Trump just won the election

[LDSGator]

6 minutes ago, Vort said:

Kagan

She was friends with Scalia and viewed him as a mentor. 

[Vort]

4 minutes ago, LDSGator said:

She was friends with Scalia and viewed him as a mentor. 

Kagan? Are you sure you aren't thinking of Ginsburg?

[LDSGator]

9 minutes ago, Vort said:

Kagan? Are you sure you aren't thinking of Ginsburg?

Ginsburg too, but yes, Kagan was a friend of Scalia. 
 

 https://www.risch.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2016/8/justice-elena-kagan-talks-about-her-warm-relationship-with-her-late-colleague-antonin-scalia

From the article. 

Scalia took Kagan to his gun club and began teaching her gun safety and how to shoot. After he declared her ready, the two began taking hunting trips together, which is when they began to bond.  Birds in Virginia, deer in Wyoming, duck in Mississippi — over the years, the justices traveled, hunted and got to know each other better.

"He was as generous and warm and funny as a person could be. I just so appreciate all the time I got to spend with him," she said. "I miss him a lot."

Edited December 11, 2024 by LDSGator

[Carborendum]

57 minutes ago, Phoenix_person said:

Are you expecting me to sit here and defend Democrats? I'm hurt. All this time here and it's like you don't even know me. And it's not like I was being subtle, in this case.

No, I'm not. I don't think you fully appreciate the history of this thread and what generated my most recent posts.  Start with my post about "first symptom".

Edited December 11, 2024 by Carborendum

[LDSGator]

I know people on the right and the left who lack the ability to even speak to one another. Yet two supreme court justices who have deeply different views and highly political jobs actually hung out together and were friends.

This one, thankfully, doesn’t apply to me. I have deep friendships with atheists, believers, liberals,  nonpolitical people and conservatives. Wouldn’t trade any of them for the world.
 

Sometimes we laugh at those who live in echo chambers. Easy targets. 

Edited December 11, 2024 by LDSGator

[JohnsonJones]

So it appears Trump will be going ahead with his idea to get rid of illegal (and in some instances, legal) immigrants.

I heard an interesting segment on how he will attempt to get rid of birthright citizenship.  It will probably end up in the courts.

His thrust will be if you are not born to a citizen or permanent resident, you will not be a citizen of the United States.

If successful, this would mean that illegal immigrants who have children in the US would no longer have those children as anchor babies, those children would not be US citizens.  In addition, he has said that he will not separate families, so that even if one is a legal citizen, if they have family members that are illegal citizens that are getting kicked out of the US, he would transport the entire family out of the US (or detained at a camp).

There are some that say this would affect Trumps children...it will not.  Trump is a US citizen, and therefore, all his children would also be US citizens.  Even if they had a mother who was not, since Trump is a US citizen, anyone claiming that his children would not be US citizens under these new ideas are hallucinating.

On the otherhand, it will be interesting if he extends the rules to apply towards his wife, or others who are allies of his, but were not born to citizens or permanent residents at the time of their birth. 

If he kicks Melania out of the country, I'd say anyone and everyone who isn't born to parents who were citizens (and their parents were citizens as well) may want to start worrying...a LOT. 

That said, I expect that as soon as he tries to enact these ideas, someone is going to try to challenge them in court.  Even with the court being so conservative, I find it hard to think that they would support Trump in these ideas, but we will see.

[NeuroTypical]

If you watched the same ABC interview I did, I came away with a very different understanding. 

The whole thing about deporting legal immigrants appeared to be one of offering a choice.  Zero forced separation.  But if a family has a mix of legal and illegal people, the illegal people must go whereas the legal folks can chose to go or stay, depending on what makes sense for their family.  The reporter tried every way under the sun to spin this in a controversial or negative way.

He noted many of the dreamers have grown up to be responsible productive citizens, and he'd gladly work with Dems to figure something out for them besides deportation. 

[Carborendum]

On 12/11/2024 at 2:42 PM, Phoenix_person said:

Should they have? Make your case, cuz I don't see it. I actually really liked that pick.

