Gorth

Not going to sit around holding my breath for Mieruko-chan 9 to get released (I did get episode 8 btw). Summary so far... One day, Miko can suddenly see ghosts. A few at first, then more and more and by now, they're seemingly everywhere in her life. Including under her blanket in bed and in the bathroom when taking a bath. No explanation has been given so far why it suddenly started happening. A clue or a red herring could be a seemingly unimportant talisman, that she had acquired at the start of episode 1 (entirely as a decorative thing). She accidentally loses it when heading home from school and decides to go back to school after hours to look for it. Finds it under a cupboard, retrieves it and heads home. On the way home, scary things starts entering her life. She has a best friend Hana, the proverbial side kick, who loves food and everything she eats seems to just expand her boob size (the subject of the odd joke, Miko wishes hers would do the same). Very naive, but also frustratingly kind and good natured. She is the kind of girl that will venture into a dark, foreboding alley to save a lost puppy for a random stranger. At some point, Miko is able to see "auras" (for lack of a better description) and Hana's is a golden glow, which not just makes the sinister ghosts look like the get repelled from her, yet also makes her an object of attraction to them. Miko tries to find help, first she gets from prayer beads (which explodes on her wrists when the really big and nasty ghosts show up), then solicits the help of a fortune teller, "The Godmother", who first dismisses Miko (kids have no money), then witnesses the destruction of her prayer beads first hand. Getting her most powerful bands (looks like genuine, powerful and magical artifacts), giving them to Miko free of charge, she sees them destroyed with ease too. The day after, The Godmother is nowhere to be found, having left the city. Next stop in trying to get help, is a shrine. Miko prays for help and actually gets it. A very powerful, glowing being and some kind of shrine guardians appear and tears apart the biggest nasty, which had been dogging their steps for a while. Uttering a very menacing "Three Times" without elaborating. Enter stage left, the third protagonist, Yulia. She has been able to see the smallest and most harmless of the ghosts since early childhood. The little manlings as she calls them. Her special ability makes her consider herself a great spiritualist. Yulia realizes Miko can see ghosts too and suddenly feels her position threatened. The ambushes Miko in a warehouse, tricks her into an old underground tunnel and through a comedy of errors, the large and presumably dangerous ghosts, which Miko can see and Yulia can't, destroys the little ghosts, making Yulia believe Miko is a very powerful spiritualist. At the end of episode 7, she probably thinks Miko is some dark lord with world domination as her ambition... Despite being scary, not all of the ghosts seems to be "out to get her". One particular heartwarming episode has Miko help a little old lady home, because she was lost. Along the way, a ghost starts following. The old lady seems senile and can't remember anything. At her home, they get greeted by the old ladys daughter and invited in. The old lady has a number of memorability from her marriage to her dead husband in a safe, but can't open it. All the while, the male ghost has repeated four digits over and over. Miko types the four digits on the old ladys smart phone and tells her to "try this". The code works and opens up the safe. The old lady is shocked out of memory loss and returns to what I guess passes for normal for little old ladies. The ghost thanks Miko, but true to form by now, she ignores it and hurries home. The last episode (8), has Miko bond with her brother, looking for a gift for her mothers birthday. Of course, nothing is easy. She does end up with a gift though, a pair of mugs for couples. Her mother uses one and the other gets places at her fathers memorial shrine. Which also explains why Miko never talked to her father when he and her mother were around. He's been dead for a while. That's of course skipping a LOT of details and small story arcs, but I'm too lazy and reviews/summaries were never really my forte. Now I'm off to start on something completely not serious, unapologetic fun by the looks of it. Well, I hope so. I just want to park my brain at the entrance while watching Those who hunt elves...

