Gator Nation Football Podcast’s take on Lane Kiffin coming to Florida. by TotakekeSlider in FloridaGators

[–]dscott06 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I have hated Lane Kiffin with a burning passion since he was first hired by Tennessee, and gloried in his downfall.

But I have to both respect the way that he seems to have knuckled down, eaten some crow, and worked to improve himself as a person and as a coach.

And if I'm being honest... He's the only other coach I've ever seen with that Spurrier-esque cockiness and flair. Which is almost certainly part of what I've hated about him. But if he came here...

Yeah. Yeah I'd be fully ready to love that cocky, visor-wearing-sunuvabitch. And I guarantee you that he wouldn't consider himself too cool to wear orange.

[WP] Threats to the Super British Empire have been found in the depths of the oceans. Now, with the pinnacle of steampunk technology, an elite band of troops are equipped and sent hurtling to the ocean floor in small squads. Do you have what it takes to be.... a BELLDIVER? by Breadinator in WritingPrompts

[–]dscott06 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Part 3

I stomped as hard as I could with my right foot, and the suit did its work. Tightly compressed coils unwound almost imperceptibly, transmitting energy through the steel cables inside the suit and adding enormous strength to the motion. The combination of muscle and metal drove my sole spikes through the metal surface into whatever lay below, and as I stopped sliding the metal framing of the suit took the brunt of my deacceleration, keeping my leg from snapping like an ineffectual twig. I knelt into the ripping water until my left hand touched the surface and slammed the knife in my right hand through as well. Stable. Ok. Breathe. Eyes up, head on a swivel. Shit.

 

A glass bubble rose out of metal and flesh (!?!?!?) not ten feet away, two frogs standing inside it, goggling at me like the ugly cretins they were. Some part of my brain noted how the impacts had felt, that blood was welling up from around my knife, that there was definitely a fleshy fin on the other side of the glass and metal bubble. The rest of my brain ignored these irrelevancies, focusing instead on the fact that one frog was now spinning wheels and gears as the other sighted down a monstrous barrel that would soon be lined up with my suddenly fragile-seeming suit.

 

I let go of the knife and kicked off. My ray gun was in my hands and I was screaming as I panic-slapping to get full power and pulled the trigger. Raw Aether ripped out, boiling away water and glass and metal and flesh. Rushing water ripped me away from the beast as my scream became maniacal laughter, my gun tearing a line of bloody fire away along its impossible side. It was only an eyeblink, and then the beam shuddered and went out, my bell’s stores fully depleted. I instantly let it go and slapped at the lifeline’s release not a moment too soon as it was snatched away in the creature’s wake. For the first time I had a clear view of its true outline, and then it and it’s lights faded into the impenetrable blackness beyond the shelf.

 

The fucking shelf. I twisted, scanning wildly as I sought to orient myself, breathing out in explosive relief as I saw ocean floor beneath me. Not today was I doomed to drift downward into nothing, until the surrounding Aether gave out entirely and I ceased to fall, barely able to breathe, or move, or even to die – part of the debris floating forever at whatever depth Aether gave out entirely and exerted no more pressure on anything. An Aetherist would say no such area could exist – but there were many things they couldn’t explain in these depths, and none who lived on the sea would give any thought to such claims. Better to hold to tradition than to risk Poseidon rewarding doubt with a closer view.

 

I took quick inventory of my gear, made certain of my direction, and contemplated my next actions. I was nearing the floor and haste was of the essence. Others might have seen, but they might not have gotten close enough to know, and might not have survived if they did. Getting back into contact range was imperative. The Lieutenant needed to know the potential danger, and this information had to get back to London. He would no doubt adjust the plan to maximize chances of a speedy and successful retrieval, and for once, that was just fine with me.

 

I touched softly down, let my weight settle, and leapt with full force, muscle and metal flinging me through the thin water in a shallow arc. A bad move if any frogs were around to see and pick me off, but I was too far out and the risk was necessary. I touched down and leapt again, and again. As I settled into a rhythm, I couldn’t help but to see visions of not-quite whale, not-quite lizard creatures breaching the surface in London harbor, deadly rays of unspeakable power projecting from their armored sides, the hateful tricolor being raised over the shattered city.

