Gorth

That video... my first response was a burst of laugh. But then realization sets in that this, is actually real, people like that exists and felt more like crying for humanity.

Finished episode 7 of Mieruko-chan (looks like there is a dash in the title)... this is frustrating I wish I had paid attention to the fact that the series isn't finished yet. Now I have to wait for next episode Loving it so far. A series with humor, horror, big mystery and big boobs (that's her friend Hana), what's not to love? Sometimes you laugh, sometimes you actually feel like wanting to reach out and give Miko a hug and reassure her that everything will be fine some day.

Dang it... too good to be true Two episodes in and I'm quite enjoying it though. No idea about what is really going on, other than Miko can see monsters and ghosts that nobody else can see. And it (understandably) unnerves her, even if she tries to act normal and pretend she doesn't see them

I didn't check, but if your claim is that, there are no peaceful "BLM", did you ever try to find an example of a peaceful demonstration. What does it take to be labeled a BLM protest anyway, the people participating or the cause they are championing, i.e. something needs to be done about systemic racism? Did Martin Luther King's demonstrations qualify as BLM riots in your view? Should he and his followers have been thrown behind bars right away. He would make a nice companion prison mate to Mandela I would think. Did the protesters intend violence? You seem to take that as a hard fact without questioning it, they they can't demonstrate against a century of oppression and police brutality without getting violent. Did other groups join the demonstrations despite regardless of what purpose they have, because they had their own agendas? Including political agendas and simple "smash window, grab all the iPhones" agendas because the demonstration provides cover for their actions? If you want, I can show other demonstrations, which got "infiltrated" by outside interests (Hong Kong springs to mind). Not that that's the case every time by any means, but you seem to have closed your mind completely to the idea that black people can demonstrate peacefully even if they aren't co-opted by other groups (who have no interest in things remaining peaceful).

You have some very strange ideas about Europe sometimes... and no, not even going to share pictures from The Troubles or the war in Bosnia as that was riots that turned into full scale wars. Just recent stuff across Europe from the last few decades... and that is post the 70's riots against war in Vietnam etc. I think you exaggerate the peacefulness of European protests. Did I mention when the Danes rose up in riots against the government when they announced a second Maastricht Treaty referendum? 10 people got shot by police in the street fights in Copenhagen in the 1990's, as they lost control of the situation.

I caved in and resorted to Amazon Prime... $2.99 per episode (HD version), but what the heck, it's only 7 episodes. Not going to break the bank. Started watching something called Mieruko chan. Very interesting. Very bizarre. Funny and scary. Not quite sure what to think of the characters (or overall story arc) yet. Only watched episode 1 so far. Once done with Mieruko chan, I managed to get my hands on something called 'Those who hunt elves'. Haven't watched it yet, but it looks like completely unapologetic fun, not to be analyzed or thought about too seriously.

I think you're the one with the funny logic here... if somebody comes at me and waves a gun at me, I would feel threatened. Both of the guys murdered by Rittenhouse were trying to take the gun out of his hands, because they themselves were unarmed when he pointed it at them. Edit: Try to convince me that traveling to another state with a gun to a conflict situation spoiling for a fight, is not done with intent to kill.

You don't need to remain a member of the government to be relevant in politics. Trump isn't president anymore. I dare you to call him irrelevant in US politics.

Well, failure and failure... depends on perspective. One of the largest delegations was the oil and coal industry. I think they might consider it quite successful. The more the world burns, floods experiences droughts and gets swooped away by tornadoes and floods, the better the year for the shareholders. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-59199484

Started mentally preparing myself for having a guest staying at my place for a while... from mid December to sometime mid January. No stranger, on the contrary, a very close friend. But two years of lock downs, border closures, separation means we've only met virtually on face time and phone the last almost two years. Very much looking forward to it

I call marketing BS at work... shame on you Heinz. Mars: The country side around Adelaide (South Australia) They could just as well have called it Aussie Ketchup. But that sounds less impressive I guess... Edit: I lived 5 years in Adelaide, hence why the comparison to Mars sprang to mind right away.

One of the benefits of living in QLD. No daylight savings. Rest of Australia, take note!