Re: Ketanji Brown Jackson

Quote

Judge Jackson Released A Man Who Murdered A U.S. Marshal And Gave A Reduced Sentence To Another Who Was Convicted Three Times Of Assaulting A Police Officer

“Early last year, the judge granted a ‘compassionate release’ for LaVance Greene, who was serving a life sentence for fatally shooting a U.S. marshal in 1971 while helping his bank robber half-brother escape custody in Washington. She made the decision over the objections of the U.S. Marshals Service and federal prosecutors. Jackson argued that the 72-year-old Greene, whose release had been rejected several times by the parole board, no longer posed a ‘significant risk of danger,’ even though authorities pointed out that Greene had recently threatened prison staff with a weapon. The judge cited other evidence that Greene was a ‘model prisoner’ who took numerous prison educational classes, including drug abuse and treatment programs. ‘[T]o the extent the Government suggests that some crimes are just too egregious to warrant granting a defendant's request for compassionate release, this Court disagrees,’ Jackson argued in her ruling to put a murderer back on the street.” (RealClearInvestigations, 3/29/2022)

“After [David Jenkins] was convicted for a third time of assaulting a police officer, who was trying to arrest him on a warrant for assault with a deadly weapon, prosecutors requested he be locked up for 30 months. His defense attorney pleaded for 21 months. In her 2015 sentencing, Jackson gave him only 18 months.” (RealClearInvestigations, 3/29/2022)

*******************************

“[A]s a D.C. judge, Jackson under-sentenced defendants in every single child porn case in which she had discretion to mete out punishment, court records show, even though some were caught with thousands of illegal images and videos of minors … She not only departed from federal sentencing guidelines, but in many cases eschewed the recommendations of prosecutors and sometimes even probation departments, leaning instead in favor of the lighter punishments suggested by the … offenders and their lawyers, many of whom worked in the same federal public defender office where she once worked.” (RealClearInvestigations, 3/29/2022)

One Offender Felt Fortunate He Wound Up In Judge Jackson’s Courtroom, Noting He Might Have Otherwise Spent Multiple Years In Prison Instead Of Just Three Months

“Wesley Hawkins … [knew] [Ketanji Brown] Jackson was the judge who had sentenced him for possession of child pornography nine years earlier, when he was a teenager…. Perhaps most surprising, Hawkins said, was that he found himself feeling sympathy for the judge he had once been angry with for sending him to prison. ‘I wasn’t very happy that she gave me three months, though, after reflection when I was in jail, I was hearing from other people who said it was their first time arrested and they got five years, six years. I feel that she chose to take into consideration the fact that I was just getting started [in life] and she knew this was going to hold me back for years to come regardless,’ he said, ‘so she didn’t really want to add on to that.’” (“Wesley Hawkins, Talk Of The Jackson Hearings, Describes Life After Pornography Sentence,” The Washington Post, 3/25/2022)

**********************

“Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson doled out a lenient sentence to a child rapist for violating probation — and he allegedly struck again during the time when prosecutors wanted him locked up, The Post has learned. The Biden nominee’s handling of sex offender Leo Weekes’ case emerged in a tranche of court filings and transcripts sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee Friday — just days before the panel is set to vote on whether to report her nomination to the full Senate.” (“Convicted Child Rapist Nabbed For Assault After Lax Sentence From Ketanji Brown Jackson,” New York Post, 4/03/2022)

“In 2010, Weekes was convicted in DC Superior Court of raping his 13-year-old niece four years earlier. He was sentenced to 16 months in jail and four years of supervised probation and was required to register as a sex offender for the next decade, according to records obtained by The Post. But instead, Weekes failed to register — lying about his whereabouts by claiming he lived in DC in February 2013 when prosecutors said he was really living with his wife in Temple Hills, Maryland since 2012. He was hauled before Jackson, then a federal judge in DC, on Feb. 19, 2014 for sentencing after pleading guilty to a charge of failing to register. Prosecutors asked that Weekes receive a two-year sentence — the low end of the federal guidelines, which ranged up to 30 months — with another five years of supervised release. Weekes’ attorney asked for a maximum sentence of 10 months, plus three years of supervised release. Prosecutor Ari Redbord told Jackson that Weekes had lived ‘an adult life of dishonesty, of fraud, of failing to obey court orders, and that is exactly what he did here,’ according to a transcript of the hearing. Redbord then underscored the seriousness of the rape case, for which Weekes was convicted of simple assault and three misdemeanor counts.” (“Convicted Child Rapist Nabbed For Assault After Lax Sentence From Ketanji Brown Jackson,” New York Post, 4/03/2022)