Eww… they could’ve been more creative and called it the omega variant, the one to end them all

...and the situation is escalating rapidly https://www.bbc.com/news/world-59427770 The UK, Singapore and Japan are among those rushing in stricter quarantine measures and banning flights from South Africa and neighbouring countries. The EU is proposing to ban flights from the region across the whole bloc. Scientists still have much to learn about the variant, but there are concerns it may be the worst yet. It is still so new to scientists, they are yet to give it a more memorable name, like Delta or Beta. Right now, it is known as B.1.1.529, but the World Health Organization (WHO) is expected to name it on Friday. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-59428927 Stock markets across the world have fallen sharply after the discovery of a new Covid variant raised fears over the economic recovery. In London, the FTSE 100 share index dropped by 2.6%, while markets in Germany and France also declined following overnight falls in Asia. Shares in airlines and travel firms were among the hardest hit. The UK and other nations have introduced a ban on flights from six southern African countries. https://www.bbc.com/news/health-59418127 The latest is the most heavily mutated version discovered so far - and it has such a long list of mutations that it was described by one scientist as "horrific", while another told me it was the worst variant they'd seen. It is early days and the confirmed cases are still mostly concentrated in one province in South Africa, but there are hints it may have spread further. ... In a media briefing Prof de Oliveira said there were 50 mutations overall and more than 30 on the spike protein, which is the target of most vaccines and the key the virus uses to unlock the doorway into our body's cells. Zooming in even further to the receptor binding domain (that's the part of the virus that makes first contact with our body's cells), it has 10 mutations compared to just two for the Delta variant that swept the world. Boldface highlight by me...

Watch this space if they cast Yvonne Strahovski (sp?) as Miranda

Apropos hate crimes... I mentioned previously neo nazi and alt right groups being behind the violent riots, protesting anti covid measures (being anti vax, anti lockdown etc.) https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2021/11/24/neo-nazi-terror-groups-crackdown/ Looks like, albeit somewhat late, even members of the governing liberal party is a bit fed up with them. A violent neo-Nazi paramilitary group that advocates terror attacks to provoke a civil war has been outlawed in Australia, amid a wider national crackdown on extremist groups. Federal Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews expressed concern about The Base, an American hate group that has planned violent racist assassinations and poison water supplies, as it forges links with local right-wing extremist groups. It’s just the second right-wing extremist organisation designated by the federal government as a terror entity. ... It comes as Australian counter-terror and intelligence bodies warn of an increasing level of far-right activity domestically. Director-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, Mike Burgess, said right-wing extremism made up 40 per cent of the spy agency’s workload. ... But... ‘Not a timely response’ The ABC reported in 2020 The Base was trying to recruit Australians to its cause. “The Base do have a presence in Australia, so the question is why hasn’t this listing been done before?” Dr Kristy Campion, a lecturer in terrorism studies at Charles Sturt University, told TND. “It’s obviously very welcome but this is a group that’s been around since 2018 … it’s not a timely response, but it’s welcome.” ... Jihadist threats are still there too of course “The jihadist threat hasn’t disappeared, but authorities are doing their best to manage a fast-changing threat scape. These groups tend to fragment, fall apart, get back together with a new name and clubhouse. They’re a moving target, so it’s affirming to see action.” Mr West said right-wing terror was now the “dominant” threat in the US, and welcomed Australian authorities taking further action.

For those confused about what rjshae is talking about, I moved a number of posts from the funny thread to the politics thread, including this observation which i agreed with....

English translation courtesy of Google translate: Hello, how are you? I have a problem with Game pass accounts, it turns out that with my friends I play Grounded on PC, and I have the world saved in my profile so I want to know if there is a way to export that same world to another account. Xbox Game Pass.

Guild Wars 2 fourth beta preview of the nine new class specializations coming up soon (taking the total to 27 specializations plus 9 "core" classes). Mostly I'm looking forward to the new siege turtle. A two person mount with cannons and jump packs. What's not to love

Since January 6th was such a memorable event (for all the wrong reasons)... https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-24/proud-boys-oath-keepers-subpoena-us-capitol-riot-january-6/100645708 "A committee investigating the deadly US Capitol riot has issued five subpoenas to far-right extremist groups that have backed former president Donald Trump and to individuals associated with those groups The Select Committee is seeking testimony from the Proud Boys and its chairman, Henry "Enrique" Tarrio, alongside the Oath Keepers and its president, Elmer Stewart Rhodes. The committee has also subpoenaed Robert Patrick Lewis, the chairman of 1st Amendment Praetorian, a lower-profile organisation known for wearing black shirts and providing security at pro-Trump events." ... In short, Trumps goon squad seems to be dis-proportionally represented amongst those arrested. ... "The Proud Boys have been named by United States security agencies as playing a pivotal role in the January attack on the US Capitol, and at least 34 individuals associated with the group have been indicted over it." Speaking of far right groups... I seem to remember one or more people on this forum linking to intelligence assessments, that they're the greatest risk when it comes to domestic terrorism https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-59355019 A US jury has awarded millions in damages against the organisers of a deadly far-right rally in August 2017. The defendants were found liable in four out of six counts over the bloodshed at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Nine of those injured sued the event's organisers arguing they had conspired to commit racially motivated violence. A woman was killed and dozens were hurt after an avowed neo-Nazi drove a car into counter-protesters. The total damages awarded amount to $25m (£19m), according to US media. Now this is more likely to qualify as a hate crime... some people should take note?

