The Off Topic Topic

[Josquius]

Just heard from a PR professional on a conference call: "If you have kids, dogs, or other animals ..." (it was not intended as a joke.)

If you have them then what? Keep them off or we insist they're shown?

[Grey Fox]

My car is in the shop, again. 3rd time in a week.

If you live in North America, never buy a car that isn't sold new in the USA.

[Syt]

Just heard from a PR professional on a conference call: "If you have kids, dogs, or other animals ..." (it was not intended as a joke.)

If you have them then what? Keep them off or we insist they're shown?

It was more about that in the moment that it sounded like kids were also animals/pets in her opinion.

[DGuller]

Maybe she meant young goats?

[crazy canuck]

Joan, a bit of an odd decision from the 5th Circuit regarding SEC administrative decisions, finding the accused is entitled to trial by jury.  Do you think this is going to have legs and impact other administrative tribunals?

[Jacob]

Anyone else watch the Starliner test launch?

So far so good

[Sheilbh]

Australian election tomorrow - which looks exciting (high hopes Labor might win). I don't know anywhere near enough about Australian politics. But from here it always looks like a lot like ours just even more raucous, less deferential etc - plus they have the democracy sausage which I love

Also I think in the UK, Australian politics has massively outsized influence (loads of advisors and spin doctors go from here to there and vice versa, plus Murdoch etc). But I think Australia tends to be a little ahead of the curve generally (maybe compulsory voting and the democracy sausage help) - so with Bob Hawke and Paul Keating as the first third way leaders, the rise of Pauline Hanson or the Australian election in 2016 (which I low-key think was the most important vote that year) that was the first climate election I can think of.

And speaking of Pauline Hanson - she's just announced she's got covid, in inimitable style:

[The Larch]

Democracy Sausage?

[Sheilbh]

Democracy Sausage?

Local charities (often the school or village group or whatever that hosts the polling station) sell sausages in bread at polling stations for people before/after they've voted. Australia's calls them democracy sausages

It's something crazy like three quarters of polling stations in Australia either have a grill going or a bake sale - it's a big fundraising day. And people just chill out around the polling station after voting (compulsory and at a weekend) having snacks.

It sounds great.

[Jacob]

Danish News today:

Lots of covereage on the upcoming referendum on whether to drop the Danish EU defence exception.

Also in Denmark's second largest city, the government has (somewhat controversially) made the graduation celebration (a music festival type thing) for elementary school graduates (grade 9, but IIRC the age corresponds to grade 10 in North America) alcohol free. No more shots and beer. This is being criticized, because - say some - it will make it even more exciting and transgressive to sneak beer in. The counter arguments are that frequently several new grads get so drunk they have a shitty time and don't enjoy what should be a positive moment, and that surveys indicate that half of Danish 15 to 25 year-olds prefer alcohol being less central to social life).

[The Minsky Moment]

Joan, a bit of an odd decision from the 5th Circuit regarding SEC administrative decisions, finding the accused is entitled to trial by jury.  Do you think this is going to have legs and impact other administrative tribunals?

It is one step in a series of assaults on government agencies generally.  It's what happens when a political faction is allowed to pack the courts with personnel carefully screened not for judicial competence or suitability but for ideological fidelity to a radical revisionary view of the constitution.  The dissenting judge in that case was not some disgruntled liberal, he is an old-timer, appointed by Reagan, genuinely shocked by the absurd notion that when the SEC seeks to enforce the federal securities laws, it cannot be said to be vindicating a "public right".  There are a lot of interesting things going on here but two that stand out immediately are:

1) The ideological direction of the attack here is on the Progressive led reform of government in the early-mid 20th century and its modern descendants. The mentality here can be seen in the Trumpian "1776" Advisory Commission, whose final report labeled "progressivism" as a threat to American principles akin to slavery, fascism, and communism.  The Progressives were reacting to gross corruption and inefficiency in 19th century American government, fed by the patronage systems that sustained "machine" led government.  The Progressives led efforts to counteract that by establishing a professional civil service and limiting partisan control over personnel.  The Right seeks to destroy those successes because of ideological opposition to government generally; if government is made more corrupt and inefficient, that is a feature because it will make people want less of it.

2) In terms of legal reasoning there are echoes of the bizarre antiquarian fetishism seem in the Alito draft.  If the proposition is put simply whether the SEC enforcement of rules about broker-dealer disclosures, etc. involves "public rights" there really is only one rational answer.  So the counter is to invoke Blackstone (4 times) to argue from the other direction that the English common law permitted actions for fraud, the SEC actions sound in fraud, therefore the SEC enforcement actions are really "Common Law.'  The fact that the entire concept of broker-dealer regulation would have been entirely incomprehensible to Blackstone is deemed irrelevant.

In terms of where this goes - it's the abortion issue all over again.  With five justices apparently well to the right of the mainstream conservative judicial position (Roberts), anything is possible.

[celedhring]

(grade 9, but IIRC the age corresponds to grade 10 in North America) alcohol free.

Isn't that like 16 years old? 

I remember when I could legally drink at that age... they moved it up to 18.

[Zanza]

Westphalia was hit by a tornado today, which is really rare in Germany.

[Josquius]

Wow. Thats insane. I've heard of things that are technically tornados in Europe but that looks legit.

[Zanza]

Some videos: https://imgur.com/a/BVCptCS