergence o' a new economic juggernaut appearing every decade or so. during early 80s, everybody were worried 'bout nuclear armageddon and soviets were the bogey man du jour. we went to russia and eastern europe late 80s. we coulda' lived like a king in moscow for years if we had brought more condoms with us. no kidding. the black market rate for condoms were such that we coulda' got diamonds and cars (russian cars, so limit your imagination) for a box o' trojans. became clear to us after our visit that fears o' the russians were exaggerated. once the wall came down, we needed a new monster to frighten us, and we kid you not, for awhile it were japan. the japanese were so technological advanced and their manufacturing efficiency were so superior, the US were gonna become nothing but a footnote in economic history by the end o' the century. then came concerns 'bout the emerging eu. *groan* china? that per capita gdp puts 'em neck n' neck with mexico, and five places behind russia. for some reason, the world, and the US in particular, needs a new economic superpower to threaten the post ww2 status quo with the equal mythological US hegemony being eternal threatened.

why? any yutz can provide solution for E, but einstein showed his work. can come up with dozens o' failed authoritarian oligarchies, so distinguish china... or is simple you is envious o' recent gains by china? ignoring human rights issues, 'cause we know gifted will, there is clear some shortfalls in the chinese system or they wouldn't constant be trying to steal or buy western technologies. forcible bootstrap an agrarian economy into an industrial power might have required an authoritarian system (debatable) but is not same thing to go from industrial to service-based economy. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/20/business/china-economy-gdp-fourth-quarter.html now admitted, is any number o' economists who has been predicting china economic doom for years, but situation, very soon, is gonna get very bad. https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/07/asia/china-population-decline-study-intl/index.html the main factor which has allowed china to compete with the west is the abundance o' cheap labor, but cheap labor is gonna need be found elsewhere, and soon. the authoritarianism which were successful in reducing population has costs, and those costs is only a decade or so away from becoming critical. so china efforts gets them worse standard o' living than what gifted enjoys, serious limits on basic freedoms he would no doubt miss, and has 'em facing looming disasters no less problematic than US debt crisis and income inequality issues. actual, the income inequality problem is a problem for chinese as well as Americans. oh, and one should not complete ignore history and geography, 'cause is not as if a relative homogenized society which has developed, in spite o' size o' the country, almost exclusively along two river valleys for thousands o' years knowing nothing but authoritarian rule for much o' that history might benefit different than would an almost uniquely diverse culture spread out across a continent with unique geography and religions and peoples. so, show your work, eh? HA! Good fun!

am risking the dreaded double-post, but is kinda worth it... is nevertheless on us as we forgot to mention an important detail. 'least the detail appeared important to gifted. in any event, underlined status from gifted post is not one o' the 15 factors in the sat's new adversity score. HA! Good Fun!

am not certain how gifted read this as affirmative action. sat is gonna provide a number which the student never sees. the number will be sent to schools and the schools may then decide what, if anything, to do with the number. the number, in and of itself, benefits the student not at all. 'ccording to the article, yale, and other schools, is already applying an adversity score. yale is a private institution and decided they value a more diverse student body. if a vast majority o' your students is coming from same small group o' eastern prep schools, there is no doubt a tendency to develop a kinda echo chamber environment. same backgrounds. same teachers. same curriculum. am understanding why folks in charge at yale might value greater diversity o' pov 'mongst their student body... and yale has the resources to develop their own adversity score as they see fit. schools not yale, schools with an endowment less than $25 billion (or whatever it is 2019) might see value in having an adversity score available w/o having the resources to develop such. sat is doing no more than standardizing readily available info into an easy to understand (and no doubt oversimplified) number, which is their business after all. college boards thus offers a service to schools, no doubt to fill a perceived demand. gifted is 'gainst capitalism? knee-jerk HA! Good Fun!

made a late breakfast. guess it kinda looked like eggs benedict, but not. prepared a béchamel with cheddar, manchego and half-and-half 'cause we looked in the refrigerator and those items spoke to us. we have good bacon so we cooked up three thick cut pieces. drained off most o' the bacon grease and then fried two eggs using these little egg ring thingies which had been gifted to us some time past but we had never bothered to use. toasted an english muffin and buttered... am not certain why we buttered the muffin other than some weird reflex. unnecessary. anywho, we placed a piece o' bacon (well, two halves o' a piece) on each muffin half and then added a fried egg which were nice and crispy from the bacon grease. topped off our muffin, bacon and egg stacks with something 'tween a drizzle and a pour o' our béchamel. closer to a pour if am being honest. after tasting we decided it needed some pepper. for those paying particular close attention, there is an unaccounted piece o' bacon. am knowing it ain't the most healthy food for dogs, but is no way possible for Gromnir to cook bacon w/o providing the dogs with a taste. as the bacon sizzles in the pan, the pooches stare at us, drooling and hopeful. hard stares. pleading stares. third piece o' bacon were to keep the dogs from shanking us in our sleep if we didn't give 'em a bit. food was ok. dogs thought it were excellent and are no doubt looking forward to us making in the future. however, the dogs eat deer p00p and rotting animal carcasses with gusto if they get the opportunity to partake, so their gastronomical insights is ordinarily ignored. side benefit: our house smells like bacon. HA! Good Fun!

