Vilandil Tasardur

I never really understand the point of firing a coach mid season. The season is done. There isn't anything to salvage. I don't believe one iota in any nonsense about development of moral or momentum. I'm convinced that 95% of mid season firings are cases where the best candidate is already doing the best possible job, and the team just isn't good. There's nothing gained from shaking things up.

I think *some* amount of this is sometimes forgivable. At least, I don't find it hard to imagine scenarios where a liberal runs on a platform of certain liberal policies, only to get into office and realize that instituting them isn't really possible without a massive liberal revolution that isn't going to happen, so they settle for some compromises. Like, we all know that if by some hail marry Bernie had actually been elected, he would have had to dramatically reign in his expectations or else go down as the most ineffective liberal in history. Liberal policies by nature are difficult to bring about, I think.

Yeah. I genuinely believe that any standard Democrats/Liberals that are anti-Biden "because he's old" are basically just drinking Russian cool aid without knowing. I'm 33. Biden has been as good if not better than Obama, and therefore the best president of my lifetime. I remember the Clinton years enough to know that he didn't really have anything to do with how good the economy was. I remember the first Obama term fondly, but the second was milk toast and borderline disastrous with the Garland gamble on Trump having no chance.

Yeah, I wouldn't advocate for that either. But I'd advocate the hell out of "tactically strike cartel members with the added bonus of no longer arming the arming the cartels since they are now the active enemy". Mexico doesn't need nation building. They need help cutting the cartels down. The real government is essentially a guerilla insurgence in their own country compared to the cartels who have major money and weapons. If those odds were evened they could probably make it work.

Yeah man, as a Mexican American, I'm torn as hell on this. Like, on the one hand, I'm sick to death of war. And I don't think I want any part of US "nation building" in my home country seeing how bad they are at it. On the other hand, I see how much money we spent in the middle east and genuinely wonder if Mexico could become Canada if they had some serious help getting on top of the cartels.

All of the following are true: I am very happy she is home I am very frustrated that she put our nation into this position I believe it is our government's job to work this hard to bring all US citizens in similar states home If it were me or my loved one, I would want them to move mountains to bring me home I am very frustrated by the fact that we had to release a serious criminal I am still happy that our leaders managed to bring a US citizen home

I'm convinced that the pitch is too big and the sub limit are the two biggest issues with the game. So much of the game is meaningless clock running with the ball either out of play or bouncing around in the midfield by players who are too tired to do anything. And I say this as someone who likes soccer. But the pacing ain't good.

For as easy as it is to say that all Democrats need to do is "run candidates people actually like", I still think they have a really tough challenge. It's obvious that to really enthuse the young vote you need to either (1) promise very progressive change policies or (2) need to be stopping fascism. Or both. But I haven't forgotten how badly Bernie performed in some key states that suggest that you'd lose a lot of centrist democrats if you run someone too extreme. I don't think it's easy to just find someone that will keep you competitive on the Midwest while jazzing up gen Z.

Cheers. Somehow, it never occured to me to try YouTube. Thanks!

Any free sources to watch election coverage this evening? I'm shocked NBC and CNN are paywalling me.

The key to trying to figure out how Trump and the GOP split or don't split lies, I think, in trying to understand what Trump actually wants. If you think Trump WANTS to be president again, then any talk of him running independent is outrageous. He'd never be able to fund the campaign without the GOP and they both know they'd just neuter the other along the way. If you think Trump just wants the GOP to lose if it can't be him, they he may be happy to neuter the GOP by running independent. Personally, I think what Trump wants is to run at all costs to ensure his candidacy so he can cry that any investigations are political attacks. He wants the protection, not the position. And if that's the case, then I think he's running no matter what (Republican or Independent). And IF that's true, then the GOP will obviously just do whatever he wants because with him on the ticket they have a chance, but with him as an independent they have none.

Historically I have always enjoyed paying attention to elections, but this forum addicted me to it in 2012 while I was stuck at work with nothing to do. Now? Election results are like telenovelas for me. Gotcha popcorn ready!

Y'all are crazy. Both things can be true: + The WR beat his man by several steps and was wide open + The QB under three the ball by at least 5 yards and it should have been intercepted. Number 2 doesn't render number 1 false folks.

This is powerful stuff. Thanks for sharing, even though we're random internet strangers. I'm glad you're well now and have love and support.

Update: sounds like she is safe and heading to my buddy. Seems like the plan was always to cut the parents out but loop her brother (my buddy) back in. What comes next I have no idea but at least she's safe. Thank you all for the kindness and for being a productive outlet for anxiety ❤️

All socials appear to have been mass deleted unfortunately. She was never one to use them too much in the first place, but they appear to be offline now. Thanks everyone for all the kind thoughts. If nothing else, it helps to see how clearer minds think. I'm gutted for my buddy of course; I just hope she resurfaces soon and can at least give him a little closure.

Thanks a lot. Yeah. In hindsight, I realize posting this was more for my own self than really anything else. It's quite a shock. And I definitely consider her my friend as well (albeit I didn't know her quite as well). I suppose I'll just breath easier in a few days; I assume no news is good news at this point.

