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Legosi (Tani Coyote)

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Everything posted by Legosi (Tani Coyote)

  1. That would actually be consistent with the doctrine of parliamentary supremacy; nothing is final, and nothing can bind Parliament. Technically Parliament can invalidate whatever it so pleases. The only restriction on it is custom. The referendum was non-binding, and it will always be non-binding unless the UK gets rid of parliamentary sovereignty. Considering the British state has not done away with voting rights, free speech, and all that good stuff despite a technical power to do so, I don't think it follows that not honoring a referendum will lead to anything nasty. The British Constitution has subtle brilliance in that, recognizing all constitutions only have power because people agree they have power, it avoids being hard to change. If the UK public wished to call for another vote on the referendum, it is absolutely valid to call another one. I would note this is a principle enshrined in constitutions around the world, that referenda, constitutional amendments, etc. are not valid unless they are approved in two separate votes. This is a recognition of how many factors can influence a vote immediately preceding the vote, so having two votes mitigates this risk. Consider how many close elections possibly would have changed with a do-over; indeed, a lot of referendum questions have failed on their second try. If anything, multiple votes honors democracy, because it gives the public multiple chances to voice their opinion, ensuring the final course of action is the right one. Now sure, one could go the rugged individualist approach and put the burden on the masses to get the decision right the first time but... that runs contrary to how very flawed a lot of human beings are. When it comes to managing a state, it seems a good idea to build in protections against popular miscalculations. And if not honoring the referendum is that big of a deal? Politicians can be voted out. Democracy is not dead until the masses lose the power of altering the legislature.
  2. https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/12/politics/nancy-pelosi-votes-deal-democrats/index.html Pelosi has agreed to serve only one or two more terms. To win the second term, she has agreed she would need the support of two-thirds of the Democratic caucus. This is part of a deal to get her critics to back her; the party rules will be changed for party leaders can only serve 3 terms, with every term afterward requiring a two-thirds vote. When Pelosi last had her serious challenge, she just barely clinched two-thirds. Also note prominent Dem Hoyer's opinion on the matter; he says term limits are awful and has supported repealing term limits on the Presidency. You know, the institution that has the most potential to become autocratic. Cognitive biases are part of life. You cannot help but form them. Having civil rights legislation compels us to try and overcome those biases. Without it, a lot of people will fall back on them. Civil rights laws overcome the huge collective action problem of people supporting equity in the abstract but being wishy washy about it in person. Never mind the fact civil rights laws provide for a healthier economy. They furnish every company with a larger customer and employee base, which makes everyone better off in the long run. There's a reason most businesses have embraced civil rights despite their reputation of being hopelessly conservative. Plus, some people are downright malicious with their prejudices. Civil rights laws protect against those people too. Some coercion is necessary to have a healthy society. Imagine how many projects would never have been built if the state did not force people to cough up taxes to pay for it. In the abstract, everyone shouts "I would pay for that road!" but, surprise surprise, just about every social scientist worth their salt says no, most people would not do this. With regards to personal choice, any public transaction quite likely no longer qualifies as personal. When your store bans black people from shopping there, you are forcing them into other stores that may have goods of lesser quality or be more expensive. You can't claim "muh property rights" when exercising those rights clearly has a negative effect on other people. We settled the separate but equal debate in Brown. In absence of civil rights laws, bad things will crop up again.
  3. Headcanon: the Henry from Bendy and the Ink Machine and FNAF are the same person. They have a bad habit of forming business partnerships with psychos.

  4. I do hope next time I see Pepper Coyote perform I actually know the lyrics to his songs


    Well I went to Run, Definitely Run!'s concert and the singer confirmed they made this song with furries in mind.