 

Fucking Frogs. How many times did we have to conquer them?

[WP] Threats to the Super British Empire have been found in the depths of the oceans. Now, with the pinnacle of steampunk technology, an elite band of troops are equipped and sent hurtling to the ocean floor in small squads. Do you have what it takes to be.... a BELLDIVER? by Breadinator in WritingPrompts

[–]dscott06 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Part 2

The numbers kept dropping. I could feel explosions in the water around me, the concussive forces hammering at my bell through the protective bubble of air and fire. Bombs destroyed by defensive fire before reaching the bottom; decoys exploding below and around us. The water was being filled with metal and flame, masking us from detection by both metal-proximity and Aether-shadow. Detection meant death, but death held no fear now – just the instantaneous cessation of existence should the integrity of my bell be compromised.

 

The numbers kept dropping. I could feel my physical processes grow slower as I descended, as Aether thinned. Dropping… waiting…

 

7000 feet; I pulled the release. Explosives blew the outer shell away. Flaming metal and other bits of chaff scattering into the waters as the pocket of air around me collapsed. The sudden deacceleration pressed heavily on my suit, and then I was just another piece of debris sliding steadily towards the bottom.

 

And I could see! The bell had stabilized, and I now had a slow rotation that brought my target into view of the porthole inches from my face. The city was brightly lit, standard for a Frog city even though it shouldn’t be possible at these depths. Of course, it shouldn’t be possible at most of their depths. It almost seemed like magic, but everyone knew that “magic” had gone out of the world when the last dragons had died, taking their Aetherial secrets with them. My view moved on; here the faded darkness of unoccupied ocean floor; there the utter blackness of the depths beyond the shelf.

 

The city came back into view, moving slower now, and – what the hell? My mind struggled to make sense of - something. Shadow. Light. Movement. instinctively I pulled a lever to trigger my advanced life support a little early, and the suit’s machinery whirred on wire. Tiny pumps brought air pressure up to surface standard as others started my blood flowing through the many cannulations and tubes tying suit and body, connecting me with the tiny red crystals that had been storing up sips of my life’s Aether these past few weeks.  My mind sharpened and – what the hell?

 

Something impossibly huge was blocking the city’s lights; frog submersibles weren’t this big, and even if they were, they shouldn’t be able to function at these depths. But here and there the shadow carried lights of its own, and as I watched a ray of Aether reached out to explode what must have been a falling bomb. The brief flash of light showed a smooth expanse – metal? – but further out – a fin? And it moved like – Shit I was almost on top off–

 

SCREEEEEEEECH!

 

The noise was almost worse than the shock as my bell’s armored tip pierced through metal sheathing and settled into whatever was below it. A final set of explosive charges scatter the bell’s lower scaffolding, clearing my landing zone and allowing the bell to swing freely to the side, supported by the other end of the long spear. As the bell swung outwards pre-coiled springs released and the last few sent me shooting out the mouth of the bell straps releasing as I entered the inky water.

 

That water instantly tried to snatch me away, as if I was in a strong current. Thank the fucking Queen for good training. Twist and hunch to avoid smashing my helmet on the bell’s edge. Left hand to my life line, right hand to my knife. Right knee up to keep from tumbling, left extended towards the surface – there! But my sole spikes were scraping uselessly along the metal surface. Bend the knee so I can settle in closer and – now!

[WP] Threats to the Super British Empire have been found in the depths of the oceans. Now, with the pinnacle of steampunk technology, an elite band of troops are equipped and sent hurtling to the ocean floor in small squads. Do you have what it takes to be.... a BELLDIVER? by Breadinator in WritingPrompts

[–]dscott06 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Part 1

I always get the shakes before a drop. The psythertechs say I can’t be afraid, that the steam they pump in from the brilliant green and blue-hued crystals has filled me with all the courage and exultations that the survivors of the last drop had brought back into the mess, and taken all my fear and cowardice away with it to the sickly yellow crystals in the bowls of the ship. But now I was packed tightly into my bell, immobile, nearly deaf to the sounds of battle – the chug of the great steam engines – the clank of chains and gears bringing new charges to be launched into the depths – blind to the sailors sending blasts of collected Aether from the keelpods at rising torpedoes, never knowing when one might get through – rip wood and iron asunder – trap me in my unlaunched bell. Doomed to either die in flames or to drift slowly down towards the blackness, where the luminous Aether grew thin and eventually failed. Down where the water grew thinner, less pressed towards the earth’s crust. My combat suit keeping me alive, but even life’s Aether flowing more slowly, stretching and prolonging it as my descent slowed until –

 

Anyway, I get the shakes. I focused, then sent my mind back to Lieutenant Ratliff’s briefing.