“Jackson, however, appeared unmoved, saying there was ‘no evidence’ Weekes had been intentionally ducking probation officers, though she conceded he had ‘gotten a number of breaks, perhaps undeservedly so’ in the earlier assault case. ‘I do believe that criminal history is having a disproportionate impact on the sentence that the guidelines prescribe in this particular case in light of what you actually did here,’ said Jackson before sentencing Weekes to 12 months, with credit for time served, according to the transcript. He was released five months later, the court documents show.” (“Convicted Child Rapist Nabbed For Assault After Lax Sentence From Ketanji Brown Jackson,” New York Post, 4/03/2022)

“Weekes landed on law enforcement’s radar again in June 2015 — when he would have been in prison had prosecutors gotten their way. According to a DC police report cited by federal prosecutors, Weekes allegedly plied his sister-in-law with liquor while she was babysitting for his wife. He then allegedly started touching her, trying three separate times to pull her leggings down, the report says. On the third occasion, the report alleges, Weekes ‘was able to digitally penetrate her vagina with his fingers and then tried to perform oral sex on her.’ In response, the sister-in-law punched Weekes in the head, stopping the alleged attack.” (“Convicted Child Rapist Nabbed For Assault After Lax Sentence From Ketanji Brown Jackson,” New York Post, 4/03/2022)

“Weekes was initially arrested and charged with first-degree sexual abuse with aggravating circumstances. However, that charge was dropped after his sister-in-law opted not to cooperate with police or testify before a grand jury. … Prosecutors said Weekes had paid her $2,500 to make the matter go away. He pleaded guilty in DC Superior Court in March 2016 to obstruction of justice and failing to register as a sex offender and was hit with concurrent sentences of five years and six months, respectively.” (“Convicted Child Rapist Nabbed For Assault After Lax Sentence From Ketanji Brown Jackson,” New York Post, 4/03/2022)

“Redbord, the prosecutor, couldn’t resist reminding Jackson of her earlier sentence. ‘The Court imposed a 12-month sentence, I think really giving the defendant every benefit of the doubt and every opportunity to complete a period of treatment, supervision, and really kind of have an opportunity to turn his life around… And he failed at every turn to take advantage of that opportunity.’ Earlier in the hearing, Redbord referred to Weekes as ‘the worst defendant that I have ever seen on supervision’ and asked for two years to be tacked on to the end of his DC sentence. Even then, Jackson did not agree, imposing her 24-month sentence to partially overlap with his punishment in connection with the assault on his sister-in-law.” (“Convicted Child Rapist Nabbed For Assault After Lax Sentence From Ketanji Brown Jackson,” New York Post, 4/03/2022)

****************************
During Her Time On The U.S. Sentencing Commission, Judge Jackson Explained Her Preference For Letting Drug Offenders Out Of Prison Earlier, And Then Put That Into Practice As A District Judge With The Case Of A Fentanyl ‘Kingpin’

When She Was Vice Chair Of The U.S. Sentencing Commission, Judge Jackson Said She Saw ‘No Difference’ In Letting Criminals Convicted Of Drug Offenses Out Of Prison Earlier Because ‘They're Going To Recidivate At The Same Rate As If We Released Them Early,’ Despite A U.S. Attorney Explaining That ‘During The … Years They Are In Prison, They Are Not Out Committing New Crimes’

“‘Justice demands this result.’ That’s what Ketanji Brown Jackson said in 2011 after the U.S. Sentencing Commission knocked as much as three years off the prison terms of crack-cocaine convicts. As vice chair of the commission, Jackson believed the nation’s drug laws were overly harsh … ‘[B]y keeping them in longer, it doesn't seem to make a difference with regard to whether or not they recidivate,’ Jackson reasoned in a June 2011 commission hearing in Washington, according to transcripts ... Then-U.S. Attorney Stephanie Rose objected: ‘It does protect the safety of the public, though, when they're not present to recidivate.’ Unpersuaded, Jackson countered: ‘But the amount of time in jail doesn't affect that because there's no difference. If we keep them in jail for the extra 36 months, or whatever, they're going to recidivate at the same rate as if we released them early. So I don't see how public protection is being affected one way or the other in that scenario.’ ‘Because during the three years they are in prison, they are not out committing new crimes — that's the difference,’ Rose replied, adding that the department had ‘public safety concerns’ over cutting prison terms for so many felons at once.” (RealClearInvestigations, 3/29/2022)

Sen. Cotton Explained How Judge Jackson Twisted A Statute To Reduce The Sentence Of A Fentanyl ‘Kingpin’