  6. My understanding would be that in the time between his "explosion" and the dust clearing, he buried himself under a rock.
  7. I always thought of it as Kid Buu was pure evil, then absorbed the Kais and became Fat Buu. When Fat Buu split into Good and Evil, the Good would basically have been primarily the power of the Kais. So Fat Buu is basically still the Kais, but with them having been part of Buu for so long, they've become inseparable. It's one of those questions that kind of messes with a sense of what it means to be you. Good Buu presumably would have all the memories from the days of Kid Buu, as well as that of the Kais. But he does not consider himself to be either Kai. It's a common question raised with any fusion: the character is both at the same time yet somehow neither. https://www.viz.com/shonenjump/dragon-ball-super-chapter-42/chapter/16035?action=read Chapter 42 is up in English. This time around, it turns out Frieza and 17 discussed the final victory well in advance, with 17 having agreed to fake his death and Frieza having plans to hang back so he could deliver the final blow. He says it's because he prefers strategy to just brawling, even if he would have preferred to be the final survivor. Some humor when 17 gives some further explanation of the plan: since he doesn't have a ki signature, he could hide without anyone knowing. When Krillin mentions he was positive 17 self-destructed, 17 not only laughs the idea off, but says he lost the ability to do that long ago. Krillin is "huh?" to it and 17's just "...you're the one who wished for it, remember?" Change from the anime: Grand Priest announces Universe 7 has had its mortal ranking raised to third from the bottom due to the universe-restoring wish. So mortal level factors in the morality of a universe as much as its strength or economic development.
  8. In all honesty, considering the Dems won't be able to pass anything for two years anyway, this would be a fantastic time to can her so someone else could start learning the ropes. I don't trust Pelosi to retire, honestly. Someone who has stayed on that long has no intent of leaving without a fight. She is no George Washington. Even Harry Reid was content to leave the Senate leadership (and Senate in general) after 12 years. Pelosi is pushing 16 years as leader and has been in office for over 30 years. If Dems get behind her, they need to emphasize she will get two more years, and that is it. If she's unhappy with that arrangement, well, she just exposed what she really cares about. The good news is as a 78-year old she's probably not going to have much choice about how long she stays in. I just hope House Democrats start getting some young blood sooner rather than later because otherwise we're looking at a serious leadership crisis in a few years.
  9. I'm so sad A Twisted Awakening got put on hiatus. It was the first quality FNAF fangame that would feature Twisted Wolf as an enemy.

  10. That's the thing about all this, though - while there's no clear alternative, they do have the votes to deny her the Speakership outright if they so choose. The assumption is the strategy is to force her to step aside when it's obvious she can't get the votes; this would level the playing field and allow numerous candidates to come in and try to drum up support. Basically, they're trying to get rid of the House equivalent of Clinton. Once the monolithic candidate is out of the way, lots of alternatives would be possible. While she is competent, I have no doubt there are other Dems who would be as well. Plus, in the spirit of democracy and turnover here, she has to go. 16 years in a serious position of power? No. Go away. I don't care who you are. Party leadership is something that should absolutely change hands. If she is given power, any power, it should be on the condition she leaves no matter what in 2021. She has to go. The only other Democrat with her level of tenure was Sam Rayburn, and he served in a less polarized time where the committees held a lot more power, so it was more symbolic that he was party leader. Pelosi is overseeing a time of polarization and immense power in the Speakership, so she should not be allowed to stay in it for too long.
  11. Why do I have the strangest feeling this ram guy is going to pull a King Piccolo and get his youth restored and then be a legitimate threat?
  12. 2 AM, Wednesday. One week from today, I'll be boarding a bus to head to the airport for Midwest FurFest!

  13. GE's Sonic plush line is back in business!

    1. Kiah


      There goes my money!

