Gorth

Almost finished with Game of Thrones now. Two more episodes in season 8 to go. I know, I was told here not to watch season 8 But, it felt like the story started nosediving worse than a Boeing 737 MAX already during season 5. Weird plot lines that seems to lead nowhere, characters that started promising just fizzling out etc. Varys' character in particular taking a disappointing turn in later seasons. At least The Hound turned out a lot more interesting than initially expected and I find it hard not to like Tormund. I actually wished he had ended up with his "Big Warrior Woman"

This is based on memory, so take it with a grain of salt, but I know of a guy back in Denmark who got a life sentence for the murder of 4 police officers. The catch is, every few years, he was eligible for applying for parole/pardon. Not an automatic thing, a possibility. He eventually ended up serving 32-33 years. Too early to release him if you ask me, but I guess the guys on the parole board didn't have any of their family members killed by him. Edit: linky https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palle_Sørensen Just the case I remember, because killing police officers is not a common thing in Denmark.

Unlike the US, in NZ all the perpetrator(s) got arrested and placed in a mental ward

I'm just guessing now... the BioNTech/Pfizer is because it's the most efficient and probably first on market. For those who need it first. People who get in contact with overseas travelers most likely. I.e. medical staff and quarantine staff. OxfordAstraZeneca because lets face it, the Northern Territories and -70C? Novavax because the Oxford/AstraZeneca seems to be way less efficient than hoped at the time of ordering those? Edit: Toilet paper is a status symbol. Something male Queenslanders hoard to impress prospective mating partners.

If they delay it a bit, the Democrats will also have a senate majority at some point. Iirc, a simple majority would be sufficient for the purpose (edit: not for removing him, but for blocking his re-runs).

I'm still keeping something Gromnir mentioned in the back of my head. The goal may not be to get him kicked out 12 hours early (no matter how much instant gratification it would give some, like Pelosi), but to prevent him running again in 2024? (or run for local governor, house, senate, whatever)

China is famous for stealing IP and make inferior copy versions. "Made in China" is a meme all of its own after all (and well deserved IMHO) Although to be fair, it may indeed be their own home brew vaccine. I still wonder who was doing all the hacking of Western vaccine research half a year ago. The kind of snooping I would normally expect either the Chinese, Israeli or Russian intelligence services to do. On another Covid related note, Queensland (the Australian state where I live) seems to think that hotels are too risky to use for quarantine purposes. Yup, send those sick bastards to the salt mines! https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-14/coronavirus-covid-brisbane-hotel-grand-chancellor-quarantine/13054282 Queensland considers mining camps for quarantining travellers with four new cases recorded Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she would raise the matter with the Federal Government when national cabinet meets next Friday. "We are going to look at all options and one of those options is to look at some of the mining camps that we have in Queensland," she said. Edit: the four new cases referred to (I assume they are part of the group of people currently in quarantine, as most cases reported in Australia these days are returning travelers from overseas): Two cases were returned travellers from South Africa and two from the United States

The Oxford/AstraZenica vaccine is based on chimp DNA. Time to vaccinate the zoo gorillas?

From the random category... Australian birds can be real bastards at times In case anyone feels sorry for the Kookaburra, this is often the sound that wakes me up in the morning, like between 3am and 4am

From Gorths nostalgia corner, one of the few things better than Rammstein. Queen...

Happy Birthday KP... a few more decades and you'll be an adult ... (said the guy who could be your dad)

I probably posted most of the Rammstein songs of decent recording quality I could find (either here or mostly in the heavy metal threads), so here is some Rammstein cover

Meh, amateurs.... Is this all you can conjure Saruman?

I wasn't really concerned about their human rights records... other countries have spotted history there too. I was just thinking along the lines of first they invaded Tibet, then they made claims on Hong Kong (having already seized Macau), the entire sea area all the way down to Malaysia (territorial claims that are beyond ridiculous). Now they are throwing they weight around way south, staking out claims on Antarctica, islands around Papua-New Guinea, encroaching on Australian territorial waters by building a naval base smack in the middle. Eventually... that attitude you know, peace in hour time etc. it wont work.

If China keeps throwing its weight around, it will eventually get to the point where the Sudetenland isn't enough.

You sick bastard! Get well soon Katphood. And may your dad stay safe.

Still working my way through my old DVD's, cataloguing them as I go through them (just an Excel list for now, I never actually had a list of my movies). 150 titles added so far and still lots to go. Found two duplicates, Finding Nemo and Cry Baby. Going to give those to a friend. Also found two movies that I decided to rewatch, both of them old Peter Jackson movies from back when he still made good movies. "Bad Taste" and "Braindead"

Ah those dang doctors creating a bit more work for themselves... so that's how it works On a serious note, hope you're Ok Gromnir and it's "just" a flu. As if that's not bad enough at times. All the best mate

He always seemed a bit of a fanboy of people like Kim and Putin. Probably envious of the power they hold over their people. He did grease increase spending, pull troops home, pardon murderers, reinstate people that had no business being in the military etc. in an attempt to stay on the good side of the military though, didn't he?

Well, Pfizer used to be best known for Viagra

It is Edit: Started on season 2 now

I know it's not a race between countries, who can stick a needle in as many people in as short as time as possible, but some interesting trends still showing up. I guess it shows which countries has its citizens as its first priority? Also, seriously, wth France? this is inefficiency at its worst or what??? "In the first three days of its vaccination campaign, which launched on 27 December, France inoculated fewer than 100 people. In comparison, Germany had given more than 130,000 vaccines by the end of December. " https://www.bbc.com/news/world-55514243

Some of it. Hard to avoid when watching related/suggested youtube videos. I know that Daenerys, Cersei and most others will be dead at the end of season 8. But much of the detail is still for me to explore between the beginning and the end. Almost done with episode 8 now. Two more episodes left of first season and I really like it so far. Favourite character at the moment? Probably a toss up between Arya and Eddard Stark. The first for being a spirited character and the latter for at least trying to do "the right thing". Honourable mention to Petyr Baelish and Varys for being some very, very interesting characters.

Since I bought that big box of Game of Thrones, i suppose I better get started watching it... Episode 3 so far (first season)

Other people's mileage may vary (and probably does), but apart from a family members failing health (non covid related), 2020 was actually a damn good year for me. So no complaints about the old year from here. Happy New Year everyone. May 2021 be a good year