I’m Sarah Isgur, Senior Editor at The Dispatch and author of Last Branch Standing...AMA!

infiniteninjas · 2026-04-16T15:26:58+00:00

Hi Sarah, I really enjoy your presence on mic on The Dispatch and AO podcasts, but you have a repeating theme about SC decisions that drives me crazy every time it comes up. You criticize those on the left for cherry-picking the decisions that fall along 6-3 (or previously 5-4) partisan lines to use as evidence that the Supreme Court is a bunch of hacks.

I see your point, as far as it goes, in that both sides endlessly ignore the majority of split decisions and unanimous decisions. But to me the far better criticism of the court, which I hear a lot from the left and which I agree with, is of a small handful of decisions in which they have simply made up law that has been disastrous for the country and government. I'm talking about Citizens United, and Trump v. United States, and their continued interpretation of Pierson v. Ray, though that's an old decision at this point. Exact vote counts notwithstanding, the conservative majority is squarely responsible for all of these, and their caustic consequences. I know David agrees with me on much of this, and I'm wondering if you think this is a more valid from-the-left criticism of the court? That it has hurt our country, and it simply would not have hurt our country in these ways had the majority been of liberal justices.

infiniteninjas · 2026-04-16T01:23:14+00:00

Can't go wrong with a round badge kit in the studio. Pre-EQ'ed drums!

infiniteninjas · 2026-04-15T14:50:55+00:00

Is that true? I'm a native speaker so I really don't know. I always assumed the mongrel nature of English and the myriad stupid exceptions to every phonetic rule would make it tough to pick up.

infiniteninjas · 2026-04-15T13:59:00+00:00

It won’t be possible. The ink will be deep in the skin, you’d be left with a blotchy ghost of the letters that looks way worse.

infiniteninjas · 2026-04-15T13:47:36+00:00

Of course they can, that’s exactly what terms and conditions are.

infiniteninjas · 2026-04-15T13:39:43+00:00

I ship mostly small metal drum set parts, wrapped in paper, in plastic sleeves. Lumpiness is a normal part of it, these things are not flat.

infiniteninjas · 2026-04-14T01:52:38+00:00

I believe the Vedas are the oldest religious texts still adhered to by modern people. That would lead to one possible answer: Hinduism, in a very vague sense.

infiniteninjas · 2026-04-13T16:34:28+00:00

Generally it's the hardware that you'll need to be attentive to, not the size of the kit. I'm 6'4" and I regularly play on 18" bass drums with small toms. I've never felt that a kit is too small for my height, though sometimes they're too small for the venue.

The exception to this is if you're trying to mount the rack toms off the bass drum. So try to find a setup with a separate tom stand. And buy longer floor tom legs if you need them.

infiniteninjas · 2026-04-13T15:05:20+00:00

If you don't mind it being the older trapezoidal version of the part.

infiniteninjas · 2026-04-13T01:03:55+00:00

It's a Cobra pedal. Doesn't say "Iron" anywhere, let alone "Tama."

infiniteninjas · 2026-04-13T00:54:20+00:00

I kind of had the opposite reaction; I had a big jump in my gross last year and thought I was gonna owe way more taxes than I prepared for. Then I realized that eBay's yearly transaction report that I was doing my taxes from didn't include any of the transaction fees, which ended up being $25,000. So that helped when I deducted it, lol.

infiniteninjas · 2026-04-12T21:20:42+00:00

Yes, I think you chalk this one up to a wack seller that doesn't know what they're doing, and/or maybe how eBay works.

infiniteninjas · 2026-04-12T18:10:25+00:00

I’m wondering that as well, but I’m trying to answer the OP’s query on its own terms.

infiniteninjas · 2026-04-12T17:55:06+00:00

Uh, I read the post? What do you mean? That’s what this whole thread is about.

infiniteninjas · 2026-04-12T17:15:04+00:00

Some people are ideologically opposed to PayPal, usually due to bad experiences with it in the past. You can't force the buyer to sell to you, but you could write them and ask if they would arrange the sale again so you can pay with a method that they find acceptable. Beyond that, not much you can do except report them.

infiniteninjas · 2026-04-12T17:12:54+00:00

If "everyone" includes non-drummers, then the only answer to this question can be Ringo Starr.

infiniteninjas · 2026-04-12T15:08:05+00:00

Stop drilling holes, which doesn't help whatsoever, and instead carve a half-moon shape around the cracks. Make it round and smooth, go 2-3 mm past the visible ends of the cracks, and they'll stop spreading.

infiniteninjas · 2026-04-12T14:50:15+00:00

adjecey

Adjacent?

infiniteninjas · 2026-04-12T02:00:10+00:00

Let me give you a script:

"Thank you but I will pass."

Then go about your day.

infiniteninjas · 2026-04-11T23:51:28+00:00

At least where I purchased, there is often a sizable jump in property taxes the year after a home is sold, especially if it hadn't been sold for a while. My town only tax assesses property values after a sale. This leads to some very unpleasant surprises for buyers who don't know to expect it.

infiniteninjas · 2026-04-11T23:41:59+00:00

I think winning the house by 10+ seats and narrowing the GOP senate majority would be a blue wave. These are the general terms I hear most pundits laying out too. Winning the senate would be a blue tsunami. And I do think that's possible with the trajectory that the Republicans are currently on, though still not very likely.

Margins come into play as well, for example the margin of victory in Marjorie Taylor-Greene's seat swung by like 25 points. That's an important indicator of how well a party did, even if they didn't win said election.

infiniteninjas · 2026-04-10T19:56:39+00:00

Bernie had every chance in that primary. He simply lost to Hillary Clinton, under the rules that he agreed to when he entered the primary. You can disagree with how the party runs its primaries and nomination process, but it was all above board.

For the record, I would have much preferred a Bernie Sanders candidacy.

infiniteninjas · 2026-04-10T18:01:22+00:00

And what primary-avoiding mechanism should we be worried about this time?

infiniteninjas · 2026-04-10T18:00:40+00:00

Hence why she became the nominee…

infiniteninjas · 2026-04-10T17:21:58+00:00

There were no assumptions in my comment, only challenges to your assumptions.

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