“While sitting on the D.C. bench for eight years, Jackson personally granted a number of dangerous convicts immediate release from prison or reduced their sentences retroactively. In 2020, for example, convicted drug kingpin Keith J. Young asked Jackson for a so-called ‘compassionate release’ from federal prison. In 2017, Young was busted with two bricks of heroin laced with fentanyl and an arsenal of weapons, including guns with multiple extended magazines. A jury found him guilty in 2018 and he was sentenced by Jackson to the mandatory 20 years in prison. In order to grant a compassionate release or reduction, a court must find that the defendant ‘is not a danger to the safety of any other person or to the community.’ Prosecutors advised Jackson that Young still posed a threat. But she nonetheless slashed his term from 20 years to 12 years, while transferring him to a lower-security facility due to ‘medical conditions.’ When originally sentencing him in 2018, Jackson told Young she regretted the mandatory 20-year term she was forced to give him under federal law. She hoped to give him half that time. She told him that she shared his ‘frustration’ with the law, which she found ‘quite frankly, upsetting,’ and apologized for having to follow it. ‘I am sorry, mostly because I believe in second chances and because a person with your characteristics and family support would have had a real shot at turning your life around,’ she told the career criminal, who had a prior cocaine-distribution conviction on his record and had taken videos and selfies posing with his guns and bragging about being a drug ‘kingpin.’ She said she wanted him to be ‘there for your kids.’ In addition to the stiff sentence, prosecutors had also wanted the judge to seize $180,000 from the drug dealer, but Jackson strenuously objected to the forfeiture. She even waived any fines in his case.” (RealClearInvestigations, 3/29/2022)

SEN. TOM COTTON (R-AR), Senate Judiciary Committee Member: “Keith Young was a career criminal who had previously been convicted of trafficking cocaine. In 2017, he was running a drug business in his house where his children lived and was found with two one kilogram bricks of heroin worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, along with a gun, ammunition, thousands of dollars in cash and equipment to cut and package heroin for retail sale. The drug lab also confirmed that there was fentanyl in both bricks of heroin. And in one of the two bricks there was actually more fentanyl than there was heroin. While at the DC jail awaiting trial, Young bragged about his arrest and about how he was a kingpin. ... The prosecutors filed a notice of Young's criminal history which meant he faced a mandatory minimum of 20 years. You did not seem to like that, Judge. In fact, at his sentencing, you said -- this is a quote -- that you shared his frustration that you couldn't give him a lighter sentence. I was shocked to see this in the transcript. I was also shocked that you apologized to this drug kingpin for having to follow the law. You literally said that you didn't think 20 years was fair. This is the quote, ‘And for this I am sorry, mostly because I believe in second chances.’ You apologized to this career criminal, a drug kingpin in his own words. He was not some low level first time drug offender who made a bad -- bad choice.” (U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing, 3/22/2022)

SEN. COTTON: “After Young's sentence, Congress passed something called the First Step Act, which reduced sentences for serious drug traffickers with lengthy criminal records. During the pandemic lots of criminals like Keith Young tried to twist the First Step Act's compassionate release provision, which was intended for terminally ill elderly inmates to get early release and blame it on COVID. … You said in the resentencing that quote, ‘Congress did not make their changes under the First Step Act retroactive.’ That if they had, then you could have given him a reduced sentence. But then you said no matter what the law says, and this is a quote, Judge, ‘The court feels as though in this moment per Mr. Young's compassionate release motion the court is being called upon to evaluate the length of his sentence under the revised section of the law in the First Step Act. And so it is almost as if I am sentencing him today.’ ‘And if I were to do so, he would face a sentence that would be well below the 240 months that Mr. Young received. And so for that reason I will grant Mr. Young's motion.’ Judge Jackson before you granted this fentanyl kingpin's motion to reduce his sentence did you contact any of the victims from his case?” (U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing, 3/22/2022)

**************************************

“Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson said in the early days of the pandemic it would be ‘reasonable’ to release ‘each and every’ person in District of Columbia jails, and she went on to grant COVID-related releases to defendants and inmates implicated in serious crimes. In the early days of the pandemic, Judge Jackson made a passionate appeal on behalf of inmates in Washington, D.C., jails and said pandemic conditions could justify releasing them. ‘The obvious increased risk of harm that the COVID-19 pandemic poses to individuals who have been detained in the District’s correctional facilities reasonably suggests that each and every criminal defendant who is currently in D.C. DOC custody—and who thus cannot take independent measures to control their own hygiene and distance themselves from others—should be released,’ she wrote. She went on to urge Congress to take action to help.” (“Ketanji Brown Jackson Wanted to Empty Jails at Start of Pandemic,” Washington Free Beacon, 4/04/2022)

