Besides, by waiting Biden can now cite the recent Supreme Court decision, which basically gives him the authority to remove people appointed to positions like this, if someone challenges his right to fire someone before their normal term of office expires.

OCU

Don't these people understand that Critical Race Theory is only taught in law schools and graduate courses in political science and history? It's never been taught in the elementary or secondary school systems.

And as far as law schools are are concerned, the teaching of Critical Race Theory should be mandatory since so many of the laws in this country and how they are applied have their basis in the anti-slave laws in place prior to the Civil War, and those passed as a reaction to reconstruction after the war. It's critical that members of our justice system understand how much of a racial bias has been ingrained in our history, particularly when it comes to how laws were enforced and how the criminal justice system evolved, codifying much of the worst practices. Even something as ubiquitous as local sheriff departments can trace their origins back to the groups who tracked down and returned runaway slaves.

BTW, here's something to think about. There were very few lynchings prior to the Civil War because a Black person was a valuable piece of property and no one in their right mind would destroy either their own or someone else's property. It just didn't make sense. However, once the war was over and the slaves had been given their freedom, in many people's minds, they now had no value whatsoever. Their well being was only of concern when they represented an asset to be protected.

OCU

Just keep in mind, if the people attacking the Capital had indeed been members of BLM or ANTIFA, the the steps of the building would have been flowing in blood. And Trump would have declared martial law and would have refused to leave office.

OCU

I've had tinnitus in both ears for years, and while it means that I'll never experience a truly quiet moment, it's never led to me being depressed nor seeking personality altering meds...

OCU

Marjorie Taylor Greene is equating vaccinations with Nazism while Lauren Boebert is suggesting that COVID-19 is the first step toward Communism. I don't know, but the GOP 'wacko caucus' needs to pick one boogieman and stick to it.

OCU

I suspect that this trait is linked to the rise of monogamy within the human species.

OCU

The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

OCU

Only she'll be 96 and and I'll be 94...

OCU

My wife and I have only 21 more years to go...

OCU

Now we're getting to the real issue here. That prosecutor, back in 2005, basically went to Cosby and explained that since he was rich, why not simply testify in the civil case, pay your money and avoid criminal prosecution. This way, he could feel justified since he can claim that he helped the victims get restitution more quickly and all it cost was a guy who could afford it paying-up. Of course, if Cosby had been poor, whether he was black or white, the only option the prosecutor would have had would have been to criminally charge him and send him off to prison. And while it is true the Cosby was eventually charged and convicted, ultimately, because he was rich and thus had been offered that 'get out of jail free' card back in 2005, he's now been released and as far as the justice system is concerned, it's like the trail and conviction never occurred.

Now, I'm not saying that the PA Supreme Court ruling was wrong, this was clearly a case where the rules of the courts had not been followed, once the assurance of non-prosecution had been given to Cosby, it's just that this is another example of how the rich can act without as much fear of the consequence versus the average Joe on the street.

OCU

It's always Republicans who are found to have committed voter and election fraud, yet the states controlled by Republicans are always railing against people who they say are guilty of voter and election fraud. If they really wanted to address this issue, their first step would be to look in a mirror.

OCU

The rumor is that McCarthy is going to put Jim Jordan, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert on Speaker Pelosi's select committee. That way it sends a message to 'that former guy' that he's going to make sure that no one take serious anything that comes out of the committee.

OCU

Perhaps, but they should NOT be allowed to make policy based on those lies.

OCU

There are reports that as many as a 100 people are unaccounted for. If this apartment building was anywhere near fully occupied and considering this collapse occurred at 1:30AM, that could be a very conservative number.

OCU

The chickens are coming home to roost...

OCU

Of course, if you're a Black women in Texas who was told that she was allowed to vote by an election official, only later to learn that the official had given her wrong information, she was sentenced to FIVE YEARS in prison, and when her lawyer tried to argue that she had been mislead by an election official, the judge said that she shouldn't believe everything that she's told, even if you think it was an official response.

OCU

However, after this report was released, this same group of Republicans said that they're going ahead with their effort to pass 39 new voter laws in the state of Michigan which will, among other things, limit early voting, reduce the number of drop-off ballot boxes, limit who can get absentee ballots and change the voter ID laws already on the books which could disenfranchise an additional 10's of thousands of voters who while they've been allowed to vote in the past, will no longer be considered to have adequate ID. And despite their claim that there was no voter fraud in the state for the 2020 elections, they say that they must enact these laws so that the citizens of Michigan can feel confident that the state legislature is doing their job to protect the sanctity of their vote and will not allow the problems that occurred in 2020 to happen again. When asked what those problems were and why they were not covered in their 60-page report, the response was that many people in Michigan still feels that there must have been problems, even if there was no evidence found. Therefore, these laws are absolutely necessary to make those people feel better. They also said the state's Republicans are seriously considering hiring the same people who are conducting the Arizona 'audit' to conduct a similar 'audit' of the votes that were cast in Wayne County (the city of Detroit is located in Wayne County), this despite the fact that their 60-page report found no problems with the votes cast in Detroit nor how they were counted. And this was after their report warned that the people running the Arizona 'audit' were doing so to make money and/or to continue to spread doubt about the 2020 election.

OCU

Another excerpt from the above article:

In a dissent, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that the school was right to suspend Levy because students like her "who are active in extracurricular programs have a greater potential, by virtue of their participation, to harm those programs."

Thomas has long taken the position that students generally do not have free speech rights.

OCU

I suspect that they're not all turned on/off at the same time. Each unit is controlled by a unique device which can be controlled individually.

OCU

several smart thermostats owners say their devices have been controlled remotely to conserve energy

People will never put up with that but remote consumer device control would be hugely useful forutilities in some cases.

#3 | Posted by REDIAL

Here in California, there's a program that allows the power company to control our residential AC units. They don't mess with the thermostat but rather shut-off the compressor itself (using a device connected to the cellular network). Now for this, we get a modest monthly credit during the Summer. Generally, they can only shut us down for no more than five hours per day and there's also a limit as to the number of days that they can cycle the AC per month. We've been part of this program for 10 years or so now.

OCU

I wonder if Trump and his Republican supporters in the Senate are starting to have second thoughts about the appointment of Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett to the high court after they both sided with the majority in today's 7-2 ruling that allowed the ACA to remain in place.

OCU

And yet Republicans are still suggesting that nothing of consequence occurred at the Capitol on January 6th. Are they aware that they're defending individuals like this?

OCU

I'm waiting for one of Trump's minions to suggest that people in Madagascar tampered with the voting machines...

That would be about as credible as Italy using satellite technology to tinker with the vote count in states like Arizona and Georgia.

OCU

The year I graduated from college.

OCU

As a Trump supporter on another message board put it, "Of course Trump doesn't want to share his crapper with the plebians. After all, he's president and they're just the hired help."

OCU