Hah, we all know the most important reason... tax avoidance

I think you're smarter than such statements. Or do you want to try to convince me that the guy did a survey of the area first and then targeted a specific group based on a set of qualifying criteria? What would be his target group? Did he specifically hate children and the elderly? From the Oxford Dictionary: hate crime noun noun: hate crime; plural noun: hate crimes a crime, typically one involving violence, that is motivated by prejudice on the basis of race, religion, sexual orientation, or other grounds. Hint: Hate Crime is aimed at a specific group of people, not at as large a group as possible.

The most obvious option is of course also the most boring. Somebody barely scraping by in society (seemingly going from verdict to verdict throughout life) having a spat with his partner and never learnt how to deal with anger management issues decided to go on a road rage, not giving a damn about who or how many he kills in the process. Mental health is not something you talk about and it's very unlikely to be offered to those who needs it most (it's probably almost as bad as being a communist and it costs money... lots of money, because US health care is amongst the worlds most inefficient when it comes to value for money).

It's guilty of some fan service (if that's the right term). Mostly provided by her busty, red headed friend Hana. The latter also being painfully naive and innocent, to the point where there is a scene where the two friends are walking down a street and a large ghost is throwing little ghosts onto her boobs, just to watch them squirm and be roasted "alive" (probably doesn't apply to ghosts), then picking them up, eating them (Hana glows with sort of a golden "aura" i Miko's vision). She likes food and shopping for underwear A way more interesting third character, which got introduced late into the show is Yulia, a diminutive character who goes in the class next to Miko's. She can see ghosts too, but only the smaller, harmless looking ones. She wants to become the greatest spiritualist ever and visits the local fortune teller lady "Godmother" regularly, trying to become her apprentice. She's now convinced that Miko is some all powerful spiritualist who has it in for her... ...and it looks like youtube also has previews and clips from episode 8 now. I guess I just have to get it. Ah well...

...and Tucker Carlson is sort of par for the course for Fox News (and Sky News and everything else Rupert Murdoch touches). You can almost feel the pitiful screams of your brain cells as they get brutally massacred.

I think this would have pleased Paul... (which was a famous Octopus oracle from the Fifa 2010 World Cup) From Paul's wiki page: Paul's accurate choices for the 2010 World Cup, broadcast live by German news channel n-tv, endowed him with celebrity status.[3] Paul predicted the winners of each of the seven 2010 FIFA World Cup matches that the German team played, against Australia, Serbia, Ghana, England, Argentina, Spain,[22] and Uruguay. His prediction that Argentina would lose prompted Argentine chef Nicolas Bedorrou to post an octopus recipe on Facebook.[3] There are always people who want to eat our octopus but he is not shy and we are here to protect him as well. He will survive. — Oliver Walenciak (Paul's keeper)[23] Paul correctly predicted the outcome of the semi-final, by choosing the food in the box marked with the Spanish flag. German supporters drew hope from his incorrect choice for the Germany versus Spain match in the UEFA Euro 2008 but were disappointed.[24] The prediction led to German fans calling for Paul to be eaten.[25][26] In response, the Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero offered to send Paul official state protection, and the Industry Minister Miguel Sebastian called for Paul to be given safe haven in Spain.[27][28] Paul's notoriety attracted criticism from the President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who accused him of being a symbol of Western decadence and decay.[29] Maybe Spain is the most octopus friendly country in Europe? The place where they don't eat their prophets

Hmm... Mieruko-chan 8 is out. Get it or wait until all 12 episodes of the season is released?... hard choices Edit: A trailer. Not episode specific, but just for first handful of episodes

I don't care. My Valhallan army shall cleanse the galaxy of the mutants, the aliens and the heretics!

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...