“[I]n April 2020 Jackson wrote a memo opinion addressing Sean Ray Higgins and other D.C. criminal defendants who asked for early release to home confinement due to the COVID outbreak. Higgins had pleaded guilty to a large heroin trafficking conspiracy involving high-powered weapons and was awaiting sentencing while in jail. Jackson said it was a ‘close call’ to ever detain him in the first place. She revealed that she regretted that she couldn’t release him, along with ‘each and every’ other inmate in district custody. She lamented that her hands were tied by the bureaucracy. ‘The obvious increased risk of harm that the COVID-19 pandemic poses to individuals who have been detained in the District's correctional facilities reasonably suggests that each and every criminal defendant who is currently in D.C. DOC [Department of Corrections] custody—and who thus cannot take independent measures to control their own hygiene and distance themselves from others—should be released,’ Jackson said. ‘But the unfortunate current state of affairs is that the judiciary is limited in the steps that it can take to respond to the legitimate and pressing COVID-19-related concerns.’ At the time, the D.C. Department of Corrections housed more than 1,560 inmates.” (RealClearInvestigations, 3/29/2022)

“Jackson sprung several inmates from jail due to COVID despite serious underlying offenses. One such defendant was Devon Dabney, who was arrested for distribution of fentanyl in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 28, 2020. Dabney was allegedly part of a drug ring based in an area of Washington, D.C., that authorities were surveilling and pursuing. At least one fentanyl overdose was connected to the ring. Fentanyl is an extremely dangerous opioid that is often fatal above the very smallest doses. There were 56,516 overdose deaths reported in the United States in 2020, primarily the result of fentanyl, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Dabney asked Jackson to release him on March 27, 2020, because of the pandemic. Dabney provided medical records showing he had asthma. The jail infirmary issued him an inhaler for the condition, but they had trouble keeping it full. Jackson granted Dabney’s request in an April 13 ruling and released him to home detention, citing his condition as well as the fact that Dabney had been a secondary target in the investigation. An associate was the primary target. Despite his stated fear of contracting COVID, Dabney then asked Jackson to relax the conditions of his house arrest and replace it with a nightly curfew of 10 p.m. Jackson granted that request on Aug, 4, 2020.” (“Ketanji Brown Jackson Wanted to Empty Jails at Start of Pandemic,” Washington Free Beacon, 4/04/2022)

“Prosecutors believed Dabney was a flight risk and emphasized he had a pending firearms charge at the time of his arrest for fentanyl distribution. The weight of evidence against Dabney was overwhelming. Two undercover police officers were prepared to testify that he sold almost $500 worth of fentanyl to them, with audio and video of the transaction captured by hidden camera. Given the evidence, and the fact he was facing upwards of a decade in prison, prosecutors believed Dabney was at higher risk of becoming a fugitive.” (“Ketanji Brown Jackson Wanted to Empty Jails at Start of Pandemic,” Washington Free Beacon, 4/04/2022)

“At the time of his arrest—which took place during a traffic stop shortly after the alleged sale to undercover officers—Dabney was on release from a Washington, D.C., case in which he was charged with carrying a pistol without a license and possession of a large capacity ammunition feeding device. And when he was arrested on the fentanyl charge, police found a handgun at his feet. He was also carrying two cell phones and $700 in cash. ‘The defendant has now been arrested twice for serious charges—weapons and narcotics related—both within a fairly short time period and one while he was under pretrial supervision by another court,’ prosecutors wrote.” (“Ketanji Brown Jackson Wanted to Empty Jails at Start of Pandemic,” Washington Free Beacon, 4/04/2022)

“In another case, Judge Jackson granted early release to a defendant, D’Angelo Dunlap, who pled guilty to robbing two banks and who had three years yet to serve on his prison sentence when Jackson sent him home. Dunlap robbed two Washington-area banks, one in 2015 and another in 2017, to fund his addiction to heroin. He pled guilty to both crimes and Jackson sentenced him to just under five years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. He was incarcerated at a medium-security federal prison in Pennsylvania. Almost two years into his sentence, Dunlap requested ‘compassionate release,’ claiming he was at heightened risk of a serious COVID infection due to obesity and comorbidities like heart disease.” (“Ketanji Brown Jackson Wanted to Empty Jails at Start of Pandemic,” Washington Free Beacon, 4/04/2022)

