MigL

This is the first time Germany has sent offensive weapons to a country at war in more than 85 years. Even though they were implored to do so by their EU and NATO neighbors in previous conflicts such as Kosovo, they still felt the 'shame' of their 12 year ( 33 to 45 ) Nazi past. Russian leaders are calling Ukrainians Nazis, even though the Ukraine is a more democratic society than present Russia. The Russians should learn a thing or two from the Germans, as they have 45 years of cold war oppression of Eastern Europe to be ashamed of.

That, and the fact that time symmetry is the foundation for energy conservation. Time speeding up in the forward direction, and slowing in the backward direction, implies no process is reversible.

From Roe v. Wade - Wikipedia "In January 1973, the Supreme Court issued a 7–2 decision in McCorvey's favor ruling that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides a "right to privacy" that protects a pregnant woman's right to choose whether to have an abortion. But it also ruled that this right is not absolute and must be balanced against governments' interests in protecting women's health and prenatal life.[4][5] The Court resolved this balancing test by tying state regulation of abortion to the three trimesters of pregnancy: during the first trimester, governments could not prohibit abortions at all; during the second trimester, governments could require reasonable health regulations; during the third trimester, abortions could be prohibited entirely so long as the laws contained exceptions for cases when they were necessary to save the life or health of the mother.[5] The Court classified the right to choose to have an abortion as "fundamental", which required courts to evaluate challenged abortion laws under the "strict scrutiny" standard, the highest level of judicial review in the United States" Then the SC modified their interpretation again, in 1992 "The Supreme Court revisited and modified Roe's legal rulings in its 1992 decision Planned Parenthood v. Casey.[9] In Casey, the Court reaffirmed Roe's holding that a woman's right to choose to have an abortion is constitutionally protected, but abandoned Roe's trimester framework in favor of a standard based on fetal viability and overruled the strict scrutiny standard for reviewing abortion restrictions."

I live 15 min away from Niagara Falls which provides electrical power for a lot of the North-East. I would be expecting a large thermonuclear EMP , about 10 000 ft up, to take out the power gri I remember thinking what a moron G W Bush was when he was President, Koti. Then along came D Trump, and made him look like a genius. Now V Putin is making D Trump look like a reasonable man. We'll see if Xi Jinping eventually makes Vlad look good again ...

Of course there were abortions, but there were no laws regulating them ( I may have mis-spoken in my original post ). When laws were introduced, the SC decided they were Constitutional ( or no one ever challenged them in court ). As social mores changed, beginning with the 60s sexual 'revolution', birth control, etc., the SC re-interpreted those laws to limit Government interference in a woman's right to choose. The SC, in effect, chaned the applicability of the existing laws, while the laws ( and Constitution ) did not change. You could make the semantic argument that the SC does not actually 'make' the law, but they can certainly modify its extent and applicability.

Come out of your bunker, and stop being such a pessimist.

It will be interesting to see whether the Russian Command has an equivalent to General Milley, who, in the last crazy days of the D Trump Presidency, took steps to make surenuclear war would not be started during one of Donald's hissy fits, and went as far as contacting Russian and Chinese counterparts to reassure them. Hope those counterparts he contacted in Russia think the same way, and some will choose to walk away from the brink. Maybe we should be urging the Russian military to stage a coup ... I hope the last couple of days has taught you that there are State Presidents who are much much worse than yours, Koti. Stay safe. ( and open your house to some refugees 🙂 )

This shouldn't be that difficult ... Late 1700-1800s, there are no abortion laws, so nothing to decide whether constitutional or not. Early 1970s, there is laws regarding abortion, and in 1973 ( Roe vs Wade ), the SC decided that those laws were unconstitutional in their application ( the amount of Government restriction on a woman right to choose ). The laws were not rewritten, nor was the Constitution, but the SCJs decided the applicability of those laws. That is why most of us prefer liberal leaning SCJ, who change their opinions with changing societal norms, and not SCJ who advocate beating your slaves, or going back to making abortion illegal under any circumstance. The elected representatives who make the laws are responsible to the people that elect them, SCJs, on the other hand, are appointed, yet have a large sway over how laws are interpreted and applied. You didn't use to sound like a snowflake every time you responded to me, Zap. I hope the above was more 'un-dick-like'.

How about reading your own link ... "Medical literature and newspapers in the late 1700s and early 1800s ... Reproductive care including abortion was unregulated in those days." IOW, no laws.

I forgot to mention Chechnya.

As you yourself alluded to, and TheVat explained, the Constitution is a 'fluid' document, that changes with changing societal norms ( except for that pesky 2nd Amendment, which resists change ). SCJ interpret these 'changes' in society and whether laws reflect and comply with those changes. This is, of course, strictly subjective, and the reason why it matters if a SCJ is a Conservative or a Liberal.After all, there was no such thing as abortions when the Constitution was written, so how can they be legal according to the Constitution ( as written ).

V Putin does not want neighboring former Soviet states to be successful, as Ukraine was ( slowly ) on its way to become. It looks bad on his failed government, that the largest country in the world, with all of its natural resources, has an economy equivalent to Spain, and its people are suffering. He has destabilized Kazakhstan, Georgia and Belarus already, a successful, pro-Western Ukranian state on the Russian border might give the Russian people the idea that it is their Government's fault, and it's time for a change.

