The Frankish Reich

No. The burden of proof in a civil case is "preponderance of the evidence." So the jury found that it is more likely than not that Trump digitally penetrated Carroll. The burden is never on the defendant (Trump). Look, I didn't follow the case closely, and in my opinion there are problems with a lawsuit based on events that happened decades ago. But the jury obviously believed Carroll's testimony, which was corroborated by a couple other witnesses - friends of hers who say that she told them about her encounter with Trump (at least in part nonconsensual) around that time that it happened. And Trump's own deposition testimony was a killer, since he confused Carroll with his ex-wife Marla. That destroyed the "she's not my type" crude defense.

I think you're mixing up two things. "Neurodivergent" is used for people on the autism spectrum. Not for the mentally ill/schizophrenic.

And that's the other part of the draft equation: sometimes you need a little luck (most "insider" reports say Beane wanted Darnold)

Hmm, what is the common factor in Trump's "problems" with NY court cases? Is it "commie jury pools?" Maybe it's an awful/inept lead counsel. "Habba is licensed to practice law in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. She has served as lead counsel for three cases, including a federal class action suit against a New Jersey nursing home accused of various negligent acts and consumer fraud violations." Three cases. Really. That's who Trump chose, or perhaps who Trump was left with after all other attorneys found him impossible to work for.

True. But they still waited for an excuse this time, and the excuse was the U.S. unqualified support for Israel and its all-out war on Gaza.

Just like MLB, the NFL went through a Moneyball style analytics revolution. The key in Moneyball (and that Beane, Billy): scouts underrate actual performance, and overrate things like combine measurements. In football terms: draft the guy with a proven record of success at actually playing football and doing NFL QB type things (Baker Mayfield) rather than the guy with jaw-dropping physical attributes who doesn't have a record of success at NFL-type QB skills (Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen). Allen and Lamar caused an immediate shift in that thinking (maybe Carson Wentz a little bit too). All of a sudden the "project" guys with tremendous physical attributes shot up the charts. Trey Lance is the clearest example of the Allen/Jackson effect. I think things are moving in the right direction now. It's about college success + projectability. MLB has seen a similar shift, at least when it comes to drafting college (not high school) players.

Thanks for linking that. Awesome reading! I don't want to scroll thru the whole thing to see if I had any reaction at the time. But kudos to those posters who don't change their names here every 6 months. I have no idea who some of the Allen naysayers were, but I do know they're still here ....

OK, try this: 1. Should we have remained neutral in the Israel-Hamas war? 2. Should we be directly attacking Iran now?

What would Irv do? Sorry I'm taxing your Trump-level attention span. I hear Provigil may help.

So what would you do? The drone attacks on U.S. armed forces are a direct consequence of U.S. support - moral, legal, and real world weapons - of Israel. Should we have not expressed such support for Israel? Should we be officially neutral here, not get involved at all? So I hear we are soft on Iran. Should we get into a shooting war directly with Iran? You tell me.

Horseshoe theory is now reality.

Cancel All Groomers! (I read that right here)

Correct. The jury found, after a full civil trial, that Trump digitally penetrated Carroll. This is, therefore, an established finding of fact unless overturned on appeal.

The immediate factor in the French farmer revolt: agricultural use diesel fuel was taxed at a lower level than regular transport diesel. The French government wanted to equalize this. Farmers revolted, the plan was withdrawn. OK, fair to say that the French government proposal was to "raise taxes" on farmers. But that's not the whole story. The whole story is the EU/French subsidies paid to farmers, and EU protectionism keeping out imported agricultural products: https://www.arc2020.eu/agriculture-atlas-biggest-beneficiary/ The agricultural sector in France would be significantly smaller if subsidies were ended. In other words, the French government and the EU prop up French farmers through a complex web of subsidies and import restrictions. The farmer rebellion is mostly about "how dare you propose to stop subsidizing my business," not about ending some kind of socialism. "Don't end socialism; it helps me" is the real rallying cry here.

Right. And this —

Our friends the Saudis.

Maybe we should give Mormons some extra votes since they tend to have a lot of kids? Or how about counting the votes of the childless by some fractional amount. 3/5 maybe?

Then we take Berlin!

I don't get Trump's problem. He's got Kanye on his side. Doesn't that even things out?

True. It does vary by state. California is still much higher, many other states considerably higher.

You need to understand the upshot of your half-baked "argument." Let's make it easy. You are Jewish. Someone, somewhere - let's say in Harvard Yard - carries a sign saying "From the River to the Sea" and "Eliminate All Jews." You live far away - let's say in Buffalo. Has this person "harassed" you? "Threatened" you personally? No. Let's say that person comes to your house at night with a bullhorn and starts chanting the same thing that's on the sign. Has that person "harassed" you? I'd say yes. Has that person "threatened" you? I'd say yes. The Harvard President said "it depends on the context." See? It does depend on the context. People who called on the Harvard President to resign imputed a different statement to her. A statement that was something like, "Should Harvard ban its students and faculty from calling for the elimination of the State of Israel?" Were the statements offensive? Yes. Should they be banned? Let's have that argument. Irv here wants to nuke Gaza. Should that be banned? Let's have that argument. But it's a different question than the one posed by Elise Stefanik. Yes, I'm answering like a lawyer. Because it was a hearing and at hearings people are advised by lawyers to answer only the specific question that is posed.

Haha. I'll check Gas Buddy and tell you what it is today. You need to learn about arguments by analogy.

We just lost to KC because KC averaged 7.7 yards per play. Yes, it would be great to improve the offense too, but ...

Very clever. But maybe you failed to consider the full universe of alternatives. Prices are unlikely to fall, but they may rise at about 2% a year, which, after all, is the Fed's target.

$2.28 at Costco yesterday.