  14. Tim Ryan's started pushing for single payer though. The moderate social policies he was espousing in 2016 have also shifted leftward. In an American context it's kind of humorous to call him conservative. He's conservative as much as Bernie Sanders at this point. Now sure, one could argue that it's a ploy, but so is any political promise potentially. But that ignores that politicians are strategic actors and are quite likely not revealing true preferences, but what they think will sell. Now that single payer is actually considered a serious proposal, it's no surprise a lot of former healthcare moderates are embracing it; it's no longer seen as damaging to a political career. Plus a "haha I'm not actually a leftist, suckers!" ploy would be hilariously stupid in this context, since the House caucus is parliamentary enough to swiftly do away with any attempted fraudster. Never mind this analysis discounts Marcia Fudge, who seems pretty darn progressive. She's vocal about Pelosi representing white, wealthy interests even as the party's base is people of color and the working class. She also thinks, quite frankly, Pelosi has been party leader for 16 years and needs to go away, particularly since she's lost so many elections.
  15. So basically, kind of like the ambivalence Eggman developed towards Sonic in the Archie comics for a bit. He inferred there were cosmic forces at play and he really couldn't do much about it. He did not give up villainy, he just slowly shifted towards "meh, I'm not even going to really try to kill him anymore. EVERYONE ELSE, HOWEVER..." Or, for another example, how Aku resigned himself to the fact he and Samurai Jack would probably never defeat each other, so he kind of gave up for a little while. So Frieza's perspective has changed in light of the fact there are beings far more powerful than him, a being like Zen-Oh whose power goes beyond what everyone else runs on (he doesn't need to use energy, he just wipes things out with a single fist clench), and finally, presumably has inferred immortality would, even if it would prevent him from being destroyed (doubtful), not do anything to close the power gap. ...it's kind of amusing when an antagonist actually finds an in-universe way to grasp Plot Armor. That said, what's to stop the supposedly less dangerous Frieza from plotting some ascent to Godhood himself? Any wish with no limitations, right? So in theory, so long as Zen-Oh doesn't get word of it, there's nothing stopping an "Omni-King Frieza" from being wished into play.
  16. I like how Ocasio-Cortez does not cite any names. It's... eyebrow raising. Of course, that's probably due to the fact no one is running for Speaker yet. It's all hearsay. We know of lots of people who have refused to vote for her as Speaker, but no one has formally stepped up. I always considered my Dad writing Ocasio-Cortez off as an idiot to be his conservative bias, but perhaps he was onto something with her.
  17. He's going to be trying to undermine confidence in democracy all 2-6 years he's in office. The good news is most people don't buy it. https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/15/politics/cindy-hyde-smith-mississippi-universities-voter-suppression/index.html On the subject of voter suppression, the Republican in the Mississippi special election has joked that it would be a good thing to suppress the votes of students because they lean liberal. Her campaign is going the "it's just a joke, gosh!" route with it. Jokes lose humor when they're very salient to actual issues. When Obama joked about using predator drones on his daughters' boyfriends, of course there was humor in it because it's so patently absurd. By contrast, efforts to make voting harder, that have had disproportionate effects on liberal groups, are very real. https://www.nj.com/marijuana/2018/11/first_pass_at_legal_weed_could_roll_into_statehouse_in_days_but_full_vote_will_require_joint_effort.html New Jersey may vote on a legal marijuana bill in the next two weeks. May. Big May. New Jersey keeps hitting hurdles due to disagreements on tax rates and the like, and it's kept the bill in limbo for months. Remember that legal pot was one of the big promises of the Murphy campaign, and he's been in office for 10 months now. I'm almost willing to bet money Congress will get a legal pot bill through sooner. The mood in Washington is shifting dramatically.
  18. https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/14/politics/trump-prison-reform/index.html Trump has backed the prison reform proposals going through Congress. Among the proposals are a reduction to sentences involving crimes committed with a firearm, the abolition of the life sentence for three strikes laws, and expanding how many people are exempt from mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenses. The bill, if it materializes, is expected to easily clear 60 votes in the Senate. Personally, I think this is a strategic move on the GOP's part. While some criminal justice reform was part of the GOP's 2016 platform (no seriously, read it sometime, talk of reducing how many crimes are on the books, the harshness of sentences, etc. is actually in there), it never was a top priority until now. I don't think this is just because of the incoming Democratic House and a desire to claim some credit for criminal justice reform, though. Florida restored the right to vote to a million and a half people on Election Day. They were all ex-felons. The GOP changing its positions on crime is likely vital if they want to keep Florida in their column. The fact the Rust Belt has reverted to its Democratic roots makes Florida even more vital to any Republican Presidential campaign going forward. And with so many people aware of what it was like to become second-class citizens due to their criminal records, a zero tolerance policy probably would not do the GOP any favors. In absence of reconsidering their support for the Electoral College, this is a sound move on the GOP's part. It makes it possible to build a bridge to these re-enfranchised voters, and thus keep Florida from slipping away in 2020 and beyond. Never mind the fact changing their policies