what you said were, "Assault rifles have been banned here for ages, all you can buy is a semi auto that looks like an AK or AR-15." svengali it all you want, but am doubting anybody buys the act more than they did the tim apple error. if your real concern is the 50 dead, am not certain how your continued defense is honoring their memory. *pause for a moment of silence* were a minor slip, a trivial but oft repeated bit o' ignorance. you get to be our resident don lemon for the day, but weren't a biggie. regardless, is becoming spam. say something different. to get back on-track "In other words, it significantly expands the repressive power of Russia’s repressive apparatus. This may be compared to the Stalin’s Troika, a commission of three for express judgment in the Soviet Union during the time of Joseph Stalin who issued sentences to people after simplified, speedy investigations and without a public and fair trial." typical we would assume support for such is a joke, but coming from gifted... irony perhaps missed. such a story could be deemed critical o' russia and/or fake news. regardless o' gifted's curious support, posting the link would be enough to make him subject to fines and imprisonment, depending on opinion o' prosecutor's office. HA! Good Fun!

moderator's job is gonna be getting a little more difficult for gifted after today. linky to this post is gonna give folks a whole lotta latitude when questioning why their posts got disappeared, eh? *chuckle* doesn't bother us if gifted loses his water; is an affirmation o' sorts after all. is not even first time doing so and whenever it happens, am admitted experiencing the smallest degree o' mirth. bad on us. nevertheless, we do feel a bit remorseful for other moderators who may get painted with same brush... or in this case, mop. clean up on aisle 5? but to try and keep on-topic, your heavy metal music does not appear best for cheese culture. scientists played music to cheese as it aged. hip-hop produced the funkiest flavor is not good news for josh. Wisconsin to become the hip-hop state? perhaps try some funkadelic cheese. HA! Good Fun!

princeton has been rating slight higher than stanford in recent years, but even so, the argument is gonna be the same stuff is happening at princeton. if linda sue were cheated out o' stanford by some rich schnook's kid, then who is to say it ain't happening at every other ivy. the only reason the feds know 'bout the 8 schools in question is 'cause a guy in ny being charged with securities fraud, attempted to get a better plea deal by offering up info on one guy: rick singer. the feds investigated mr. singer, but is not as if they went ahead and checked if other schools were being targeted by similar schemes. and while we know gifted hates even the simplest maths... stanford charges a $90 application fee. stanford rejects approx 38k student applications per year. show the scheme has been going on for 5 ish years at stanford. $90 is not a huge amount, but each and every one o' those rejected applicants is gonna have an argument that their application were not treated fair and that they should get their money returned. we ain't talking some kinda wacky lawsuit wherein folks is asking for $100 million 'cause the application made a student feel uncomfortable 'bout their lgbt status 'cause it asked the applicant to check box for male or female, with no other options. kinda thing am talking 'bout is simple: stanford were running a rigged game w/o telling anybody the game were rigged, and were charging folks to play. is not an anybody will sue over anything scenario 'cause this is exact what Courts has been protecting folks from since at least Roman republic times. $17 million dollars in compensatory damages for the class. there were seven other schools involved with varying acceptance rates and application fees. to keep simple, albeit arbitrary, let's cut the stanford compensatory damages in half and then multiply by total number o' schools so far. so, $68 million dollars in compensatory damages. UT and UCLA is public schools, so taxpayers end up paying that bill... which don't include attorney fees. show one school administrator knew 'bout the scheme and decided to do nothing 'bout it and you may add punitive damages to the mix. and none o' the 'bove maths includes the college boards. both sat and act were involved as part o' the scheme. sat costs ~$65 with the essay. act is $62. is something in the range o' 3.2 million people taking those standardized tests every year. test numbers have value 'cause people believe they got value. court decides the class deserves partial refund 'cause testing boards did not adequate insure the integrity o' the process? almost nobody is gonna sue over $2, which is the public policy justification for class actions. let big organizations get away with screwing ordinary folks 'cause it don't make any kinda economic sense to take folks to court over $2 or $65 or $90? sure, the school or corporate entity is making millions 'cause o' their negligence, indifference or even willful bad acts, but those folks would never get sued 'cause is so little individual plaintiff money at stake. regardless, getting application money back if stanford were irresponsible is hardly excessive. but heck, gifted and malcolm abbott is simpatico on this, so at least they is in good company, no? maybe share a smoke and complain 'bout fed overreaction. good times. HA! Good Fun!

