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I'm curious, are you pointing out that it's not quite universal yet or are you amongst the appalled? I posted a link to a reference that I felt was helpful and objective, but for the most part I'm just here to listen. I will say however that I honestly didn't think that this would happen, and perhaps even couldn't happen - so ya, I'm a bit concerned not only about this but how a variety of current issues are going to play out.

That’s incorrect (though an entirely understandable confusion). Boris survived a confidence vote for leadership of his party. This is brought by Tory MPs and voted on by Tory MPs. This couldn’t be repeated for a year…. Except the Party could and probably would have simply changed the rules and held another one next week if he hadn’t stepped down. The result of this would be a Leadership election again within the Tory party and the winner would become PM for the remainder of Boris’ term (or until they decide to call snap election). Gowlerk is talking about a Parliamentary confidence vote which would be brought by the Labour Party (the official opposition) and voted on by all MPs. This is the direct equivalent of impeachment, and is less likely to succeed because it would require Tories to vote in favour of a Labour. Also because the result if Boris lost would be a full General Election to choose a completely new government, and the Tories will not be very confident of voter support right now. Labour will quite possibly still bring this Confidence vote very soon if Boris stays. It’ll probably fail, but they’ll use it as a stick to beat all the incumbent Tory MPs who vote against it with at the next election.

The United States! A country based on a shared constitution that aligns every state and codifies shared freedoms and restrictions. Apart from this freedom. And that one. Oh and that. Certainly not that. All of those are completely different depending on where you live. Can we just be done with pretending we're a country already?

There just isn’t enough context in your question to say. And it’s unlikely you could give it if you tried. Most likely the behaviour is something that didn’t just happen randomly. Everyone is different and every child is different.

If she did knowingly bring it in, or even if she didn't scour her kit to make certain she wasn't carrying into an authoritarian country where it's illegal, tough shit. I remember back to World Team Russia when someone who had never traveled internationally asked if he could travel with me to learn the ropes. I knew he tooted and extracted a no confusion promise not to carry on the trip because I knew the penalties. We went through Prague for a few days and then on to Moscow. It was there I learned he carried the whole way. That was it for me with him forever. If you travel internationally with dope that is illegal where you are going you put yourself and others at risk. Don't do it and don't whine when you get caught.

She admits taking banned drugs into Russia. How stupid can you be? "American WNBA star Brittney Griner pleaded guilty to carrying cannabis oil on the second day of her closely watched trial in Russia".

Canadian military: 1. Prepared to use old outdated equipment. Or fix it. 2. Prepared to travel on old unreliable A/C. 3. Prepared to watch other NATO allies go to danger areas. 4. Prepared to be politically correct in all occasions. Unless you're a general/admiral in Ottawa. Then pussy grabbing ok.

Dorwin Schreuder

"Originalists" claim to interpret the law according to how the law would have been understood at the time the law was written. By definition, then, they have to look at history to interpret the law. If they choose to ignore factual analysis from professional historians who are not directly involved in the case, and instead accept without reservation a highly biased "history" compiled by one of the litigants, their decisions must be rooted in nothing more than their personal bias. Five of the six members of the conservative wing are conservative Catholics, and Gorsuch is a member of the Episcopalian church which holds similar positions to Catholicism on many issues. I think that, at best, they (like most people) are resistant to ideas and even facts that challenge their personal values and beliefs. Some I suspect have an intentional agenda to erase social practices that conflict with their idea of "how things should be", i.e. a society governed along conservative Catholic morals. There are also disturbing reports that members of anti-abortion groups that were participants (via friend-of-the-court briefs) in the Dobbs case have, for years, participated in prayer meetings with Alito and Thomas (and also earlier with Scalia). For many people, their religion is the single most important influence in their lives. It's naiive I think to expect that supreme court justices (or anybody) will be able to entirely set that aside. I fully expect that the near future will see the "catholization" of LGBTQ rights, same-sex marriage, and even (leveraging abortion) contraception rights. Even though Loving v Virginia was based on the 14th amendment just like Roe and Griswold I don't expect that to be attacked any time soon because Thomas is in an interracial marriage and also the Catholic church does not oppose interracial marriage.

Just replace "Tory" with "Republican" and it is just as true here.

“I’m not arguing there are no decent people in the Tory party but they're like sweetcorn in a turd; technically they kept their integrity but they're still embedded in shit” - Iain Banks

I'll take QE2 over The Donald any day/week/year.

Come on, Bill, that's not the place to look; that's a misdirection foisted on you by the conservatives who want a national ban and national laws that criminalize, not just humiliate, women who need abortions and cross state lines. Do you honestly believe a Trump or DeSantis or any other base pandering Republican President would use executive powers to help pregnant women and girls? The Supreme Court is far from done. Do you think the idea just popped into their minds without their conviction it came by way of divine inspiration? Do you think that they don't each believe the decision is in full conformance with their own interpretations of their holy books? There is no rationality here; this is not borne of political partisanship: we are being ruled now by the parties of god.

Fragile,, glass like. They were found on an inside bill deeper in.. from the edge. The theory is they were introduced when the money was first exposed to the water as the money got wet fanned out and sank. The packets became solidified in the sand with the diatoms effectively sealed within. Diatoms are too fragile to go through the sand to the money. So, the spring/summer diatoms and lack of winter diatoms indicates that the money was first introduced to the Columbia River in a spring/summer from '72 to '79.... an obvious delay from the date of the hijacking. Now, there are many scenarios that one can come up with from there..

I chose "never" because, (to the best of my knowledge), I don't have any kids.

Honestly, why does anyone still wear a tie. They are such a nonsense item of clothing and make no sense whatoever.

The alternative is 9 unelected wizards who try to commune with long dead presidents and read their minds. (sarcasm font thoroughly on - all the systems are nonsense, the British one just has extra history as well)

Requoting this to post the following: The current court ignored a LOT of things when it wrote the opinion. Including (courtesy of Heather Cox Richardson):

French (unless you count Fortran). I was quite fluent in French when I was younger, but lack of use has made me forget much of the vocabulary.

Spanking vs not spanking is clearly not the issue here.

Errrrm actually no. He can’t even resign properly. He’s stepping down as leader of his party but aiming to stay as ‘interim’ Prime Minister until the stories can pick a new leader at their conference in October. This saga is not finished yet.

That's the thing in a nutshell. I honestly believe that garden variety conservative minds are willfully oblivious to what is happening and what is certainly going to happen.