StrangeSox

http://crookedtimber.org/2013/06/26/it-was...hem/#more-29674 Roberts' opinion in Shelby makes an incredibly strong case for the idea of a "living Constitution"

QUOTE (Jake @ Jun 26, 2013 -> 12:47 AM) Dems in Texas sucessfully delay to end of session that was to end at 12 AM to stop anti-abortion bill from passing. Many reports coming out, though, that they held the vote after midnight. They are asking legislators to their faces whether they voted or it passed and nobody seems to know. Dustin Parkes ‏@dustinparkes 12m Sorry Miami Heat. After the buzzer sounded, San Antonio made ten straight buckets and are now NBA champs. #TexasRules http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/03/21/man-...ffice-in-texas/

Kevin Drum makes a very important point on the Shelby ruling Today, the Supreme Court decided Shelby County vs. Holder, an attack on the "preclearance" requirement of the Voting Rights Act. In 2006, Congress renewed the Act for 25 years, and after considering voluminous evidence decided not to make changes to the formula for deciding which states require preclearance for changes to their voting regulations and which ones don't. Nonetheless, the court overturned the law: Note the difference. In Crawford, where the target is a law that's likely to disenfranchise black voters, the bar for constitutionality is almost absurdly low. Regardless of what the real motives of the lawmakers are, or what the likely effect of the law is, it's valid if the state merely asserts a "neutral justification." That's it. But in Shelby County, where the target is a law designed to protect black voters, the bar for constitutionality is suddenly much higher. Even though the Fifteenth Amendment gives Congress the unconditional right to enact legislation designed to prevent states from abridging the right to vote "on account of race [or] color," the court ruled that, in fact, Congress is quite fettered after all. It cannot decide to simply renew a law that it thinks is working well. Instead, it's required by the court to update its formulas to satisfy the court's notions of what's logical and what isn't. So here's your nickel summary. If a law is passed on a party-line vote, has no justification in the historical record, and is highly likely to harm black voting, that's OK as long as the legislature in question can whomp up some kind of neutral-sounding justification. Judicial restraint is the order of the day. But if a law is passed by unanimous vote, is based on a power given to Congress with no strings attached, and is likely to protect black voting, that's prohibited unless the Supreme Court can be persuaded that Congress's approach is one they approve of. Judicial restraint is out the window. Welcome to the 21st century.

re: shelby http://www.salon.com/2013/06/26/this_supre..._is_a_disgrace/

scalia's doma dissent is hilarious in how horrible it is. what a terrible person. especially in light of Shelby County's ruling yesterday that gutted the VRA. now juxtapose this against his statements during oral arguments in Shelby that this is exactly what the court should do because Congress can't because they're actually accountable to the electorate.

We did it pretty informal. Had the reception in my wife's parents' backyard. Catering company came and grilled up steaks, chops, chicken etc. and served a full bar. Open seating so people could sit by who they wanted (really so we didn't have to make seating charts lol). We even had a make-your-own-sunday bar. Two of our friends got married at one of the big historic Joliet mansions last year. It was beautiful, but my wife and I were still really glad we did it our way. We didn't hear any negative feedback through the grapevine (except about the mosquitoes, they were terrible), and if anyone didn't like it, well, it wasn't their wedding. It was also nice that we went as late as we wanted. I think we were up outside until 5am.

texas is wasting no time in moving forward with new and exciting voter id laws that were previously prevented in pre-clearance review! Now that the VRA is no longer the overwhelming success that it was in preventing race-based discriminatory voting laws, does that mean it's magically constitutional again? Roberts' wonderful opinion that lays out a legal case for state sovereignty on this issue doesn't even mention the 15th amendment when making that argument.

Most important section of the vra rules unconstitutional. f*** this dumb country.

Pretty sweet night for my power to go out

Cheap index funds with minimal fees are the way to go.

Really wish i had jenks' generator right now

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jun 24, 2013 -> 10:16 AM) I wouldn't call it minor. Most of the gains the last 6 months are gone. But yeah, it'll come back. Eventually. six months ago we were at about 13150, now we're at 14733

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jun 24, 2013 -> 10:41 AM) Bergeron is expected to play tonight. I guess you can always buy another spleen. you can live without a spleen

QUOTE (Brian @ Jun 24, 2013 -> 04:50 AM) What was this guys life like before letting this leak out? Was he living a peaceful life? I'm just saying that if I knew what he does, I would've just kept quiet and lived my life rather than live on the run. He's eventually going to get caught. Just doesn't seem worth it. I mean how many of us were actually surprised about what he leaked? He was making boatloads of cash and living in Hawaii.

QUOTE (TaylorStSox @ Jun 21, 2013 -> 03:18 PM) Skyrim. Bioshock Infinte works in this case too. I never bothered with the original Kinect as it didn't interest me, but I'm not naive to some interesting possibilities. It can read heart rate and body temperature, for example. It would be a great tool for working out and getting real time feedback about your gains. There are great possibilities with gaming and interaction with other forms of media. Skyrim came out about 19 months ago

I see the creepiness factor of Kinect (and I feel the same way about the Galaxy S4's ability to know when you look away from the screen) as an offshoot of the Uncanny Valley effect.

Why did anything in that guy's letter require you to be connected to the internet 100% of the time?

I'd imagine that used game sales boost the sales of DLC. I've picked up used games or simply had them given to me by a friend after they were done and ended up spending $20-30 on DLC. I wouldn't have played the game otherwise.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jun 21, 2013 -> 09:15 AM) The reason I don't care about private companies "invading" my privacy is that they (generally) track my habits in order to sell me more things or sell my information to other groups who want to sell me more things.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jun 20, 2013 -> 03:17 PM) http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/06/20/meet-...atest+-+Text%29 Some background on some of the jurors. why do two of them specifically mention something about their pets? weird.

Florida has a goofy system. Even for the death penalty, a jury vote of 7-5 for sentencing is sufficient. For every three inmates Florida executes, it exonerates another. To solve this problem, Florida legislators are proposing a bill that would speed-up the execution process to one state appeal, one federal appeal and a rubber-stamp from the governor. Won't have that horrible exoneration record if you kill 'em before they can prove their innocence! /rant

Watched ZDT over the weekend, literally fell asleep for a few minutes at one point. Boring movie, there really wasn't a story there.

I'm about 3/4's of the way through Devil in the White City right now. It's a non-fiction story of the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Burnham's work to make it all happen and H.H. Holme's parallel tale of serial murders. I don't know how I've gone my whole life living near Chicago and watching and reading local documentaries without hearing this story.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 18, 2013 -> 10:00 AM) Anyone else read Seal Team Geronimo yet? Very interesting read if not. One of the interesting things stated in there is that chemical weapons were in Iraq, and they were used against our troops in IEDs there. They basically stated that Al Qaeda got ahold of them after Saddam fell, which is why the GOP never tried to refute the whole "WMDs in Iraq" thing. Al Qaeda having them is worse than egg on Bush's face for them not being there. The Dems never said anything because they have always been right if there were no WMDs, plus it allowed them to leave Iraq and fulfill their promise to leave. lol edit: I'll have to double-check tomorrow but several people at my work are close with people in the special forces community and they usually don't have kind things to say about these books. I think I remember this one being mentioned specifically as pretty bad. On the other hand, Chris Kyle's book "American Sniper" is supposed to be accurate and reliable. edit2: http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/11/ir...arget-geronimo/

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jun 18, 2013 -> 02:41 PM)