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The fit is ideal. The cost is not.

They don't have to worry about people pointing fingers at them, because neutering the effectiveness of doing so is what the preemptive projection they constantly engage in is all about. There are countless examples, but here's a low-hanging one: without evidence (as usual), Trump accused Democrats of stealing the 2020 election on Election night itself, even before all the votes had been counted. Then, over the next two months, the Trump cabal laid the groundwork to steal the 2020 election, culminating with the January 6 raid, which was completely botched, so it didn't actually work that time. But it wasn't a total loss, because afterwards, anytime anyone accused Trump of trying to steal the 2020 election, it looked like a mere back-and-forth accusation without any teeth. Trump accused the Democrats first of stealing the election, then the Democrats accused Trump of trying the steal the election, then back and forth, back and forth, difference of opinion, tomato tomahto. That's how it's played out, and that's one of the reasons there's no consensus on the 2020 Election Theft issue, obvious though it all was. That's the genius of the whole projection scheme, and no, it has nothing to do with Trump being an evil genius or some such rot, because he didn't come up with the idea. It's been in the Russian playbook for centuries. The reason it's been working so well in a sophisticated, reasonably well-educated, multicultural society such as ours is that we weren't used to it. But we're starting to get used to it, and in a hurry. Now we have to figure out how to fight it, and win.

To be clear, I understand the risk that this administration has posed and continues to pose on the public. And certainly that requires vigilance going forward. But I think you mischaracterize my position... I don't think we should "wait these guys out", people absolutely should do what they can to donate to candidates or to attend protests or do whatever they think moves the ball down the field. But I am going to continue to call things like I see them. And they are incompetent and they are weird, they are wildly out of touch with the median American with regards to things that they are most concerned about (cost of living; if anything, because of the war and tariffs, he proudly advertises making things even more expensive for everyone). Through their terror campaign up in the Twin Cities (which the people of the Twin Cities *won* in the end BTW), they have managed to burn bridges with the types of voters who helped him win in 2024 (ie. Hispanics / young voters). The President himself looks old and senile, increasingly does not command the sort of stature or the ability to command events or public opinion that he did earlier in his career. And the President, for his part, is now getting poll numbers that are approaching Bush Iraq levels. I don't think that acknowledging these realities automatically means you don't consider the administration dangerous. That's where you and I differ IMO.

Helene is throwing it on the wall.

Yes, it crossed my mind that Raymond might be a candidate for a one-for-one trade. Maybe a trade like this makes them a little more abrasive. Maybe it blows up the locker room (and maybe that is even good). But it probably leaves you on the bubble and does not do anything to address the contracts of CCR which are still clogging things up. There is also talk about the Rangers wanting to trade Trocheck. I wonder if it would work to send Danielson and a 2027 first round pick with New York also taking Copp and his remaining contract. but I still think the best scenario is if we can trade bad contracts with Vancouver. Maybe EP40 and Raymond can pair with MBN for a second scoring line, with Larkin centering ADB and Kane on the top line. Bump Finnie to play with Danielson and maybe Lombardi on an energy line and Kasper/Mazur with Appleton or Dries or someone else on a grit line.

So is Boston’s firing of their manager and much of their coaching staff during the early season simply a sign of desperation rather than cogent strategic thinking? I can see wanting to “change team culture“ and everything but when all you do is generally promote people from your minor-league affiliates, it sure seems like desperation to me. Just curious what more astute observers than myself think.

it's around 3/4 million population per rep district. (340 million/435 seats)

And the GOP doesn't want DC to get two senators.

This makes sense. Bottom line: players got good eyes.

I disagree that ridiculing the Trump cabal as a bunch of weirdos isn't downplaying the threat, and the same goes for ridiculing them as stupid and incompetent. They are all those things, yes it's true, but to focus on the stupidity and incompetence and weirdness takes the pressure off their evil and, as importantly, leads us to forget that their hands are on the levers of more lethal power than any other ruling body in the history of the world. This thinking leads us into the false sense of security that they are too stupid and incompetent to control the world for even a second, and then we assume it will be their stupidity and incompetence that will bring them down, and so all we have to do is play the waiting game, which most D-leaning people believe will be this November. There is a valid historical parallel because the Nazis seemed so weird when they themselves started out, so nobody took them seriously, until all of a sudden, everyone had to. I'm sure practically everyone agrees that Trump aspires to absolute power, but if you think he wouldn't want to wield it in the way Hitler did, with the power of life and death over an entire population, then you haven't been paying attention to the effusive praise Trump unabashedly heaps on Kim Jong Un for the way he has an entire nation at his beck and call, maintained through his own Hitlerian tactics. I am all for making fun of this regime's stupidity and incompetence and weirdness. It's a great release valve during arguably the most stressful and uncertain time of our lives. What I am not for at all is sitting back and believing it is their very stupidity and incompetence and weirdness that must inevitably bring them down all on their own, and that we need do nothing more than wait them out.

