Since this conversation has devolved into you claiming that discussing the US Constitution’s strict timeline for the transfer of power from one President to another is, “being pedantic about the date,” I can see that there is no hope for any kind of fruitful exchange.

You were the one using the language “ordinary citizen”. I framed my response using your language, to avoid confusion. Per the Logan Act, Trump was considered an “ordinary citizen” (again, this is your term) prior to January 20th as he did not have any sort of constitutional authority over the executive branch of the…

All Presidential candidates are ordinary citizens, unless they hold a government job (such as President, Senator, et cetera) during their candidacy. Donald Trump, having never been in the public civil, military, or elected service of his nation, was absolutely an ordinary citizen.

I am not sure what you are basing millions of allied forces dying on. There is no study of a war on the Korean peninsula where Korean and US troops would suffer anywhere near millions of deaths. There are not even close to 1 million US and Korean service-members in Korea and Japan.

What you call “reality” amounts to speculation. Most experts believe that North Korea’s actions are designed to preserve their regime (after all, look at what happened to Iraq when they gave up their WMDs and ballistic missiles) and that they are unlikely to provoke a war with South Korea, which they know would lead…

Art is a subjective taste, so there is not really an objectively good or bad piece of art, but there are two ways that the quality of art can be semi-objectively judged.

If they are violating the rules, engaged in unlawful acts, presenting a public health hazard, or otherwise behaving in a manner that is not aligned with the intended use of the library structure, then yes.

Try the SF or LA Main library and some of the branch libraries, even some university libraries on open campuses. There are homeless people looking at porn on the computers and beating off in front of little kids. They are bathing and washing clothes in the sinks and leaving needles in the stacks. Being a librarian…

Libraries are a nice way to download ebooks or magazines, but have you ever stepped foot inside one lately? They’re full of human waste and indigent people bathing in the latrine and passed out in the stacks. There are private libraries that are able to keep out the homeless, but they do cost money.

I think this feature is for opening the door from the inside, but most alarm systems have an occupied mode and an unoccupied mode. If you need to secure your home and business when it is unoccupied, there is usually a delay between tripping the sensors and setting off the alarm, giving you time to disarm it. In…

The chart shows your probability of paying more or less taxes now and in 10 years and shows the average of how much. You can still make deductions, so it takes into account the types of deductions that people actually take and how many people in your income bracket will see their taxes go up or down as a result.

Regarding that though, and forgive my ignorance, if you are protecting your personal assets through incorporation, shouldn’t you be paying both corporate taxes and personal income taxes? I guess I am not understanding how paying income taxes on money that ends up being moved out of the business and into your pocket is…

Speaking to foreign leaders and conspiring with them to undermine current US policy are two very different things. Lying about it to the FBI is just icing. The Logan Act caries a maximum penalty of three years in prison. Obstruction of Justice is five.

Actually, it is. The Logan Act makes it unlawful for any citizen of the US, without the consent of the US government, to speak to any foreign official in relation to any dispute or issue of controversy. By negotiating with Russian officials with regards to sanctions without authorization from the Obama administration,…

There are a few problems with this obstruction of justice theory.

You are absolutely wrong. Almost every crime involves intent. Men rea, or guilty mind, has to be proved beyond all reasonable doubt. Here is an abridged version the jury instructions for involuntary manslaughter in California:

If they were sufficiently negligent, then yes, in many cases, they probably should be. That is exactly what involuntary manslaughter is. A reasonable person, sound in mind and judgement, is likely to believe that their actions have a high probability of leading to life-threatening injury.

Initially I was confused by it, but it makes sense when you think about it. He picked up the gun unknowingly. It went off. None of that necessarily requires him to have knowing possession of a firearm. However, after it went off, he should have known it was a gun, yet he picked it up and threw it into the San…

My suspicion is that the jury reasoned that he had to knowingly possess the handgun to dispose of it. Even if it went off accidentally, he still picked it up afterwards to throw it into the bay.

Fun fact: shooting and killing a stranger on the street is not a sufficient condition for a crime to have occurred and accused criminals are assumed innocent until proved guilty beyond all reasonable doubt. If you accidentally shot someone without negligence, then you are not guilty of a crime. The jury’s verdict…