The Frankish Reich

Definitely not a Hindu! Fate is inexorable. JD-Erika 2028. The marriage, the ticket.

I'm working on it. Thanks for understanding. A not-so-random thought: The better bs artist always wins. (2020 and 2024 were tossups) Clinton vs Bush 41. Clinton vs. Dole Bush 43 vs. Gore Bush 43 vs Kerry Obama vs. McCain Obama vs. Romney Trump vs. Hillary Newsome vs. JD? It just rolls out of Gavin's mouth naturally. No tells. JD has a little catching up to do. He is trying to bury his remnants of a conscience but it sometimes still creeps through.

So .... the talking point is now: - Democrats, and Democrats alone, are the people preventing you from obtaining the SNAP benefits you were promised under the law we Republicans passed. - SNAP is an awful program riddled with fraud that enriches illegal aliens who have no right to even be here. Makes sense to me! Play the American people for the fools that they are. MAGA does one thing right: it never underestimates the stupidity of its voters.

I conclude: New York is weird. There is no understanding New York politics because it is based on secret dealmaking and ethnic/religious group promised favoritism. You might as well bet on which Mafia family will become the dominant one.

And this is why I think he's the front runner. He can bs with the best of them. Bill Clinton, Donald Trump. That's elite-level. He's the only one out there who seems to be able to beat them at their own game. So much better to pretend to have a poster on "ignore."

Of course there's waste, fraud, and abuse. But notice what the MAGA folks do when they are losing an argument? They make it about illegal aliens. So here we go again. The Republicans passed the BBB without Democratic votes. If they wanted to add assurances that illegal aliens could not directly or indirectly benefit from SNAP, well, they could've done that. Don't fall for this latest deflection.

In retrospect, I am so glad we lost to the Falcons on purpose.

I see what you did there. Yep. My AI friend confirms. As do JJ Watt, Shawne Merriman, and lots of other real life examples. Yes, athletes using performance-enhancing drugs, particularly anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS), are significantly more likely to suffer Achilles tendon injuries and ruptures. Anabolic steroids contribute to this increased risk through several mechanisms: Biomechanical Mismatch: Anabolic steroids induce rapid muscle hypertrophy and increased strength, but the tendons and ligaments do not adapt or strengthen at the same rate. This creates a dangerous mismatch where the powerful muscles place supraphysiological loads on relatively weaker, less resilient tendons, predisposing them to injury or rupture. Weakened Tendon Structure: AAS use disrupts the normal synthesis and cross-linking of collagen, the primary structural component of tendons. Studies in animals have shown that steroids can lead to collagen fiber dysplasia (abnormal formation) and decreased tensile strength and elasticity. Impaired Repair: AAS can inhibit the activity of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), enzymes crucial for the normal remodeling and repair of tendon tissue. This impaired healing capacity can lead to pre-existing degenerative changes in the tendon that make it more susceptible to acute rupture during intense physical activity.

It was a risk. It paid off for 1.5 games.

In which Tucker apologizes for calling Nick gay. Nick (previously): "having sex with women is gay." He explained that he's chosen to be an incel. Basically a voluntary involuntary celibate. Whatever. Definitely not at all gay. Why would anyone think that, Tucker?

What happened to our regular teasers for the latest Tucker Carlson episode? I guess that's my role now. I grudgingly accept. Latest one: Nick Fuentes! Cross-posted with the Closeted Gay Republicans thread.

Black Christians are being slaughtered in Nigeria. The majority of the extremely limited (7,500) refugee admissions under Trump 2.0's first full year will be white South Africans farmers. Discuss.

Because that's what it is. Guy who scoffed at concerns about Saudi Arabia dismembering a journalist and Russia inflicting radioactive poisoning on political enemies (remember: "we've done a lot of bad stuff too") suddenly can't stand watching human rights abuses?

Look, I am a neoconservative as it comes to such things. I think we do have a role to play in human rights or the lack thereof in other countries (which doesn't necessarily mean I want to invade them, etc.). It's just that Trump is publicly 100% against that. If he's changing his mind having seen some atrocities, well, good. Nothing wrong with admitting that? Or is there?

We will not get involved in other people's wars. We cannot stand by while some other people's wars go on. Got it?

There really is a human rights crisis in parts of Nigeria. And Christians really are being slaughtered. The confusion here is that Trump essentially ran on a "human rights don't matter unless they directly affect Americans" stance. America First. Avoid getting involved in some other country's wars. So ... a dose of reality? Or just pandering to the Christian Right?

I remember that the Griese dog-induced injury was assumed to be a cover-up of a drunken stumble. Some of the cover stories are fantastic in the level of detail they provide ... in baseball, all-star 2B Jeff Kent famously claimed that he hurt his wrist washing his car; the real story was he took a spill on a motorcycle. Riding a motorcycle was a contract violation.

The guy actually had the Dolphins on the verge. They had one of the best rosters in the entire NFL a couple years ago. They brought in a coach who fit perfectly with their offensive personnel. It turned out their QB was too fragile and probably wasn't good enough even when he was healthy. And then they made the fatal mistake of committing to him financially for the future, watched that roster get expensive and age, and now find themselves in the rebuilding period they tried to deny for a year or so. Compare: Beane, criticized for not going all-in, trying to build a consistent, durable winner. You just can't win.

Part of it, no doubt. But this is going way beyond signaling. There's really no way to disincentive Maduro's government/military from engaging in drug smuggling; this is what they do, and this is what keeps them in power. It is a pure kleptocracy.

It sounds like bs, but I love it: JD dumps Usha for Erika Kirk, changes son Vivek's name to Charlie.

I kind of thought a US military action against Venezuela was coming back in Trump 1.0. He had recognized the government in exile of Juan Guaido (I had to look up his name; that's how forgotten he is). We had the international law basis - Guaido could ask for military assistance to eject the "false president" Maduro's government - and it looked like that's how it was setting up. I think concern about the price of oil probably killed that. Now that doesn't seem to be particularly important, with oil prices down so much that it's disincentivizing US drilling. And we just had that bizarre "we are authorizing covert CIA action in Venezuela" statement. Bay of Pigs (covert op)? Or Operation Just Cause (overt Panama op under Bush 41). If forced to choose, I know which one worked.

For about the 20th time in response to such questions: Dawson Knox. You know that someday it'll turn out to be right?

So I took a look at the law about that SNAP emergency funding bucket. There's really no legal reason not to use it IF the Administration wants to keep funds flowing. There's more than adequate justification in doing so based on how the law is written. In fact, better justification than for things like paying active duty military. So I must conclude that this is, of course, political.

Isn't Venezuela just a bigger Panama c. 1989? It actually surprises me that the US hasn't acted against Venezuela for all these years of their provocations. I'm not saying it's a good idea. I'm just saying that it would be in line with US military actions throughout Cold War and post-Cold War history, and Trump's apparent new love of the Monroe Doctrine.

We need a word like that!