“Prosecutors strongly opposed his request, and suggested his request was based on misrepresentations. In court papers, they said Dunlap’s height was ‘mistakenly listed’ as 5’5” on some forms, when his actual height is 5’9” according to intake photos and other records. Correctly accounting for his height indicates he was not obese. Similarly, prosecutors said his medical records showed his cardiac health was sound overall. Authorities also warned he was a danger to the community, citing a Bureau of Prisons assessment that he was a ‘medium risk’ of recidivism and the need to complete a more extensive drug treatment program.” (“Ketanji Brown Jackson Wanted to Empty Jails at Start of Pandemic,” Washington Free Beacon, 4/04/2022)

“Jackson granted Dunlap’s request and reduced his sentence to time served, but maintained the three-year supervised release requirement. She justified her decision by noting that Dunlap had repeatedly complained of chest pains while incarcerated, had some damage to a heart valve, and had elevated levels of calcium in his heart, which is sometimes a precursor to a heart attack.” (“Ketanji Brown Jackson Wanted to Empty Jails at Start of Pandemic,” Washington Free Beacon, 4/04/2022)

***************************************

Judge Jackson Invalidated An Executive Order On Deportation Of Illegal Immigrants, A Ruling That Was Reversed By The D.C. Circuit Court Of Appeals Because ‘Federal Law Gives The President The “Sole And Unreviewable Discretion”’ In That Process

“At issue was a 2019 ruling in which Judge Jackson temporarily blocked the Trump administration from expanding a policy known as expedited removal that allows the government to quickly deport immigrants who crossed the border illegally without involving immigration courts. Previously, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had authorized expedited removal only for those who were found near the border and had been in the country for no longer than 14 days. The Trump administration issued an executive order expanding the policy to those who had been in the country for up to two years. Granting a nationwide preliminary injunction, Judge Jackson determined that the agency had arbitrarily expanded the fast-track process without adhering to rule-making procedures enacted by Congress that require the agency to study the impact of the policy. A three-judge D.C. Circuit panel strongly disagreed and reversed her the next year. The panel, composed of two Democratic appointed judges and one Republican, said federal law gives the president the ‘sole and unreviewable discretion’ to shorten and speed up the deportation process and that Judge Jackson was wrong to intervene. A President Trump-appointed judge on the panel wrote separately that Judge Jackson’s decision to apply her injunction nationwide was a ‘particularly egregious’ exercise of judicial power.” (“Jackson Defends Immigration Ruling That Was Reversed,” The Wall Street Journal, 3/23/2022)

 

REMINDER: Judge Jackson Explained Some Of Her Sentencing Departures By Saying That She Had A ‘Policy Disagreement’ With Sentencing Guidelines

JUDGE KETANJI BROWN JACKSON: “Senator, two observations. One, I am sentencing in every case, I have policy disagreements with certain aspects of the operation of the guidelines that I lay out in every case as Congress has required and as the Supreme Court permits. In light of my experience, not only as a district judge, but also on the Sentencing Commission, which did a report about the operation of the guidelines. …”
SEN. JOSH HAWLEY (R-MO), Senate Judiciary Committee Member: “But the guidelines are not mandatory. I wish they were, but they're not. The Supreme Court made that determination. I'm trying to understand why you think it's rational not to sentence criminals based on the number of images they have. You say that this is a policy disagreement that you have with the guidelines. This gets to the core of your judicial philosophy. You served on the Sentencing Commission where you recommended changes to the guidelines based in part on this policy disagreement. So I think it's relevant and indeed vital we understand what the policy disagreement is. That's what I'm trying to get at.”
JUDGE JACKSON: “Senator, I previously explained what the policy disagreement is and I will stand on my answer.” (U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing, 3/23/2022)

 

[NeuroTypical]

[mikbone]

Gulf of America

Mt McKinley

Panama Canal 

Mars

2 genders

Here we go!

Edited Monday at 07:03 PM by mikbone

[LDSGator]

1 hour ago, NeuroTypical said:

The one thing I like about Trump is his ability to embrace what is done to him and stick it in the face of his haters. 