the tragedy being you will never get back the moment. coulda' not searched and remained untainted and unsullied by weird 21st century fanspeak. *sigh* there was a moment. there was an ephemeral flicker o' time when gifted coulda' shrugged off the impulse to know... and so too did adam fall. on some level gifted knew 'fore searching he would be immersing self in one o' those banal millennial or tweener affectations. did it anyway, 'cause he were curious. is more than your youth which were here lost. HA! Good Fun! ps we didn't add emoticons so as to proper signpost, but am hopeful none take serious.

biden is spelled as follows: B-I-D-E-N however, we watched the HARRIS clip and nowhere did she say it were okay to loot and vandalize and attack police. you are doing he same nonsense as were vol. ... your fluid and evasive point sux. you want to create two different standards. the message needs to stay consistent and the message is that peaceful protests is the right (duty) of every American. oh, and btw https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-harris/kamala-harris-condemns-looting-violence-in-wake-of-police-shooting-idUSKBN25N344 this is the message: While my time here has now come to an end, I want you to know that in the last days and hours of my life you inspired me. You filled me with hope about the next chapter of the great American story when you used your power to make a difference in our society. Millions of people motivated simply by human compassion laid down the burdens of division. Around the country and the world you set aside race, class, age, language and nationality to demand respect for human dignity. That is why I had to visit Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, though I was admitted to the hospital the following day. I just had to see and feel it for myself that, after many years of silent witness, the truth is still marching on. Emmett Till was my George Floyd. He was my Rayshard Brooks, Sandra Bland and Breonna Taylor. He was 14 when he was killed, and I was only 15 years old at the time. I will never ever forget the moment when it became so clear that he could easily have been me. In those days, fear constrained us like an imaginary prison, and troubling thoughts of potential brutality committed for no understandable reason were the bars. Though I was surrounded by two loving parents, plenty of brothers, sisters and cousins, their love could not protect me from the unholy oppression waiting just outside that family circle. Unchecked, unrestrained violence and government-sanctioned terror had the power to turn a simple stroll to the store for some Skittles or an innocent morning jog down a lonesome country road into a nightmare. If we are to survive as one unified nation, we must discover what so readily takes root in our hearts that could rob Mother Emanuel Church in South Carolina of her brightest and best, shoot unwitting concertgoers in Las Vegas and choke to death the hopes and dreams of a gifted violinist like Elijah McClain. Like so many young people today, I was searching for a way out, or some might say a way in, and then I heard the voice of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on an old radio. He was talking about the philosophy and discipline of nonviolence. He said we are all complicit when we tolerate injustice. He said it is not enough to say it will get better by and by. He said each of us has a moral obligation to stand up, speak up and speak out. When you see something that is not right, you must say something. You must do something. Democracy is not a state. It is an act, and each generation must do its part to help build what we called the Beloved Community, a nation and world society at peace with itself. Ordinary people with extraordinary vision can redeem the soul of America by getting in what I call good trouble, necessary trouble. Voting and participating in the democratic process are key. The vote is the most powerful nonviolent change agent you have in a democratic society. You must use it because it is not guaranteed. You can lose it. You must also study and learn the lessons of history because humanity has been involved in this soul-wrenching, existential struggle for a very long time. People on every continent have stood in your shoes, though decades and centuries before you. The truth does not change, and that is why the answers worked out long ago can help you find solutions to the challenges of our time. Continue to build union between movements stretching across the globe because we must put away our willingness to profit from the exploitation of others. Though I may not be here with you, I urge you to answer the highest calling of your heart and stand up for what you truly believe. In my life I have done all I can to demonstrate that the way of peace, the way of love and nonviolence is the more excellent way. Now it is your turn to let freedom ring. When historians pick up their pens to write the story of the 21st century, let them say that it was your generation who laid down the heavy burdens of hate at last and that peace finally triumphed over violence, aggression and war. So I say to you, walk with the wind, brothers and sisters, and let the spirit of peace and the power of everlasting love be your guide.--the final essay of John Lewis, published after his death. HA! Good Fun!