I think this is probably the answer. I think there was an initial panic, because it was so out of left field. There were a lot of conversations surrounding "could they be a suicide risk?" and other such topics that meant waiting felt awfully scary. But I think there probably isn't anything to be done besides wait and see.

Yeah, that's about where I'm at. That feels excessive. I'm trying really hard to be the voice that says "give her space, she obviously doesn't want to deal with you all. Leave her room to come back on her own terms if that's what she wants." But it's hard to argue with the parents saying "we at least need to know that she wasn't groomed and kidnapped by some internet rando." Meanwhile, even if she has, that's kind of her right to make that choice I guess.

Friends, I'm shook. A good long time friend just called me up and told me that his sister (around 26 or 27), who lived with their parents, up and disappeared while the folks were out of town. Apparently, she moved all her stuff out, left a note asking them to take care of the dog, and expressed that she never wanted to see or hear from them ever again and to please never contact her. She took her car, but left all the valuables in the home, etc. She left the SIM card in her phone. We're 99% sure there's no funny business. And of course, this is a grown woman. If she wants to leave and cut these folks out of her life she's entitled to do so. But as far as they know, there was no fight, so inciting incident, no strange behavior suggesting anything was off, no warning sign. They're willing to respect her wishes, but understandably want to make sure that she's at least safe and actually making this decision in her own right mind, etc. Is there any realistic way for them to do so? They have basically no leads on where she might have gone. No contact info for her or friends or basically any clue. The police say it's not a missing person (it's not), and they're not going to chase down a grown woman exercising her autonomy (nor should they). Any ideas on a logical course of action to just verify "yes this person is safe and not being groomed by some online predator or something?"

Yeah I see this joke getting repeated a lot but I think a lot of folks have a very skewed perception of what Alex Guinness actually looked like. I mean, he looks older than Ewan obviously, and 60 in the 1980s ain't the same as 60 now, but I never thought Alex looked ancient or anything. He looks like a dude who's old enough to be a grandpa, and who may be hitting retirement age, but he doesn't look like he belongs in a nursing home or anything.

Roger is unquestionably a distant third to Nadal and Novak at this point. His stats are basically comparable to a little behind them, and that's before you factor in that a lot of them came during a lull in competition and before Rafa and Novak hit their prime. Not to knock Roger; just saying that the other two have basically done 100% of their careers in an era where they had to contend with each other, while Roger won like 5 majors against clearly lesser opponents. I think this Wimbledon is absolutely critical for Novak's legacy, because there's a real chance he can't play the next two majors.

My thoughts: Until the finale, I was feeling like it was just okay. Feeling like it was an okay story but one that kind of messed with my preferred vision of the events that set up A New Hope. It felt like the whole Jedi underground railroad thing was undermining the idea that only two Jedi are still left, and also felt like it undermined the really powerful themes built by Rogue One and the the sequels (that it's the ordinary people in the trenches every day that win wars, not the celebrity heroes). But I also felt like it did some stuff great, like show the impetus for Lea to become the badass Princess/General she grows in to. The finale though, the finale dramatically elevated things for me. It was really, really good. The scene we're all talking about is some of the best written dialogue in Star Wars, and the artistic vision is, while not exactly subtle, beautiful. The kind of stuff that gives you chills. What I'd have done differently/what I wish had happened: + Obi-Wan, after desperately trying to contact Qui-gon all series, finally decided he's not getting help and resolutely utters the same line he did: "I have to end this. One way or another, it ends now." + And finally in that moment, Qui-gon responds: "Only a sith deals in absolutes. To the Jedi, there is always a other way." + Then the duel plays out almost entirely the same, except with the pre established idea that Obi-wan isn't there to kill Vader, just to buy them time. That way, it's a little less jarring when he not only wins, but has a chance to end everything but doesn't. Maybe you shoot it in such a way that a chasm erupts of reinforcements arrive or a pillar collapses and separates them. Obi-Wan wins, but he doesn't have the chance to go for the kill because he wasn't trying to in the first place. And Vader is once again defeated primarily because he was blinded by a need to win instead of seeing the big picture.

The thing is, I don't care how much good they do with that money. The point is that they have a political agenda. They have to. All churches have a political agenda. Their views, regardless of what they may be, must naturally lead them to oppose or support certain political ideology. And because of that, they must be taxed.

I get what you're saying intellectually, but I just don't think it's right in practice. I can't recall a time in my life since I've followed politics where Republicans DIDN'T hold the party line. My political memory is full of things like watching Obamacare pass only because Dems had a super majority because Republicans voted no to a one, while Dems were all over. Basically, my baseline assumption is that Republicans vote the company line 100% of the time and Dems do not, likely because the Democratic platform is broader overall and encompasses many more political opinions. In this case, if Manchin has told you straight up he's not going to vote yes, no matter what, then the bill is dead on arrival. I wouldn't even entertain the idea of potentially poaching Republicans for this issue because it's just never going to happen. Even Republicans who might be outspokenly pro choice are not going to be the scapegoat that allowed the bill through.