[Vort]

3 hours ago, mikbone said:

Gulf of America

Useless. "Gulf of Mexico" works fine. I'd be more on board if it were "Gulf of the Americas".

3 hours ago, mikbone said:

Mt McKinley

I have nothing against McKinley, but I rather like the original American Indian name being restored, or at least the version of it we have in "Denali".

3 hours ago, mikbone said:

Panama Canal

I remember when Carter gave the canal away, and there was much apologizing (i.e. explanation) given for it. I don't remember the justification, but it certainly seems in retrospect to have been a very bad decision. As to whether we want to "take it back", I'm not sure. Panama as a country exists only and exactly because we built the canal. To me, this seems to be an example of the worst of American meddling in external politics, and I'm not sure how worthwhile it would be to, in effect, revisit all of that by trying to undo what Carter did.

3 hours ago, mikbone said:

Mars

Go Elon!

3 hours ago, mikbone said:

2 genders

If this foolish asininity of countless "genders" could be totally done away with in the next four years, that alone should be sufficient to guarantee Trump a hallowed place in American history.

3 hours ago, mikbone said:

Here we go!

Indeed. Let's hope the ride is as good as promised. Though it can hardly be worse than if Harris had won.

[mikbone]

34 minutes ago, Vort said:

I have nothing against McKinley, but I rather like the original American Indian name being restored, or at least the version of it we have in "Denali".

It’s a slippery slope. 

Just look at my state.  The lovely Patrick’s Point State Park is now named Sue-meg State Park.

A light house in Trinidad CA had to be moved because it was placed on sacred ground. 

I can’t count how many casinos have been built on sacred ground…

I own the land my house is built upon and you cannot convince me that I should give it back.

Washington Commanders…

Removing statues of confederate heroes.

We have gone overboard.  It’s OK to be proud of America.  Warts and all.

I’m not about to leave the LDS church because some mistakes were made in the past.  

[LDSGator]

37 minutes ago, mikbone said:

Just look at my state

You live in California right? That state has never been in touch with the rest of the country! 😜 

[Phoenix_person]

2 hours ago, Vort said:

If this foolish asininity of countless "genders" could be totally done away with in the next four years, that alone should be sufficient to guarantee Trump a hallowed place in American history.

The funny thing is, 99% of people you meet are going to fit one of three: man, woman, or non-binary (they/them). The rest are mostly for the benefit of other queers, like how metal is just metal to most people despite there being endless subgenres. My trans friends aren't going anywhere.

Edited Tuesday at 12:39 AM by Phoenix_person

[mikbone]

[Carborendum]

12 hours ago, Phoenix_person said:

My trans friends aren't going anywhere.

I believe you may be surprised at just how many trans people "wake up" in the next four years.

[Phoenix_person]

1 hour ago, Carborendum said:

I believe you may be surprised at just how many trans people "wake up" in the next four years.

I interact with that community almosy daily, and I stand by what I said. 

[Carborendum]

2 hours ago, Phoenix_person said:

I interact with that community almosy daily, and I stand by what I said. 

Either way, we'll find out in four years.

[Traveler]

3 hours ago, Phoenix_person said:

I interact with that community almosy daily, and I stand by what I said. 

Science (scientific data) clearly indicates that preferences (including sexual preferences) are learned or acquired (not innate).   The scientific understanding (definition) of intelligence is the ability to learn and alter projected outcomes.    One could say that many species become extinct because of their inability to adapt to changing circumstances. 

I am some what dumfounded that as much as modern society has taught us and as intelligent as we think we are about evolution and survival of the fittest that there is a growing number of individuals hell bent on ending their own genetic intelligence by refusing to pass their genetics on to a next generation to accommodate their momentary pleasure.   The essence of personal genetic suicide.  I am also puzzled by those that so disdain the genetics of those committing genetic suicide that they feel inclined to encourage them.  But then, perhaps it is best to eliminate certain such intelligence from the gene pool?

 

The Traveler

Edited Tuesday at 05:38 PM by Traveler

[Phoenix_person]

23 minutes ago, Traveler said:

Science (scientific data) clearly indicates that preferences (including sexual preferences) are learned or acquired (not innate).   The scientific understanding (definition) of intelligence is the ability to learn and alter projected outcomes.    One could say that many species become extinct because of their inability to adapt to changing circumstances. 

Science only gets you so far in understanding the human psyche. There's a lot about our minds that defy current scientific understanding, and that's okay.