I suppose part of my objection is the pulling of numbers out of asses. Planet climate is a terrifically complicated matter that we do not come close to fully understanding yet. Then that lack of knowledge is used to create echo chambers and panicky declarations (even when the statement itself says "worst case scenario"). What? There is absolutely no way to prove that statement. am agreeing in part. .3 degrees is representing a massive impact, but there must needs be guesswork to determine how much change would occur for the next 87 years with Paris v. w/o. assuming current rates w/o matching Paris promises is gonna be fundamental flawed, no? is far too simplistic. is not easy math and kinda feels as if these meteorologists pulled a worst-case scenario outta their arses. even so, the .3 degrees in 87 years is scary big. is +.3 simple for not staying with Paris. is s'posed to be shockingly large number rather than dismissed 'cause is insignificant. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-America-stacks-up-greenhouse-gas-emissions-180963560/ is not per capita totals shown in the linked article. folks here wanna self-applaud for steps US has already taken at reduction? fine, but US is still contributing more per capita than just 'bout anybody, and more total than anybody save china. is kinda like dieting, no? mindy, cheryl and pam all go on a diet. mindy loses 10 pounds. cheryl loses 7 pounds and pam loses 4. have mindy brag 'bout her weight loss compared to the other two ladies is ridiculous when you realize mindy started out at 350lb while cheryl and pam were closer to 130. mindy needs to burn off a few more pounds 'fore she can start bragging or getting complacent 'bout diets. even so, am agreeing much o' the science is speculative. our issue were the curious way gifted criticized. the meteorologists attempted to scare gifted with a crazy-big and scary number given mere decades o' time. weird reaction from gifted. HA! Good Fun!

huh? fema coordinates efforts to assist state and local governments. is precise 'cause puerto rico could not handle the problems o' maria that they needed assistance. perhaps gifted doesn't believe provided assistance need be meaningful or effective? provide water is all well and good, but then fail to provide any means o' transporting the water to people who need it is gonna be a concern for most reasonable people. coordinate with private contractors to deliver food, but ignore when those contractors fail to deliver even half o' the meals they agreed to provide is not particular effective assistance. recognize that state and local governments have responsibilities to aid citizens is axiomatic. recognize how a disaster o' the scale o' maria could prevent puerto rico from fulfilling their responsibilities should also be axiomatic. HA! Good Fun! ps once again, peculiar reading by gifted.

is no reason for "pissing" from us. as we said before, is up to you to decide if you will help those in need in spite o' those who will take advantage. you may likewise ignore those blameless needy 'cause o' your soused layabouts potential living it up *snort* off of gifted's potential charity. like or not, the US does focus 'pon self-reliance means charity is less 'bout taxes and more 'bout the voluntary. you choose as your conscience dictates. only thing we genuine were even a smidge annoyed with were gifted's victim ploy... which he has thankful now abandoned. great. HA! Good Fun!

Uproar gonna uproar. Just pick the flavor of the day. When PoE was still in development, Obs released a concept art of a character called Cadegund, who was wearing boobplate: image Then a terrific cry rose up from the forums! "This isn't realistic!" they said. "It would actually cause MORE damage by channeling the blow to the sternum!" they exclaimed. "Millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced."...ok, that last one was me....but trust me....uproars happen for any and no reasons. Obs was forced to change that concept art to one with no boobplate, and iirc, the character wasn't even in the game. am knowing Gromnir didn't bother with such silliness 'til a cry went up from the defenders o' b00b plate insisting it were realistic. we personal didn't care if stuff was or wasn't realistic, but were no way to argue b00b plate or b00b chainmail were anything but pandering to a particular taste in feminine form. were all kinda valid defenses for b00b armour, but realism were exposing the asinine lengths folks were going to defend. 'course am thinking gifted missed the larger takeaway from his shared recollection o' the b00b plate kerfuffle: people bought poe in spite o' a shift towards more understated b00b armour. the sky did not fall. fans did not abandon the game 'cause o' lack o' more pronounced mammary displays. the poe purchasers were, shocking, less concerned with gratuitous content than they were with actual gameplay. a slight shift away from overt appeals to adolescent fascination with b00bies went unnoticed by any save for folks such as Gromnir and gifted who witnessed the tumult resulting from cadegund's "armour," which woulda' been more appropriate on a usc cheerleader than anybody engaging in combat. dig through the deadfire wishlist and recommendation threads. parse the endless poe criticism threads. am having a difficult time recalling appeals for more pronounced b00b armour. if there were such, they were comic few in number. kept b00n armour in poe and folks woulda' continued to complain. became an issue on the boards precisely 'cause some folks were all twisted up over armour designs. removal o' such armour were noticed by almost nobody. *shrug* seems like it were an easy win for obsidian. HA! Good Fun!