on crime would probably help a great deal to improve their position with non-white voters in general. Somewhere in both Trump and the Republican leadership's minds, they realized it's only a matter of time until demographics really start to kick them. Their changing stances on sentencing and marijuana are a strategic move to avoid losing too much ground. https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/15/politics/mueller-protection-bill-jeff-flake/index.html Outgoing GOP Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona has said he will not vote to clear any judicial nominees from the Senate Judiciary until a bill is passed that will protect Mueller. No other Republicans have joined his cause, but this does slow down McConnell's ability to pass judges a little. https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/15/politics/palm-beach-county-recount-deadline-democrats-lawsuit/index.html The Florida races have gone to a hand recount. While there was talk of failing machines, Governor Scott's margin has widened slightly and a lot of analysts believe Scott legitimately won and the margin is too small for a recount to flip.
  19. Considering Clinton was billed as the one who was more electable yet lost anyway, I think a lot of primary voters would get wise this time around and vote to keep the nomination away from her, in any case. Most Dem leaders, meanwhile, were happy to step aside to let the Party darling get practically handed the nomination. With her abysmal performance last time, I don't think many of them would be as eager to. As an aside? I don't think the Dems' disavowing of Bill Clinton as part of the #MeToo movement was entirely altruistic. It was also a way to reduce the influence of the couple so that they would stay in the shadows going forward. The Clintons have cast a long shadow over the Democratic Party for a while, and the culture shift provided a perfect opportunity to finally curb their influence. https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/12/politics/florida-bay-county-vote-by-email-fax-hurricane/index.html And the county with the most illegally-cast votes in Florida is... wait for it... a Republican county! Due to dislocation from a hurricane, the local county officials allowed some voters who were homeless to cast votes by email or fax, even though this is illegal under state law. They ran it by the Secretary of State, who said that the county knows its needs best and should do what they had to do to get votes in. See, this would sound noble, helping dislocated people... except the GOP complains about fraud and illegal ballots everywhere else. But this is a Republican county, so they suddenly did not care about the letter of rules but the spirit of democracy. Pathetic.
  20. https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/12/politics/sinema-arizona-senate-race/index.html Democrat Kyrsten Sinema has won the Arizona Senate race, with so many ballots coming in it is now impossible for McSally to win the race. Sinema is the first Democrat to win the seat in 24 years, the first woman to represent Arizona, and the first openly bisexual person to win a U.S. Senate seat. With 47 seats, the Democrats now have a very narrow path to a majority in 2020. That would improve if the Democrats managed to take Florida in the Senate recount, but that election is pretty much guaranteed to be stolen by the GOP with their arbitrary voting laws. The Republicans are, in usual fashion, projecting when they complain about stealing elections there. I can only hope with all the people who had their voting rights restored on Election Night that the Florida GOP gets a black eye in the next election.
  21. https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/12/politics/richard-ojeda-president-2020/index.html Richard Ojeda has announced a bid for President of the United States. Ojeda is a veteran from West Virginia, and a firm economic populist. He voted for Trump in 2016 on the basis of Trump's promises to combat the opioid epidemic and help put the people of coal country back to work. With Trump having largely abandoned those promises, Ojeda is running an economic populist Democratic campaign. While he lost the House race in his district, he came far closer to winning it than Clinton ever did. While Ojeda's coal industry background make him stand out as an oddball (he is interested in reviving the coal industry, unlike most Democrats, but he's most focused on simply reviving the desolated West Virginian economy), he is one of several candidates representing an economic populist shift in policy. He has a strong base in organized labor as well. Ojeda is pro-life, but he has a pro-choice policy position because abortion bans would only hurt the poor and rich people would find a way to get them illegally. At 48 to Sanders' 77, Ojeda could provide the Democrats with some much needed young progressive leadership.
  22. https://www.rawstory.com/2018/11/new-numbers-show-arizona-senate-race-no-longer-close-call-30000-votes-kyrsten-sinema-wins/ Democratic victory in the Arizona Senate race looks increasingly likely. With 260,000 votes left, many of them from Phoenix, Sinema has a 30,000 vote lead. The Republican McSally would need to win over 57% of the remaining vote to win. https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/11/politics/florida-recount-palm-beach-county/index.html Republican and Democratic election workers alike have said meeting the Thursday deadline will be impossible in Florida. Should this happen, the Secretary of State will certify results as is. The Palm Beach GOP chairman has blatantly said this is good news for Republicans because their candidates are ahead. At least they're honest about how they like to steal elections. There will be lawsuits. There is no doubt about that. Court packing will certainly be on the table. Savvy conservative judges will move strategically to stave off a packing attempt by behaving like moderates. If the Dems so desire, they can use their next Senate majority, a possibility, to rapidly lock in power. They may as well considering the odds of losing the Senate will be extremely high.
  23. [tweet]

