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Messages - bodiddley

Pages: 1 ... 180 181 [182] 183 184 ... 436
2716
Previous Administration / Re: Trump Administration
« on: August 04, 2020, 03:20:09 PM »
Hopefully we'll be getting a landslide.

But as it stands now, Biden, if Michigan and Pennsy fall his way, still needs 2 more Electron Volts (intentional silliness by Bo) to reach 270.

Which means Biden would still need one of AZ, FLA, OH, WI, NC, GA.
So there's still a pathway for Trump.
he'd again have to run the swing states.
But none of those states have been particularly easy for Dems to crack.

FLA seems the most likely to go Blue.
But as the Isley Bros put it, there's still work to do.

2717
Previous Administration / Re: Trump Administration
« on: August 04, 2020, 03:15:25 PM »
Blech.  Garland was a moderate designed to get voted in by the GOP senate.
Can do much better.

It's not that Obama wouldn't be good or on the left, it's that there are other folks who are further left and less centrist.  Obama often has moderate instincts.  I always thought the University of Chicago ruined him, when he was forced to debate within a very conservative framework.

As for qualifications, Obama was a constitutional law professor.  A senator.  And President for 8 years.  So he knows the other two branches of gov't extremely well from the inside.  Has considered and dealt with most high level legal issues.  Knows most of the justices and has appointed a few of them.  He's also smart and articulate.  So he's eminently qualified. 

2718
Previous Administration / Re: Trump Administration
« on: August 04, 2020, 02:20:36 PM »
What would be lovely is if sometime early in the Biden presidency, perhaps just after the 100 day honeymoon, RBG announces that she is retiring and Biden nominates Obama.  It would be an extra bounce for Biden, put a 2nd black on SCOTUS, and symbolically compensate for the seat stolen from Obama.  It would also be a great move by RBG outlasting Trump.  Though to be honest Biden could find a more liberal justice than Obama.  O would be a great pick if the GOP controls the Senate, but if the Dems have the run of Gov't, I'd go further left.

2719
Basketball / Re: Knicks
« on: August 04, 2020, 01:17:54 PM »
Randle money.
The going rate.
Goddamn we've needed a legit starting PG for  along long time.
So you don't cheap out.

You can build a team around KZ and Rubio.

2720
Basketball / Re: Knicks
« on: August 04, 2020, 01:08:21 PM »
That's right.
All reports were Minny was willing to do a Rose/Rubio swap.
And Phil wanted more.  And by the time Phil agreed last minute, Minny had moved on.

2721
Previous Administration / Re: Trump Administration
« on: August 04, 2020, 12:54:20 PM »
I wonder what response the US government will make to the explosion in Lebanon.

Yikes.
I took a trip to Malta and Cyprus in late Feb to March 3. 
And had wanted to fly in/out of Beirut, but Lebanon was experiencing protests and economic turmoil.  So instead we used Athens as our base, which worked well, since people were really friendly in Athens and the food is terrific.

But I had researched quite a bit for a 4 or 5 days in Lebanon.  There are some ancient Roman ruins in Baalbek, near the border with Syria, a few world-class vineyards in the Bekaa Valley (two were recently rated in the Top 40 worldwide), and the world's largest statue of the Virgin Mary on a hill outside Beirut aka Our Lady of Lebanon, plus both Beirut and a coast to explore.  I was looking forward to Lebanon.

Last year their prime minister was kidnapped by Saudi Arabia, resigned, then returned and was reinstated.  But I think he resigned again during the protests last Fall.  Lebanon's currency has lost 80% of its value this year.   USD has traditionally been used as a secondary currency.   But not sure how folks survive when their money becomes worthless.

https://cn.bing.com/images/search?q=Virgin+Mary+statue+lbanon&form=HDRSC2&first=1&scenario=ImageBasicHover&cw=1117&ch=438

2722
Basketball / Re: Knicks
« on: August 04, 2020, 12:34:10 PM »
I'd have to go back and see what I was offering for Rubio.
I usually concoct a trade when I target a player.

I'm also fairly reluctant to trade 1st round picks.
So likely not, but I doubt that was our only option.
I don't remember the context well enough, or what Utah traded for Rubio, to really say much more.

2723
Previous Administration / Re: Trump Administration
« on: August 04, 2020, 11:50:23 AM »
Sure, let Joe be Joe.  He really does give a shit.  He knows what it's like to lose loved ones suddenly.  He should mention names of some friends or coworker friends who have had relatives die (maybe invite some relatives of CV-19 victims to attend and give them a shout out).