That is a case of strategy not really catching up with technology. 90% of the Officers of both sides (this would drop a LOT by war's end) were graduates of West Point, VMI, and places like that. They were taught Napoleonic tactics because that is what suited the weapons of the day. Many of them were also veterans of Mexico and there the infantry used the .69 caliber model 1816 musket. Smooth bore muskets were fast to reload but useless beyond 75 yards and very inaccurate. The only way to use them effectively was to fire in unison from a massed formation. By 1861 some of the state militias were still using them and many southern militias were using the British Brown Bess, but most of the regular army were carrying the 1861 Springfield. It was a muzzle loaded percussion rifle. They had a max range of 500 yards but were deadly inside of 300. Marching in formation against that was suicidal. Just ask Col Oliver Howard who got the 3rd & 4th Maine regiment killed almost to the last man assaulting the bald hills at Bull Run. By the time the Manassas Campaing was finished both sides had changed tactics to firing and advancing by regiment rather than the stand and fire of the musket days. And by the Battle of Yellow Tavern near the war's end even that was gone and regimental sized engagements became company sized since it was easier to cover the movements of small bodies of troops, is no question tactics failed to match new technologies. took far too long for lee to recognize. there were officers, north and south, who did see that the fundamental changes in warfare required changes in strategy and tactics. lee were honorable and brilliant, but he didn't comprehend how warfare had evolved 'til it were too late. shoulda' listened to longstreet and others. given the disadvantages the south had in terms o' manpower, manufacturing, and the absence o' an empowered centralized government, lee were fighting the war the wrong way. is perhaps a sad/welcome (depending on your geographic location) irony to be recognizing how lee's brilliance prevented any chance o' a military leader other than lee being placed in charge o' southern forces. lee's many victories were pyrrhic. the victories lee achieved, victories which saw the sacrifice o' many thousands o' irreplaceable men and tons o' slow replaced material, doomed the south. if lee had lost more frequent, perhaps the south would tried to fight a different war. will never know. the gifted book example is hardly analogous. would only apply to government approved books, no? have a city take a book off required reading list 'cause it glorifies misogyny or slavery might be actual parallel. where does one have books forced 'pon them by tthe government save in school? even so, am agreeing how removal o' books such as huckleberry finn and the sun also rises, books frequent accused o' racism and misogyny, is disappointing. am saddened when such books is removed from high school lists 'cause o' misguided notions o' cultural or gender sensitivity. has always been a problem with democracy, eh? get enough stoopid people to agree to something and it becomes law just so long as it don't violate the constitution. keep in mind the present issue is only referencing public statuary and monuments. the state/local/fed government puts up a statue and am not seeing any good reason for preventing removal by the same process. private owned is a far different scenario. if gifted wants to keep his nathan bedford forrest or lawn jockey statue in his backyard, we would be questioning his taste and judgement, but would be little the government could/should do 'bout it. keep your offensive books. keep your curious statue o' ______. public display o' such stuff is a complete different issue, no? HA! Good Fun! ps the notion o' endurance granting historical significance worthy o' insulation is asinine. one argument for maintaining southern slavery (pre civil war) and racism (post civil war) were the idiocy o' a need to maintain southern culture and heritage. do something bad for a long enough time don't grant historical significance. http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/80345-charleston-church-massacre/?p=1710589

gifted has ruined us. can't see a quirky drone story w/o thinking we should link in this place, 'cause o' gifted. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/one-day-marines-could-be-building-drones-battlefield-180963383/ as to civil war monuments, am admitted conflicted. is understandable for folks to reject the glorification o' certain personages. monuments to nathan bedford forrest is gonna deserve questioning. idolize those who prosecuted a war in part to maintain slavery is o' dubious merit. at same time, act as if it would be better to erase or forget james longstreet is equal repugnant to us. oh, and robert e. lee, while a brilliant general, were ultimate the wrong general for the south. the north never genuine committed its full resources to the war, which is kinda bizarre when you think 'bout it. everyday life in nyc remained largely unchanged during the war, and those northern ivy league schools were still having rowing competitions on sunday afternoons. is our opinion lee were the wrong kinda general for the war the south shoulda' been fighting. massed men walking 'cross fields into waves o' oncoming rifle fire were wrong tactics. attempt to attack north in 1863 were clear wrong approach. lee were a brilliant military commander fighting the wrong way in a bad war. regardless, we don't mind removal o' all the old civil war monuments much. am worried 'bout attempts to forget rather than confront. alternative suggestion: paint all such monuments lurid red. all those nice bronze statues o' lee and davis and jackson could stay, but only if painted a symbolic bright red. do same for ole miss mascot. stone mountain. etc. paint the marble and bronze red makes less likely to forget than removal, yes? 'course am doubtful most sons o' the south would approve o' our solution. HA! Good Fun!