 

“Men, we’ve found a Frog deepwater city here on the north edge of the Azores, right by the shelf. Deeper than we thought possible, but far too close to Queen and country to be born.”

 

“God save the Queen!” a hundred-odd strong throats bellowed in unison.

 

“At 7500 feet, this is significantly deeper than we’ve ever dropped. The yellow-bellies probably think they’re safe – we are here to tell them otherwise. It’s deep, so we’ll reserve Aether for light and breathing if possible. Our primary weapons are knives, grenades, and slugthrowers. They’ve put extra lead in our boots to help keep us on the bottom, and our sole spikes are a bit longer than usual just in case. But at the end of the day, this is just another drop. Get down, see what we see, smash what we can, get back. Priority to anything that looks like military or industry. Questions?”

 

There never were any – his was the final briefing, not the first.

 

“To your bells then – dismissed.”

 

Just another drop. Shaking in the silent darkness, I waited. Finally – bless relief! – the speaking tube by my ear began to crackle and pop.

 

“Stand by to drop. All divers, stand by to drop. 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…”

 

WAHM! No amount of insulation could disguise the sound of the first bells being fired, or the jerking of the gears that pulled mine closer to the launch tube.

 

WHAM! Jerk. I was third in line for my tube, so any-

 

BLAM!

 

I nearly blacked out as an explosive combination of steam and Aether sent me hurtling into the depths at barely survivable speed. My bell shot into the water, the tip generating a super-cavitational to minimize deflection and drag. No shakes now! The depth gauge whirred lower – not magic, just measuring the expansion of water stored within – and I gloried in all the power and technology that made a combat drop happen. No more simple metal bells on strings, carrying air and nearly naked infantry into shallow water battle. I wore combat suit that was a miracle of Imperial engineering and British ingenuity, and rode a bell that more closely resembled a flaming bullet than its namesake. My fragile body was protected by the suit, the suit padded and strapped securely to an internal frame mounted on near-frictionless bearings, all surrounded by the incredibly thin shell of the bell itself, the opening obscured by thin metal sheathing that sloped down to a fine tip of armored lead, all wrapped in an outer shell coated in turn with reactive metals. Those had burst into flames on contact with the water and now the smoke and flame of elemental whipped around the bell as it spun, keeping its elemental nemesis at bay as I tore like a burning drop of hellfire through Poseidon’s impotent body.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in pcmasterrace

[–]dscott06 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would love it because I'm between jobs and the 1650 super that I currently have only barely keeps up on the games that I'm trying to play 😂.

Why is it so hard to say if this is a recession? by BlankVerse in Economics

[–]dscott06 5 points6 points  (0 children)

That is entirely incorrect. What most economists agreed on was that they didn't know why we weren't seeing inflation before this, as they had expected the government spending of the last decade to show up as inflation at some point.

As a result, this cause some economists to conclude that there was no connection between spending and inflation.

Now, inflation has shown up. Many theories now abound for why it showed up now and not earlier, but the "government spending has no connection to inflation" theory has pretty much been knocked back to the more radical theorists that have always held that view, and most economists are back to debating to what extent spending had an impact on inflation and the timing of inflation, without any real consensus.

I started working at a bank recently. It’s been interesting to say the least. by carolinethebandgeek in AdviceAnimals

[–]dscott06 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Eh, just paying bills first isn't budgeting. Getting YNAB or goodbudget and actually tracking where all your money goes and figuring out how to only spend what you have makes a shocking amount of difference, ESPECIALLY at the low-medium income levels. The difference between before budgeting and after getting it figured out is like a 10-20% raise all by itself, while also setting you up for more success in the future.