But also try to coach him to stay on point and not ramble.
I just keep how badly Hillary would rip into Trump, contradicting his BS and bludgeoning him with facts and figures and the real world death and disaster he unleashed.

2724
Previous Administration / Re: Trump Administration
« on: August 04, 2020, 11:46:48 AM »
Fuck me, masks should be mandatory.
That's very irresponsible.

Hell, what they probably should do is stagger class endings/starting by 5 minutes so that the halls have say 1/3 of the normal traffic.

2725
Previous Administration / Re: Trump Administration
« on: August 04, 2020, 11:28:59 AM »
I can only imagine that CV-19 has made it even more clear how important health insurance is.

2726
Basketball / Re: Knicks
« on: August 04, 2020, 11:26:44 AM »
Franc & Dot?
You gotta have somebody who can bring the ball upcourt.
Somebody who can set guys up.
I don't see it.
Both of those guys are bench fodder.
Wouldn't surprise me if one or both was out of the league within 3 years.

2727
Previous Administration / Re: Trump Administration
« on: August 04, 2020, 11:16:43 AM »
Trump likes to brag about the number of tests conducted in the US.  But the truth is most of those tests were largely useless as the results have been delayed an average of 7 days.  If results are not available with a day or two, it becomes impractical/impossible to effectively contract trace.  And those people who are positive won't isolate quickly enough.  So receiving a positive result a week later means that transmission has likely already occurred and spread greatly with no way to contain that.

(Biden should have figures on what % of US tests provided results with 2 days, which is when epidemiologists say is the effective range).

In China by late March, test results were available within 4 or 5 hours, though some areas provided next day results.  They used a cheap, quick test, not the highest reliability but fast results, so that a 2nd test could be administered easily as needed.

Biden and the Dems should be ready to counter Trump touting the number of tests, a misleading and useless metric.

2728
Previous Administration / Re: Trump Administration
« on: August 04, 2020, 11:08:08 AM »
I also think it's not enough to run against Trump.  But also need to make the case that the GOP party is so corrupt and anti-science, that it's both Trump and the GOP who have caused this unprecedented gov't failure and epic disaster.  The GOP believes that gov't is useless and unimportant, but the truth is that good government saves lives and bad gov't kills. 

Remind folks that even during this terrible epidemic Trump and the GOP are still trying to kill Obamacare in the courts, which would take health insurance away from around 20M people, when many most need it because their jobs have ceased or they get sick.  [Insert talk of expanding Medicare here]

Connect the dots.  Don't allow the GOP to pretend that Trump is an outlier.  Remind folks that the last GOP president before this was W Bush who also crashed the economy and killed Americans in a needless war of choice.

Remind folks that recovery from the Bush Depression was slower and more painful than it needed to be because the GOP was set on obstructing President Obama every step of the way, and basically sabotaged the country for 8 years.  Make it clear that the GOP is a toxic brand, and that Biden needs a Democratic Senate to get things done [insert list here]

2729
Previous Administration / Re: Trump Administration
« on: August 04, 2020, 10:48:30 AM »
For the past 8 months everything Trump has touched has been a huge smelly disaster.  The debates offer Trump an opening, mostly if he can bluster like mad and Biden makes a few errors or rambles on weirdly.

One thing good is that last year Trump openly talked about maybe skipping these debates.  Which provides an opening for Biden to blow off one or more.

2730
Previous Administration / Re: Trump Administration
« on: August 04, 2020, 10:44:47 AM »
(born 3000 years ago, you couldn't be Christian; born in India you'd likely be Hindu or Jain or Muslim if you had a religious impulse).

I meant for those to be two separate hypotheticals.
That is, born in a different time or a different place, you'd almost certainly not be Christian because that wouldn't be a realistic option.

Born 1000 years from now, Christianity might be a faded relic nobody believes in anymore.

[fortuitously, Kinky Friedman's They Ain't Making Jews Like Jesus Anymore just kicked in on my playlist]

Anyway, the idea that you happened to be born into the one true religion seems rather implausible given all the religions that exist now and those that have come and gone.   While devout Hindus believe they belong to the correct religion, as much as Christians do.  A billion somebodys are wrong.  Almost certainly 2B.

I guess I could have made it clearer by writing:
(born 3000 years ago, you couldn't be Christian; born in India today you'd likely be Hindu or Jain or Muslim if you had a religious impulse).

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