23 minutes ago, Traveler said:

I am some what dumfounded that as much as modern society has taught us and as intelligent as we think we are about evolution and survival of the fittest that there is a growing number of individuals hell bent on ending their own genetic intelligence by refusing to pass their genetics on to a next generation to accommodate their momentary pleasure.   The essence of personal genetic suicide.  I am also puzzled by those that so disdain the genetics of those committing genetic suicide that they feel inclined to encourage them.  But then, perhaps it is best to eliminate certain such intelligence from the gene pool?

There's more to life than breeding. In a world where o̶v̶e̶r̶p̶o̶p̶u̶l̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ resource scarcity is imminent, I think the population curve could use some tempering. The LGBTQ community being an existential threat to their gene pool (which is no one's business but theirs) does not make them an existential threat to the species. Humanity's current problems as a species are the result of a growing population getting smaller and smaller shares of what wealth and resources the ruling class allows us to have. There's eventually going to come a breaking point when the people asking for a more equitable economy will stop asking. I don't want that to happen, but it feels inevitable. Yesterday was MLK day, and it seems many Americans have forgotten that his ideology was rooted in the idea that there are *three* evils in society: racism, militarism, and capitalism. He was assassinated when he started pivoting from #1 to 2 and 3. Race wars are good for The Swamp™️. Class wars are not.

[Manners Matter]

36 minutes ago, Phoenix_person said:

There's more to life than breeding. In a world where o̶v̶e̶r̶p̶o̶p̶u̶l̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ resource scarcity is imminent, I think the population curve could use some tempering. 

Not according to G-d Himself. 

D&C 104:17 For the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare

Edited Tuesday at 06:58 PM by Manners Matter

[NeuroTypical]

When it comes to radical gender theory, and pronouns, and the TQIA+2Setc end of the rainbow, and all that, I think the civilized world gave y'all a good 4 years to make your case.  I don't think you did.

I never heard any serious interaction on the concept of the social contagion aspect of things.  Much less any serious response.  Nor did you folks ever meaningfully interact with data indicating the vast majority of kids with gender dysphoria or body dysmorphia self-resolve to their bio sex by the time they're 19 or 20.  Nor was there ever any serious interaction with the numbers of predators taking advantage of changing bathroom policies to gain access to women's spaces.   Nor was there ever even a single decent answer to the question "what is a woman".  Zero interaction with evidence pointing to the percentage of genderfluid people just being neurodiverse folks going with the peer pressure.   You've failed to make your case.

It's a good goal to try to make things so every human, even the fringe or minority or ill or different, get compassion and understanding in their cultures.   "Love thy neighbor" applies to everyone.  But no, we're not gonna let you mainstream your varioius radical redesigns of things.  Not because we're evil.  Not because we're stuck in our ways.  Not because we're protective of our privilege.  But because you've simply failed to convince us. 

5 hours ago, Phoenix_person said:

I interact with that community almosy daily

Ya know, me too.  Maybe weekly.  Idle time on discord servers where creative types feed my thirst for eclectic memes.  My diverse TikTok algorithm.  A few arguing buddies here, a small handful of real life acquaintances there.  Some of my kid's friends.  I've got a soft spot in my heart for furries, after meeting a few of them and discovering we shared exactly the same sense of humor, and ability to hold down a cloaked conversation about stuff right in front of their clueless family members who thought it was just a haloween costume.  I've hung with a gay guy who is doing his best to just live life as a disciple of the Lord.  I've hugged a guy in the impossible situation of staying the dad in his Catholic family complete with young kids, or giving up the fight against reality and just taking the meds that would give him his breasts and let him be who he really is.  You come to your conclusions, and I come to mine. But the notion that the only reason me and mine think the way we do, is because we're ignorant of how things are, isn't true.

Edited Tuesday at 07:19 PM by NeuroTypical

[NeuroTypical]

49 minutes ago, Phoenix_person said:

Yesterday was MLK day, and it seems many Americans have forgotten that his ideology was rooted in the idea that there are *three* evils in society: racism, militarism, and capitalism.

Well, 4.

Dude also figured that without people becoming devout and willing to make themselves the expression of their God's will, all their efforts were doomed to fail.

Edited Tuesday at 07:11 PM by NeuroTypical

[Phoenix_person]

30 minutes ago, Manners Matter said:

Not according to G-d Himself. 

D&C 104:17 For the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare

True. We're just incredibly bad at distributing it equitably.