    Holy crap this is the best crossover I never knew I wanted

  24. Possibly. Now that she's in power, she will have to actually govern. While the Democrats need to use their House majority to pass symbolic bills they can present to voters as reason to give them the Senate and Presidency in 2020, they should also pass more concrete reforms like the bipartisan automatic consideration idea, while also trying to work on issues like infrastructure and immigration. With how polarized American politics has gotten, the fate of the federal government as a meaningful entity is questionable if the Problem Solvers Caucus' rules changes are not taken up. They provide a means for the moderates in each party (and yes, moderates do still exist in each party, they just get drowned out by the hyperpartisan ways of doing business) to muscle policies through that could then go to the Senate. Without those rules changes, we are liable to see more of the problem of one House passing a bill and the other refusing.
  25. https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/08/politics/pelosi-trump-phone-call-cnntv/index.html Pelosi and Trump have had an interesting phone call. Trump wants to find common ground, but also threatened to get aggressive if any investigations were made into him. Pelosi's rebuttal was House investigations are standard procedure, and he's going to just have to accept that. Trump would be a moron if he really lets some investigations get in the way of passing a giant infrastructure bill that would help him win re-election, unless he's really hiding something. https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/08/politics/pelosi-detractors-make-their-first-move/index.html The attacks on Pelosi from within the Democratic Party has begun, as rules changes are considered to make it so the Democratic nominee for speaker will require 218 votes. While there are enough no votes to sink a speakership, Pelosi allies are convinced it will not translate into her losing the Speakership; every Democrat who backed Pelosi's in-party rival Tim Ryan came behind her in the formal floor vote. It's a tough sell, because there's a mountain of evidence indicating having a gun in the home increases the risk to oneself. However, most of those studies include increased suicide rates, which would make the risk boil down to mental health issues rather than firearm ownership per se. I acknowledge the increased suicide risk but do not think gun owners for whom that risk does not apply should be denied ownership because of it. I also don't think I like all these white, cishetero liberals telling nonwhites and queer people they're not allowed to have guns to defend themselves if they want them. It's rather eyebrow raising the same people who insist the police are corrupt and abusive tend to be the ones who say you should depend on them in all emergencies. Given the response time for police anyway, I can't fault a black man for deciding owning a gun is worth the risks. And I think that should be his decision. Now, collective defense on the other hand, that's different. I fully support the efforts of groups like Redneck Revolt in bringing communities together in armed defense. We don't really have data to support the idea of individual self-defense, but collective defense is another matter. States and corporations will tread carefully if they understand communities are packing. This is where liberals will go "haha there's no way a militia would defeat the Army," and that's true. It's also a gigantic strawman. Gun ownership as a deterrent rests on the concept of how much it complicates state overreach. The increased likelihood of an armed confrontation could threaten the state's legitimacy. If push comes to shove, even a powerful military will struggle against a well-armed insurgency. On a day to day basis, employers will think twice about abusing their workers when they calculate there's a lot more of them and a lot of them have weapons. I do think a lot of the problems we associate with guns - crime, increased suicide rate - etc. could actually be resolved through other measures. And there are possible allies in red states who would be on board with these measures. That requires the Democrats not be neoliberal garbage, however.
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