On this day in 1918, a war ended. A war that was all about patriotism and how great your local nation state is. Keep this in mind if you ever cheer on somebody banging the patriot drums, trying to summon support for a dubious agenda. The promises of patriotism... The lure of patriotism... The dawning reality of patriotism... The reality of patriotism (warning, reality is not pretty, in fact, it's brutal, gruesome and visually disturbing)

The 80's were an interesting time period to be alive. It was more than just great music, weird and flashy fashion trends and outrageous hair styles. It was also the time of the cold war and constant nagging feeling in the back of your head that today may be the last day earth exists. Each and every day. Quite literally. https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p07y7021/the-night-the-world-almost-almost-ended Impending, instant doom is not so much an issue today. More like a crawl towards extinction because of perfectly avoidable reasons. Thank you lieutenant colonel Stanislav Petrov for giving everybody a few more years to live and make new mistakes.

It's about a young man who normally hangs out with his alt right friends and local white supremacy militia men, who decided that somebody in another state, far away was doing something wrong. So, of course he had to bring his semi automatic rifle, because you know, that protects buildings against graffiti and helps little old ladies cross the road or something. Alternatively, he brought it with the intent to kill people and impress his local militia friends by being a tough guy standing up for "American" values, killing people who are unhappy with the police killing a disproportionate number of unarmed black people. They have to be communists after all. That's what Trump says. So killing them is fair game. Now he's sobbing in court, probably feeling butt hurt and absolutely flabbergasted that he would be charged. After all, the only thing he did was kill un-American dross.

Trouble brewing at the Polish/Belorussian border... https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-59237413 Short version of the whole story, Lukashenko who managed (with the help of the military) to hang on to power after he most likely lost the previous election, decided it is payback time against Europe for the sanctions imposed on him. Inviting thousand of immigrants from Asia and Africa to come to Minsk with promises of easy access and guaranteed asylum in Germany and other EU countries. All a ruse of course. Once they got close to the border with Poland, Belorussian military seized all communication devices and forced them at gunpoint towards the border. This is not just any border, but the closest you come to a wasteland in this part of the world. No habitation, nothing to live off, no shelter, nada, nothing, nix, null, njet. Now they have a choice between freezing to death, starve to death, get shot by Belorussian soldiers... or try to force their way into Poland. Well, Poland will have none of it, thousands of illegal immigrants suddenly showing up at their border and (obviously) said "You shall not pass!". Putin... most likely the mastermind behind it (let's face it, Lukashenko is too stupid to think up something like that himself), came up with the brilliant suggestion: You can just pay Belarus! After all, nobody had any qualms about paying Turkey a lot of money for keeping the migrants on their side of the border. Why not pay Belarus in the same way? I.e. it's all about blackmail.

Honest government ads at it again... (for those who can't stomach Greta Thunberg, she's just a cameo at the end)

Speaking of old stuff, I remember as a kid/young man watching a cartoon on German public tv. This was before satellite was a thing. I *think* it was called Macross. This was many decades ago and I remember very little of it. Something Sci-fi like with a giant spaceship

After all that cheerfulness, now for something more depressing... https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-59199484 There are more delegates at COP26 associated with the fossil fuel industry than from any single country, analysis shared with the BBC shows. "Their influence is one of the biggest reasons why 25 years of UN climate talks have not led to real cuts in global emissions." ... Overall, they identified 503 people employed by or associated with these interests at the summit. They also found that: Fossil fuel lobbyists are members of two country delegations, Canada and Russia The fossil fuel lobby at COP is larger than the combined total of the eight delegations from the countries worst affected by climate change in the past 20 years More than 100 fossil fuel companies are represented at COP, with 30 trade associations and membership organisations also present Fossil fuel lobbyists dwarf the UNFCCC's official indigenous constituency by about two to one One of the biggest groups they identified was the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA) with 103 delegates in attendance, including three people from the oil and gas company BP. According to Global Witness, IETA is backed by many major oil companies who promote offsetting and carbon trading as a way of allowing them to continue extracting oil and gas. "This is an association that has an enormous number of fossil fuel company as its members. Its agenda is driven by fossil fuel companies and serves the interests of fossil fuel companies," Mr Worthy said. "What we seeing is the putting forward of false solutions that appear to be climate action but actually preserve the status quo, and prevent us from taking the clear, simple actions to keep fossil fuels in the ground that we know are the real solutions to climate crisis." Well, not really *my* future (I'm too old, I'll be dead and gone before Earth Hell freezes), but I think the world could do with a few more young people worrying about the(ir) future. It probably won't serve any nationalist interests and it wont necessarily give any 'Like' clicks on social media, but hey, you never know... Alexander was in his early 20's when he changed the world.