lack o' clear and convincing evidence at this time is why there should be an investigation. not need an investigation if everything were simple and obvious. famous athlete is at scene of a murder. only witnesses is the athlete, the deceased, and members o' the athlete's entourage. chicago tribune prints a story which indicates at least one witness, who remains unidentified for personal safety concerns, has fingered the athlete as the killer. the deceased ain't talking. the athlete provides a narrative o' his innocence, a narrative which ain't actual consistent with the other witnesses. nevertheless, everybody at the scene public claims the athlete is innocent. case closed? given admitted limited facts, would gifted start with belief in the athlete's story, or would he be suspicious? yeah, the folks in the room during trump's meeting with the russians is not gonna be subject to a real investigation. ain't gonna be interrogations o' the president and kislyak. is unlikely we ever get a statement o' facts which is beyond question. even so, we want investigators to be suspicious. am thinking gifted, faced with similar circumstances not related to trump would be suspicious. who wouldn't be suspicious? HA! Good Fun! ps at the coast guard grad commencement today, trump observed "No politician in history has been treated worse or more unfairly" than himself. ... funny stuff.

hypocrisy much? you do realize the vast majority o' such posts were responses to gifted posts, yes? you realize what you is doing at this very moment, complete divorced from any on-topic issue? *chuckle* heck, these daisy chains o' insanity only seem to end when is Gromnir who stops, though am admitted finding response to gifled fails a bit like trying to eat a single chip. but to stay on-topic, and relevant Washington Post marks anniversary of Khashoggi death HA! Good Fun!

nose? no. am drying tears o laughter as our little bunny runs in circles. if you are indifferent to almost any murder unless is personal, then why imply we were misleading? you naughty little rabbit. am not expecting an apology btw. am expecting another math and/or simple read comprehension fail. am expecting indifference to murder and violence. am expecting to be surprised by the next brain freeze worthy gifted reason fail. aside, and am not sure why we bother, the russia thing has had any number o' reports which claims voters were swayed in numbers. the problem is proving the right voters in the right states were turned in enough numbers to have changed the course o' the election.... or at least such is prohibitive to prove. given russian efforts, is unlikely the right (wrong?) voters were swayed in enough numbers. again, proof o' effect is admitted problematic. however, russians were able to influence voters. their efforts, unlike illegals not voting, were widespread and coordinated and is unlikely it were a one-off. weirdness o' electoral college is in part what makes proof difficult insofar as the Presidential election, but we got lots of elections in the US. regardless, at this point, is no real question o' russian efforts and intelligence services is now unanimous in expressing concern regarding future elections... akin to climate denial for those who pretend otherwise. furthermore, goal o' the russians were always multi-layered. distrust in validity o' US the electoral process were always a goal. the russians also love a good false equivalency narrative. russian elections are rigged and subject to endemic corruption and malfeasance? well, look at the US where it ain't any better. illegals coming across the border and not voting... as 'posed to genuine concerted and complex efforts to affect US elections by a foreign power? somehow you see as analogous? run along little bunny. HA! Good Fun!

so, gifted is angered by the possibility, unsubstantiated btw, o' illegal border crossers voting as 'posed to actuality o' any impact on elections? uh... russia interference is a nothingburger 'cause no impact on the election, but illegals hoping the fence and not actual voting in any discernible numbers does bother. which brings us full circle. thank you for illustrating our point so adroit, though we feel almost guilty. HA! Good Fun!

READ: Inspector General letter on whistleblower complaint recognizing how the whistleblower did not personal observe and listen to the call 'tween trump and the ukraine prez, the ig nevertheless states,"other information obtained during the ICIG's preliminary review, however, supports the Complainant's allegation..." am suspecting this line gets much attention in next days. as for gifted, am taking blame 'cause am not surprised by your read and math fails, or the deflection or the absurdity. we know where is going from start. sure, you being perplexed by fact there is more than one person in the executive branch in spite o' all authority being vested in one office or not knowing how costs o' property raises overall cost o' living and average income totals in nyc is individual baffling and surprising, but your consistency is guaranteed. as for zor, we already mentioned money as the real problem. campaign finance legislation were passed and declared unconstitutional and other efforts at curbing money influence has similar failed. again, already mentioned. 'course term limits, w/o money limits, actual embolden lobbyists as junior legislators w/o diehard constituency is more reliant on pac money and not less. so preach to the choir? 'course if one were to dismiss entire representative democracy experiment it would be equal silly. huge amount o' legislation gets passed each term and imply money motivates all or even most legislator efforts is appealing to the reddit conspiracy crowd, but doesn't have much factual support. yeah, am sure gited's imagined laundry pods ban would have proctor and gamble money influencing votes, but so too would there be the testimony o' teary-eyed idiots who would appeal direct to Congressman 'cause their "baby" (a 20-something attending _____ community college next fall) had to die unnecessarily 'cause o' tide pods and social media pressure. democracy is ugly, but is better than alternatives, or so the saying goes. even so, out-of-control washington money is a big problem which term limits would only partial and indirect address. HA! Good Fun!