Worth noting that, similar to Texas, the success of this map in 2026 (at least) hinges pretty heavily on the gains Trump made with Hispanic voters in 2024 being realized going forward. And that's absolutely not a guarantee in this environment.

Yep, and all his flying monkey supporters too

Something good came out of Saturday Night

Probably bring it to at least 3 total. plus Senators. It'll never happen, Virginia can't afford to lose the revenue.

I wish I had any confidence conservative voters who typically vote Republican would en masse be disgusted by this brazen antidemocratic tactic and withhold their votes from their R candidate, if not switch their vote to the D candidate, and maybe a small sliver will. But it feels very likely the vast majority of Trump voters are hooting and hollering and yeehawing at what they see as a winning move, because in the end, their wish is not to win democratically free and fair elections—crossing your fingers and hoping to win fair elections is for suckers—but to destroy the Democratic Party, become a one-party state, hijack the judiciary and the media, and vanquish once and for all the only way they could ever lose power: democracy itself. I'm not saying I know they're going to succeed. This might fail spectacularly, with the whole thing blowing up in their faces, and their being called to account for it in a court of law. That's within the range of outcomes. What I am saying is this is what they wish for, and this is what they're going to try to make happen.

If Arlington was annexed into DC and DC became a state, would the population be large enough to give the new DC state 2 Congresspersons instead of one?

Anybody remember the song Ballroom Blitz by Sweet? I saw a post on SM changing the name to Ballroom Grift. Oops, looks like I'm late to the party again. Stephen Colbert came up with this 6 months ago:

If the Tigers ever went away from Carp or Perez in RF, I would rather see Vierling out there. He seems to give us the best defense. Perez gets me nervous, a collision waiting to happen. And Carp tries hard but it seems like he takes bad routes and first steps to the ball. And Vierling seems to be hitting pretty good, use Carp as DH and sit Perez. He may be a switch hitter but he doesn't.....hit

This. Over the years I've watched various GMs build or fail to build our teams, and to me that's the difference that stands out - the difference between just trying to collect talent, and trying to collect talent that fits together into a team that can be more than the sum of its parts. And right now, it feels like that is where the Wings are failing. Yzerman has brought in players with some talent, but they don't fill the team's most severe weaknesses. Along those lines that's why I was hoping they would let Kane go. Sure there are things he still does well, but they are not the Wings' glaring needs (i.e. puck possession and forechecking) - etc, etc. When you are bad you have to use your limited resources plug your most sever deficiencies with players that bring those particular skills, not just collect bodies that succeeded somewhere else under different conditions.

At least the first court that reviewed the GOP attempt to stop the Va referendum has turned them down.

I think you can see it in the redistricting talk. Not necessarily about Trump pet say (though he's the guy pushing the narrative) but in the "conversation" about what's happening. To Virginia Republicans it's a power grab by Spanberger and the Democrats. And if you dare to mention what happened in Texas or what's happening in Florida they'll come up with some mambo pambo that "justifies" it.

Yeah but you have to put Moore on an NFL strength and conditioning program. 😉 In all seriousness, it is a bit outlandish to be putting Maxx Crosby expectations on Moore. Crosby outperformed his draft slot partly because he was physically and technically underdeveloped as a college player. Also, he had at least one known disciplinary issue that resulted in him being suspended for the season opener in 2018. How much of all of this was related to his substance abuse issues? How much value did the Raiders get buying low on him? Hard to tell. Moore was good enough to get recruited to Michigan and to play every game as a freshman. He apparently thought he was not quite good enough to come out as a junior. But playing 50+ games at Michigan says you have a high floor, even if it leaves very few secrets or hope for untapped potential.

they've been working him all around the IF this season but no OF. In prior seasons he's collected a total of about 60 games in the OF across all three spots - so not much