Your link is wrong... the US is not a constitutional democracy I'm sure someone like Gromnir can explain in better than I, but last time I checked it was a constitutional republic. Which is why the one with the most votes doesn't necessarily win an election. The "constitution" part trumps (pun unintended) everything else. Well, at least according the US government. You can agree or disagree with them as you chose https://ar.usembassy.gov/education-culture/irc/u-s-government/ I know, that is nitpicking on terminology, but you did mention once the importance of agreeing on the terms used in a discussion.

The crossed out items are not inherently part of "Constitutional Democracy". In theory, maybe. In reality, only sometimes. When not too inconvenient. But dictionary definitions don't really matter in your day to day life. Only the reality does. Free media? Nice theory. Italy under Berlusconi, Australia under Murdoch's News Corp are two examples of "free media" gone wrong, because the media are owned 90% and 80% respectively by one person. Which means, you wont get a fair and free debate on an equal footing about political issues. Free speech... doesn't apply in Australia. Not sure what the situation is in other countries. The Morrison Government have been busy raiding the one non-Murdoch controlled broadcaster when the truth becomes inconvenient. Internet Youtubers (The Friendly Jordies have been released now) seized by anti terror police and removed, because their satire of the governments corruption and lies got too many views. Basically any reveal of outright lies and corruption is met with immediate libel cases. The last one was hilarious. They actually won the case... but the minister had to resign because he could NOT disclose who paid his legal fees. Yes, that's how bad it is. Ability to criticize your government?.... hahahaha. See above. Transparent courts? Like when the Vatican paid $2m the get their pedophile cardinal (George Pell) out of jail and put on a plane to Rome... as the only passenger and in the middle of a total lock down, with borders closed. As said, some things looks better on paper than in reality.

Don't ruin a good rant by adding facts to the conversation. It muddles everything. Some people appreciate the power of simplicity. No choices, no decisions, no options, no thinking required, no accountability other than to your superior, just do as you're told. A surprising number of people appreciate that kind of life. Others might find it stifling. You asked about what is wrong with Europe? My take on it, is it has become stagnant. And with stagnation, Entropy is not far away. Eventually the circle jerking and mutual back patting will tick off people in various corners of the continent, because yeah, Entropy has that effect. The feeling of being small, worthless gears in a big machinery causes a sense of disenfranchisement (shame on me for using such pompous words). Too big, too unwieldy, too removed from people. Nobody loves a system they feel alienated from. The biggest crime (imho) is the complete lack of initiatives that could give people a purpose, unite them or just make them appreciate what they got. But, hearts are rarely won by committees (or politburos). The Balkans know what the difference between war and peace feels like. Most of Northern and Western Europe live in their own little bubbles of self containment and self indulgence. Sadly the anarchist party is currently not accepting other members. More than one makes the decision making a hassle

Yeah, Europe is a mess. At least they mostly seems to mind their own business these days. Navalny is not somebody you want in power. He's an ultra nationalist that makes Putin pale in comparison and used to campaign on stuff like Russia for Russians and all muslims should be summarily executed without further ado (up until recently you could still find his campaign videos on Youtube, showing him in military fatigues branding a gun at a drawing of a stereotypical muslim). His pro-western tune is very new and probably only to garner support for his failed ultra nationalist campaign (although he now calls it anti corruption rather than kill all non Russians) CCP has no end to their problems. Energy crunch. Worlds highest pollution rate in it's cities. A collapsing property sector (literal and economically). A firm commitment made by Xi to start a war if necessary (he did make a solemn wow in that regard, Taiwan will become occupied, by force if necessary). Some day, the occupied country of Tibet might decide that guerilla warfare is preferable to cultural genocide. Speaking of which, they have another large ethnic group that was conquered in recent centuries, which don't feel comfortable living under Beijing.

If I should describe US politics after the last (half) dozen posts here, it sounds like the Democrats are the conservative option and the Republicans the regressive option

I remember how i tried swimming the first time... my dad had been giving me basic instructions for a while and we had practiced every now and then at the beach in the summer. The North Sea is considerably colder than anything most people outside Scandinavia associate with "the beach" Anyway, on this particular day, my dad was keeping me afloat at the surface, holding both his hands underneath me (being a lot bigger than me, he could stand on his feet) and I was making some approximation of swimming moves when he let go and told me, there you go, now swim! And I swam... like a rock! After much sputtering and splashing (and panicking), I eventually got the hang of it and made it to the surface, keeping myself afloat. I must have been around 6 or 7 years old at the time. I got a lot better at it since. I remember feeling a bit proud the first time I did a 1000m in an indoor swimming pool. Can't really live in Denmark without learning to swim I suppose. Nowhere in the country is more than 50km away from the sea.