Gorth

Speaking of Proud Boys and other militant far right groups who thrive (and instigate) violence and conflict... I recognize the pattern below from Melbourne and Sydney where the situation was very similar. Riots, violence, vandalism, street fights. When the Australian police eventually got the bottom of it, Murdoch supported alt right groups, neo nazis and similar societal fringe groups leading from behind, using the conflict they instigate as a recruiting ground for new members who are not afraid of using violence to achieve their goals. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/11/20/vienna-austria-covid-lockdown-protests Thousands of protesters have gathered in Austria’s capital, Vienna, after the government announced a nationwide lockdown to contain the quickly rising coronavirus infections in the country. The far-right opposition Freedom Party is among those who have called for Saturday’s protest and have pledged to combat the new restrictions. They mean it literally when they say combat the new restrictions... https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-59355950 Dutch police have shot and wounded at least two people after rioting erupted in Rotterdam over new Covid-19 measures. Protesters threw rocks and fireworks at them and set police cars ablaze. Hundreds of protesters had gathered to show their anger at government plans for a Covid vaccine pass, and a ban on fireworks on New Year's Eve. The Netherlands imposed a three-week partial Covid lockdown last week as cases surged. Seven people were injured in total and at least 20 arrested in a night Sadly no details in the BBC article about who was behind the riots in Rotterdam.

The above post cut off the tail end of previous thread to start a new...

Last post split off to start a new thread here...

Note the use of the word ‘acquiring’. It’s spelled differently from ‘bringing’

You forget who you're talking to... someone who would just as likely likely offer a $10 bounty for each severed head of black lives matters supporters delivered at his door step. Of course there is nothing wrong in killing them, because they're all the same.

There, fixed your grammar. Yes, it was even worse than Windows ME which held that title proudly for many years. My hardware doesn't support Windows 11, so it's a moot point for me. Not going to upgrade my hardware the next 3-4 years. To satisfy my curiosity, I downloaded the developer edition from Microsoft and run it on a Hyper-V machine. Apart from being hopeless to navigate or find anything (which could probably be overcome with patience and a lot of trial and error), I see no point so far, why I would want to run it on actual hardware

Not necessarily willfully incompetent, but fighting an uphill battle against a decision that was already made before the trial started. Both in the jury selection (the defense had all black jurors sans one removed) and the judges instruction to the prosecution before the trial. You are not allowed to refer to the victims as as victims, the defense can however refer to the victims as rioters and arsonists. Nevermind that the killer may not have known known that as a fact when he killed them.

Oh crab! The red horde is coming...

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)