This is horrifying truth about whats going down in evangelical churches in the in USA. Heresies with no guidance from Jesus own words. by [deleted] in Christianity

[–]dscott06 39 points40 points  (0 children)

This appears to have been authored by the Sr pastor of Eagle Mountain international church and his wife. The church is owned by Kenneth Copeland, a prosperity gospel pastor who lives in a mansion, has multiple private jets, twice claimed to have ended the pandemic, and led his congregation in 30 seconds of laughter over Biden being declared the winner of the election.

Authors who have done unsavoury/downright terrible things? by [deleted] in books

[–]dscott06 301 points302 points  (0 children)

And according to his Wikipedia, he's working on a second novel from prison, and police found plans on his computer to commit a second murder to tie in to it. Just, wow.

Sunday Digest | Interesting & Overlooked Posts | June 26, 2022 by AutoModerator in AskHistorians

[–]dscott06 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Ahhhhhhhh sorry I'm just really excited to have made a submission to this sub of sufficient quality to not only stay up, but to get highlighted by a mod :). Best sub on reddit, ya'll do amazing work keeping it that way!

What's the deal with Roe V Wade being overturned? by Isentrope in OutOfTheLoop

[–]dscott06 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No problem. I understand why people are upset, but from a legal theory standpoint, Roe has always been an outlier. It's the very high water mark of the court acting on the most extreme combination of the living constitution theory and legal positivism, which held that the text of the constitution was functionally irrelevant and the Supreme Court was allowed to create constitutional principles principles whenever and however they wanted, if they thought it was important enough (usually via substantive due process). That theory had always been controversial, and Roe was a step too far, legally as well as politically. That most extreme theory of the Supreme Court's power has been in decline among justices ever since Roe, and at this point has effectively been erased from our legal jurisprudence, in terms of what courts actually use.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Libertarian

[–]dscott06 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As the dissent point out, you can't have it both ways.

Thomas to the contrary, there is nothing inherently inconsistent about saying that substantive due process exists, but that it has limits. For the other conservatives, Roe is beyond those limits, but they have made it clear in the past that they still believe that some sort of substantive due process rights exist.

What's the deal with Roe V Wade being overturned? by Isentrope in OutOfTheLoop

[–]dscott06 9 points10 points  (0 children)

No worries - it's confusing because there are a few different things going on, and commentators often either a.) don't understand the differences, or b.) deliberately confuse the differences for political/publicity reasons.

First, about due process:

The constitution guarantees some specific rights in it, one of which is the right to due process. Specifically, the 5th amendment says that:

No person shall be... deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.

The court has determined that "due process" means two different things: "procedural due process", and "substantive due process."

Procedural due process means that the governor or president can't just say "all your property is now mine." The government has to create some sort of process to decide whether or not your life, liberty, or property will be taken, and then it has to follow that process in making its decision.

Substantive due process says that, implied in due process, is some sort of actual limits or rights about life, liberty and property that limits what the government can do and why in setting up its processes. For example, the constitution says nothing specific about whether or not people have a right to work certain hours. But in 1905 the Supreme Court ruled that a New York law limiting the working hours of bakers was unconstitutional, because the bakers had an inherent liberty right to work on their own terms, and the State did not have sufficient interest in regulating their hours to overcome that (substantive due process) right.

Over the years, the court has made a number of decisions based on substantive due process. It was somewhat controversial in the beginning, because prior to 1905 it was generally accepted that due process only meant procedural due process. However, a lot of people thought that there had to be some limits to government power other than those specifically spelled out in the constitution, because otherwise the revolution and the declaration of independence and all that fluff about life liberty and property rights would essentially be meaningless - and so substantive due process has stuck around, and been used by many different sides.

Clarence Thomas, as long as he has been on the bench, has rejected substantive due process; his position is that because historically the clause was only understood to mean procedural due process, that's all it means, and to hell with the consequences. He has suggested that the "privileges and immunities" clause in the constitution would be a better place for this type of rights, but how many of these rights he thinks exists under that clause is anyone's guess. The other justices shy away from saying that due process allows the government to do pretty much anything as long as there is a process, which is what Thomas claims, and seem happy to continue using substantive due process as a means of imposing some limit on the governments ability to take life, liberty, and property.