You guys are full of crap. If SCJ don't interpret/make law, then why all the hand-wringing over whether they are Conservative or Liberal. or, pro-life or pro-choice ? It shouldn't matter if all they do is confirm the constitutionality of laws passed by the Legislative branch of Government.

23 minutes ago INow said "They did it, so we'll do it too." In a little while he'll deny he said it, or it was taken out of context, or it's a real stretch to get there from what he said. Give me a fucking break is right ! Nice come back. When your argument can't be backed up, you argue with rep points ? After having claimed you did not say that, you go and post the exact thing I pointed out you were doing. You seem to act very much like your Republican fellow citizens you hate so much.

Very well. Anyone who thinks that Democrats should employ the same methods as Republicans to acheive their ends. If it wasn't good when they did it, why is it now acceptable ? And if you think that way, then feel free to include yourself in the group I'm talking about. I have previously explained that 'best' is not the word I would use ( in response to CharonY ), I would use 'most suitable'. And if that should also confuse you, there can only be one that is 'most suitable', while there can be numerous 'suitable', and numerous-1 that are 'more suitable'. Am I being condescending again ? Maybe I'm slightly pissed at the way Phi always mischaracterizes me, and I'm unjustly taking it out on you. I may be Canadian, but I'm still only human. I fully understand the difference between applying for a job, and being 'appointed' to a job. But if you eliminate specific groups of people from consideration, the difference matters less and less with every group you eliminate. If J Biden had said "I am taking applications for VP, and the qualifications are that you must be a black woman, former DA in San Fran, first name begins with K, last ends with S, and AMALA HARRI in between." You have made a job application into a job appointment. And I still don't think gender and color are criteria to be considered for an appointment or an application. If anyone does, even if trying to rectify an inequitable current situation, then they are using the same methods as the people who created the inequitable situation. Now go back up to the beginning of this post and check to see if that makes you part of the group I'm talking about ...

If I may ... "In theoretical general relativity, a geon is a nonsingular electromagnetic or gravitational wave which is held together in a confined region by the gravitational attraction of its own field energy. They were first investigated theoretically in 1955 by J. A. Wheeler, who coined the term as a contraction of "gravitational electromagnetic entity" From Geon (physics) - Wikipedia

Then you must not read many of my posts. Or maybe it's your 'George W Bush' mentality, that if I don't agree with everything you say, I must be 'on the other side'. Either with you or against you; If I don't agree with your definition of a liberal, I must be a 'closet' Republican. ( I believe you used the term 'Trumpet', once; very imaginative but wildly inaccurate ) You know what else is a very liberal thing to say ? Not everything is black and white, pay attention to the nuances of an argument, before resorting to 'labelling' and making 'them' the enemy. Maybe if you weren't so politicized yourself, you might realize you and your fellow citizens have more that brings you together, than separates you. But what do I know, I'm Canadian ... While I would mostly agree, I think you would also agree we are not looking for the 'best' of the whole American population, only applicants or those who accept the nomination; and then we pick, not the best ( actually ), but the most suitable. And I would have no problem if J Biden eventually picked a black woman for SCJ; he didn't do very badly with K Harris at all. But to announce who he would pick ahead of time ? I think you would agree, gender and color ( don't wanna say race ) should not be a criterion on any job application. ( isn't that what got you in the mess in the first place ? )

Not complaining about US liberals at all. Complaining about you guys on this Forum who seem to have come to the conclusion that the best course of action, going forward, for your country is 'an eye for an eye' policy, and to try and beat your opponent by being just like them. Maybe the US should be just as ruthless as V Putin in order to beat Russia, and bomb indiscriminately. Maybe we should kill criminals who commit murder. Maybe we should enslave all Southern Americans who are descendants of slave owners. Or maybe the 'higher road' is the better way. And Zap, by definition there can only be one 'best', no matter how you define it. I suggest you read up on set theory.

The 'best' is one of a set, regardless of selection criterea. If you choose to limit selection to a subset of that set, then you may not be getting the 'best' selection. You don't have to be an outsider'' to realize that, combatting the inequality of SC Justice selection, by making color and gender a selection criteria is equivalent to continuing to dig when in the bottom of a hole. Even though Phi seems to forget about all the complaints most people here had about the last Presidency and his 'useful idiots' party, there have been plenty of complaints about 'tits' ( I'm a leg and bum man, myself ) and increasingly about 'tats', as Democrats try to beat Republicans at their own game. Is that what you guys really want for your country ? A descent into a 'cold' civil war ?

The pressure treated wood of my back fence looks like crap after 30 years. And this wooden walkway is over 5800 years old ?

Not impressed by the compass, but that is one sexy sextant.

What if one of the Mods said "Everyone's opinion counts, as long as their name begins with the 1st 25 letters of the alphabet" ??? If you limit the group under consideration, you are by definition, not getting the best overall, just the best of that limited group. I would suggest, as INow has, that J Biden is also playing to his base; and I'd probably be more accurate. ( K Harris turned out to be a solid choice as VP )

Someone should start a thread to try and figure out what Dimreepr considers worth fighting for. Or even worth making an effort. ( certainly not lengthy responses on this forum 😄 )

And here I thought we were all nice, respectable people in Canada ...

OK, I read the link ( although I do know the difference ) The line you quoted is from a posed question. A given answer provides the quote "Now you really shouldn't think of entanglement as exchange of information, because it happens instantaneously and it is impossible to transmit information instantaneously. Again, it is also impossible to transmit information instantaneously by collapsing the superposition."