it doesn't matter. Gromnir and others has suggested that real estate ownership is a factor in determining millionaire status. gifted rebutts by saying that one o' his linked articles says the money is "wall street-generated" which is meaningless in and of itself, but again, he were rebutting gorgon and others who said that real estate ownership were a factor. he has gone to a bad place. HA! Good Fun! I think he's just trying to say that the link he posted doesn't factor in property ownership, so whether or not Gorgon counts it was irrelevant for the subject matter he produced. Not that you and Gorgon are wrong, clearly you're not but he was talking about people with a crap load of money in the bank and oh god I don't care anymore again, you gotta review the thread for gifted's weird spam to be revealed as ludicrous. he actual posted a google link and the google link obviously didn't clarify where money came from the million were generated. https://www.google.com/search?q=1+in+25+ny+millionaire&sourceid=ie7&rls=com.microsoft:en-US:IE-Address&ie=&oe=&gws_rd=ssl#q=1+in+25+ny+millionaire&rls=com.microsoft:en-US:IE-Address&start=0 seriously? from that mess he then picks out one such article to rebut gorgon's, Gromnir's and hoon ding's assertion that real estate ownership were a factor in odd prevalence o' millionaires. "None of the articles Ive read suggest the money is tied to real estate so Im not sure where you two are getting that. From one of the links above: "Most of the wealth is Wall Street-generated"." to help him, Gromnir further clarified role o' property ownership. again, gifted is being ridiculous. HA! Good Fun!

you do realize your approval is akin to wod linking supporting articles from joshua goldberg, or sharp one linking alex jones stuff, yes? skarp blunt capacity to be wrong on any issue from law to bumblebee aerodynamics is gonna undercut gifted position, and he sure don't need that kinda help. as to current issue o' trump chances o' winning, am admitted uncertain. while we don't necessarily agree with gd list o' candidates and their chances o' success 'gainst trump, am admitted concerned 'bout democrats, 'cause while democrats talk a good game, they so rare show up in november when it counts. am knowing trump is as unpopular as ever, which has been a near constant since short after the election. am recognizing how poorly trump is polling 'gainst the field. https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/457645-fox-news-poll-shows-trump-losing-to-biden-warren-sanders-and-harris am admitted baffled by how trump is actual polling below his approval rate, which is kinda counter-intuitive for an incumbent President. 'course nothing much has made sense 'bout trump polling since he became nominee. folks talk 'bout the economy as if is a positive for trump, but is core trump voters who has actual seen their situation become worse these last few years. if democrats become enthusiastic 'bout a candidate, they win whether is moderate or far-left, but go ahead and try and predict such a thing today is gonna be mostly the result o' weak-arsed conjecture. have mentioned this before, but obama did not look like anything other than an also-ran until after iowa. is better for democrats if a candidate, moderate or far-left, energizes the historical torpid and indolent democrats. is tougher for a moderate to create groundswell support given the endemic disappointment many/most voters have with washington status quo. nevertheless, am not discounting the possibility o' a moderate finding an issue or signature proposal 'tween now and february 2020 iowa caucus to elevate their game, so-to-speak. is far too early to predict. yeah, only way trump gets reelected is gross incompetence by democrats, but such were the case in 2016. one thing democrats got going for 'em this time (other than trump incompetence in office, which should make the election moot but don't) is the fact clinton ain't the candidate. weren't simple fact clinton were so overwhelming unpopular 'mongst almost all non-democrats and even a few democrats which made her a bad candidate. the cronyism which marred the democrat candidacy is not an issue this time 'round. far too many demo bosses owed the clintons decades worth o' favors such that her candidacy in 2016 were foregone unless jesus christ returned to run... though am suspecting even jc would have a hard time with both party voters in the south and parts o' the heartland given fact he is not european white. last time around, many democrats justifiably believed clinton were forced onto them. made far too many fainéant democrats actual bitter rather than ordinary indifferent. ain't a candidate like that in the current field. HA! Good Fun!