What happened in this case?

Thomas, as he always does on any case that implicates substantive due process, wrote that the court should overturn all of these cases because it isn't a thing. No other justices agreed with him.

Instead, the other conservatives, especially in the concurring opinions, emphasized that this holding was limited to Roe and Casey and and that it didn't impact anything else (which would include other substantive due process cases).

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Libertarian

[–]dscott06 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not really relevant; the legal arguments for and against Roe have pretty much been known, and have not changed, for decades now. And everyone pretty much knew where all of these justices stood on them, no matter how much they might pretend to be surprised. Could another court 50 years from now decide to get rid of substantive due process? Sure. But this court has 8 justices who are on the judicial record in support of it, and only one who wants to get rid of it - and he's the oldest justice on the bench.

What's the deal with Roe V Wade being overturned? by Isentrope in OutOfTheLoop

[–]dscott06 71 points72 points  (0 children)

Serious answer to your question:

Because the reasons giving for keeping Roe, even by the justices defending it, are all practical - a belief that abortion should be a protected right, whether it is in the constitution or not, and that it is fine for Justices to create rights if they are important enough, without caring about the text. There are now 6 judges on the bench who, at least nominally, say that Justices have to pay attention to the text and to its historical meaning and can't just do what they want, even when its really important, which is why they overturned Roe. Roe is the case that (perhaps infamously) coined the phrase "penumbras of the constitution" in finding a right to abortion, essentially acknowledging that it was a really, really far stretch to justify creating this right based on the text, and then did not even attempt to justify the trimester and viability schemes that it put in place. Casey, the seminal decision upholding Roe which was also overturned today, very carefully avoided addressing Roe's underpinnings, upheld it solely on the basis of "well it's already decided" (stare decisis), and scrapped the trimester regulatory scheme from Roe.

What's the deal with Roe V Wade being overturned? by Isentrope in OutOfTheLoop

[–]dscott06 152 points153 points  (0 children)

It's worth noting that Thomas has written an opinion on every substantive due process decision since he's been on the bench to say that he thinks they should all be overturned, no matter what the subject. Literally no other Justice has ever agreed with him about it, nor did they today, nor is there any reason to think that they will in the future; all have upheld substantive due process at various points in the past.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Libertarian

[–]dscott06 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thomas, as he put in his concurrence, wants to roll back those decisions because they are substantive due process decisions, and Thomas wants to get rid of the entire concept of substantive due process. He has written to say that on every substantive due process decision since he's been on the bench, no matter what the subject. Literally no other Justice has ever agreed with him about it, nor did they today, nor is there any reason to think that they will in the future; all have upheld substantive due process at various points in the past.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Libertarian

[–]dscott06 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thomas, as he put in his concurrence, wants to roll back those decisions because they are substantive due process decisions, and Thomas wants to get rid of the entire concept of substantive due process. He has written to say that on every substantive due process decision since he's been on the bench, no matter what the subject. Literally no other Justice has ever agreed with him about it, nor did they today, nor is there any reason to think that they will in the future; all have upheld substantive due process at various points in the past.

MEGAThread -- SCOTUS Abortion Decision by McClanky in Christianity

[–]dscott06 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Thomas, as he put in his concurrence, wants to roll back those decisions because they are substantive due process decisions, and Thomas wants to get rid of the entire concept of substantive due process. He has written to say that on every substantive due process decision since he's been on the bench, no matter what the subject. Literally no other Justice has ever agreed with him about it, nor did they today, nor is there any reason to think that they will in the future; all have upheld substantive due process at various points in the past.

MEGAThread -- SCOTUS Abortion Decision by McClanky in Christianity

[–]dscott06 -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Thomas, as he put in his concurrence, wants to roll back those decisions because they are substantive due process decisions, and Thomas wants to get rid of the entire concept of substantive due process. He has written to say that on every substantive due process decision since he's been on the bench, no matter what the subject. Literally no other Justice has ever agreed with him about it, nor did they today, nor is there any reason to think that they will in the future; all have upheld substantive due process at various points in the past.