The New Coffee Room

2D chess is so 2015. We're in a new era now.

@George-K said in Watch the full Bill Maher episode…:

@Horace said in Watch the full Bill Maher episode…:

I hope the same fate does not await Mr Maher.

He probably has bodyguards.

Stay safe, @Horace.

It was a dark chapter in the history of TNCR - but I'm glad I was the victim, if it had to happen to somebody. I wouldn't wish it on anybody else. Except jon. I recall telling the violent stalker that I was the tall white guy in Napa, while jon happened to be there. But other than jon - I wouldn't wish it on anybody else.

Here's 17 minutes' worth, not sure if it contains the good stuff LD is referring to.

The last time I criticized NDT on this forum, I became the target of terrifying death threats, due to the power of my truths. I hope the same fate does not await Mr Maher.

Americanos are second-tier pricing, while brewed coffee is the cheapest thing on the menu. I thought I remembered them costing a dollar some years ago.

On a related note, CA is still not finished counting votes.

@jon-nyc said in The Hegseth "incident.":

The point is obvious and I have made it. Since the story is out, and the police report is out, the NDA no longer serves the purpose of keeping the rape allegations under wrap. Continuing to hold her to the NDA just makes it look like there’s something he’s still hiding.

It's an obviously weak point, and I have responded to it. Run the tape forward after the NDA is lifted. Now this accuser is out there going on all the talk shows, making money for accusing you of rape, with a financial motivation to make it as juicy as possible. None of it will be provable or disprovable. That's your "good idea".

I have always wondered whether fine print user agreements that nobody reads, are legally enforceable. There must be some legal gray area when reading them is so onerous that nobody actually does.

Some people are also fond of variations on the theme of "fucking around and finding out".

Anyway, I hope Trump keeps a lid on it. These things will inevitably escalate, as each side exaggerates the severity of what the other side did to it, and then amps up their own behavior to coincide. Just a macrocosm of what anybody can observe in more microcosmic personal relationships gone bad, between two people who can't de-escalate because they both need to win.

Ezra Klein's wife sighting in Jon Stewart's most recent podcast. I'd never seen or heard her. Quite a lovely woman. And to the credit of the lefties engaged in this discussion, I didn't hear much in the way of insanity.

I thought plain coffee was always pretty cheap at starbucks.

I'd like to read the NYT piece, but paywall. Anyway, Trump is far more normalized now than he was in 2016, and the never-Trumpers, whose primary weapon was always shame and sneering condescension, have indeed lost. As losers do, they are doing so quietly, and privately. The more intellectually honest among them, as well as those who really do want the best for the country, rather than just trying to win a tribal political game, are doing some soul searching, to try to be better.

@jon-nyc said in The Hegseth "incident.":

@Horace said in The Hegseth "incident.":

@jon-nyc said in The Hegseth "incident.":

@Jolly said in The Hegseth "incident.":

@jon-nyc said in The Hegseth "incident.":

The NDA was to squash anything pertaining to the incident, in lieu of future career opportunities.

This doesn’t make sense. If it were Mike Pence, sure. But having sex with a married woman doesn’t show up in his top ten list of reputational hits.

But a rape accusation, even a false one, does.

Now that it’s out anyway, the NDA is purely a liability. Unless he really has something to hide.

That’s a non sequitur. There is value in shutting someone up if they are making unprovable and reputationally damaging accusations against you. That holds whether both parties sincerely believe their version of events, one party is lying, or both parties are lying.

See bolded part above.

You keep reiterating that point, which I've attempted to engage in the other thread. You avoided that engagement, as you've avoided responding to any point I've made here. For the record, you have not provided a scenario in which an innocent Hegseth would be well advised to lift the NDA. The NDA is a good idea regardless of whether either party sincerely believes they are telling the truth. In order to engage with that point, you would have to provide a scenario in which an innocent Hegseth gains some advantage by lifting the NDA.

I suppose a computer science degree from a local state college is still a better investment than a social work degree from Harvard.

@George-K said in The Hegseth "incident.":

Jane Doe and her husband returned home either Sunday evening or Monday morning. That night they had sex, and he wore a condom (?).

Obviously she told him about that encounter, thus the protection till she could get checked out. Then, after some conversation, maybe a little retconning of memory, it became rape. Or maybe he really raped her. Would be an interesting set of verifiable facts if so, but believe all women amirite.

@jon-nyc said in The Hegseth "incident.":

@Jolly said in The Hegseth "incident.":

@jon-nyc said in The Hegseth "incident.":

The NDA was to squash anything pertaining to the incident, in lieu of future career opportunities.

This doesn’t make sense. If it were Mike Pence, sure. But having sex with a married woman doesn’t show up in his top ten list of reputational hits.

But a rape accusation, even a false one, does.

Now that it’s out anyway, the NDA is purely a liability. Unless he really has something to hide.

That’s a non sequitur. There is value in shutting someone up if they are making unprovable and reputationally damaging accusations against you. That holds whether both parties sincerely believe their version of events, one party is lying, or both parties are lying.

I think it’s safe to say that nobody knows the explanation, but it’s definitely tin foil hat territory to try to find out.

@jon-nyc said in The Hegseth "incident.":

The NDA was to squash anything pertaining to the incident, in lieu of future career opportunities.

This doesn’t make sense. If it were Mike Pence, sure. But having sex with a married woman doesn’t show up in his top ten list of reputational hits.

You are stuck in this line of thought and can’t seem to get out. But the NDA is a reasonable thing to purchase to shut someone up, even if their accusations are fabrications. This is not complicated. You claim to be trolling but you’re honestly making this argument that the NDA is indicative of guilt. It’s not. It could exist regardless of guilt.

@jon-nyc said in President-Elect Trump's cabinet:

I don’t he’s innocent. Hence the troll.

So you think he forcibly raped the woman or drugged her and raped her while she was unconscious. You think that fits all the data best. That’s fascinating.

@jon-nyc said in President-Elect Trump's cabinet:

Of course it’s trolling.

How often do you pay people off and get them to sign an NDA when you’ve done nothing wrong?

If you believe it, then answer my question. Describe the advantageous scenario that plays out after he lifts the NDA. Assume he is innocent.

You think there have never been settlements and NDAs offered by innocent accused people?

Sorry I don’t mean to add to the backlog of questions you won’t answer. I will stop there.