smuggling people across the border is a crime and violates the immigration and nationality act. Congress passed a law, and the President signed and the Court has upheld the Constitutionality. you genuine need a review o' how this works? fines for violation is considerable and prison terms is up to 20 years if multiple undocumented persons is knowing being transported across the border at locations other than designated checkpoints. is two relevant code sections with only major difference being if smuggling took place at designated checkpoints. oh, and if an undocumented person dies as a result o' transport, prison for the smuggler may become life. so, gifted now knows enough so he can go out and pressure his Congressman to change laws? maybe he gets enough citizens to pressure their Congressmen regarding the manifest unfairness faced by human smugglers to get laws changed? am not gonna hold breath waiting. but perhaps you wanna do reverse and make the immigrants actions criminal? that would be more fair and equitable considering the poor treatment the coyotes is receiving? criminal trial for current and backlogged immigration cases? all +850,000? yeah, that is the change we should be demanding. however, you are right 'bout one thing, we should get more use o' the following: duh. which brings us to skarp's typical blunt comprehension fail... a fail that admitted started earlier with chill comprehension fail. the detainees is not being arrested pursuant to a suspected criminal infraction. duh. in the US we do not separate parents and children when a person is served a parking ticket. doing so would be ludicrous and am not thinking needs be further discussed. that being said, the Courts is aware o' the reality o' the situation at the border and the difficulties o' detaining large numbers o' persons w/o even certainty o' their identities and countries o' origin. is a logistical nightmare to process and adequate detain people in the current situation, which is why child separations has been ok'd when is necessary, but such separations need be for no longer than absolute required. again, these ain't suspected criminals who is being detained. child separations did happen under previous administrations, but such were limited and not part o' a general policy. we previous mentioned at least one child separation event which happened during obama's administration, and the government defense o' the separation were cringe-worthy indeed, so is plenty o' blame for everybody. nevertheless, discover the wh purposeful made child separation a policy to discourage immigration? well, that is what caused the brouhaha regarding child separations. and to be blunt, am thinking you would look like a world class idiot if you went before judge atsushi wallace tashima and told him, based on his exhortation regarding soap, toothbrushes and blankets for minors, he had "obviously" never had to endure "harsh conditions." yeah, his ww2 experience provided the judge with experience regarding detainment camp conditions. is the kinda first-hand experience very few o' us could claim. nevertheless, chill calls out one o' the few judges with such experience? and you agree with him? HA! but again, this is a blunt comprehension fail and strawman to boot. judge tashima were addressing "safe and sanitary" requirements o' the flores settlement. harsh conditions experience were complete irrelevant in the present situation. ... already explained this previous, and given blunt instrument am dealing with, am as optimistic now as hurl were earlier when he edited his post in recognition o' a presumptive fail. nevertheless, we endure. the flores settlement, whether you like or not, is controlling law regarding what is standard for government insofar as the care o' minor detainees. flores, as is often the case with such directives, is light on specific guidance. "safe and sanitary." in a recent case a fed judge determined that, at a minimum, "safe and sanitary" required the government to provide minors with soap, a toothbrush, a blanket and conditions conducive to sleep. judge ordered that facilities be inspected to make certain these bare minimums were being provided. government wanted to appeal the judge's actions, but they couldn't. weren't possible to appeal clarification o' the already existing settlement. so government tries a different approach-- claim specific enumeration o' soap, toothbrushes and blankets by the judge fundamental changed the meaning o' the flores settlement. chill's "obviously" statement were kinda pointless in the present context, but judges found what were obvious were that in the case o' minor detainees, many o' who were being held for significant periods o' time, access to soap, a toothbrush, a blanket and conditions conducive for sleep were part o' the "safe and sanitary" requirement from the flores settlement. sisyphus at work, eh? HA! Good Fun!

no, it ain't. the position gifted takes is nonsensical but appealing to the fringe. after all, no matter how poor detainees is treated, if they keep making hundred and thousand mile treks to get to the US, then obviously their treatment must be better than where they came from, yes? is silly and ridiculous, but has appeal to the extreme nativist 'cause embracing such a wacky viewpoint means there is no minimum legal standard or notion o' decency to which the US must adhere. in fact, the goal is to find the breaking point for immigrants-- find conditions and circumstances so appalling that immigrants stop coming. after all, as we now know, the goal o' child separations were an attempt to find such a breaking point. even the government lawyers is embarrassed when they gotta make these arguments. syllogism: bad enough conditions means immigrants stop coming and then nobody suffers, but if people keep coming, then conditions ain't genuine bad. is circular-stoopid, but has become oft repeated by the fringe... and this administration. HA! Good Fun!