Gorth

If you go into a diplomatic engagement and one part prepares detailed explanations and suggestions and the other part has a shopping list of threats and ultimatums which just got repeated over and over, completely unwilling to acknowledge that, their counterpart may actually have something to say, failed. Badly. Yes, she did fail rather badly (hence my remarks about her lack of ability). Dressing up as a Maggie Doll (which is what Zor was referring to) doesn't give her the respect Margaret Thatcher earned through a life of hard work and *skill*. Way to give Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson a run for their money... Feel free to watch all two hours of the conversation if you feel like it. The way western leaders deal with the disagreement pretty much divides them up into two camps. Those who are "safe", with no scandals or looming elections/votes of no confidence ahead of them (Germany and France) and those who could very much use something to take peoples minds of such things (UK and USA). Boris Johnson might not even be around for the next election (being deposed by his own party) and Biden has an economy, that seems headed for a free fall, which wont help domestic social stability.

And that is relevant to her arrogance, incompetence and embarrassing her country repeatedly in public with her gaffes because...?

You know it wasn’t a test done at the Beijing Olympics, right (where according to the BBC she’s returned two negative tests so far) ? It was a test from another competition last year. Makes for a better story conflating things I guess.

Which again is linked to poverty, income inequality and food insecurity... https://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2018/18_0217.htm

All the best for your dad

He did give a great performance in the Sydney Opera House a few years ago (I was there), with Jan Vogler and friends. A journey through classical US literature and writers as well as some excellent cello music https://9now.nine.com.au/today/bill-murray-and-friends-tour/ff73da53-4dd3-470d-846f-2161c4e7805f

Recent posts split off into new thread. Original conversation:

Split into new thread here...

Maybe too many families use physical punishment as a matter of convenience rather than "educational" reasons? A good beating will sure improve their reading comprehension and math skills, I'm sure. Too many times, children have been beat up to a degree, that would send people to jail if it hadn't been their own kids. Part because it was easy, part because it was legal to do so. Considering the almost borderline sociopaths, people send to schools these days, maybe it's not the children and their behavior that is a problem, but the parents who fail at parenting? As somebody he didn't get beaten/spanked/whatever as a kid, I'm not convinced it made me a bad adult.

Finished the season of JoJo I started. Some things didn't make sense to me I know, it's all bizarre and nobody talks normally int he universe (everybody always screaming in most dramatic ways) and Bram Stokers Dracula is unrecognizable... but there were a few things where the internal logic either failed or explained things in ways that went over my head. So the "men in the pillar" were an ancient race having been around for more than 10000 years. Basically a race of vampires predating human civilization. Always few in numbers, few kids as a result of few deaths. An internal power struggle killed off most of them except two adults and two babies. Cars presumably being one of the adults. Appearing to be the victor as well as the instigator of the infighting. Wanting to "conquer the sun", so his people were not condemned to seek shelter in daylight. What is not properly explained is, who created the stone masks? The "men in the pillar"? If so, why didn't they create them so they could use them themselves? The human vampires created by the masks had no immunity to sunshine, why would the "men in the pillar" gain immunity then? Were Wham and AC/DC the two babies? If so, who was the other adult? Where did Santana enter the picture? He got labeled and some kind of lowly "slave" almost to the "men in the pillar". Who put the men in the pillar? What is/was the pillar? In the meantime, watching Dropkick my Devil episode 2... the downside to not being able to afford an airconditioner

It is an awesome trailer indeed I think it garnered universal praise from just about every youtuber and gaming site that watched it.

Let's stick to discussing good news and leave political debates in the politics thread... aka the bad news thread.

Just because its Friday afternoon, I had a few beers and is am in a whimsical mood... spanking explained:

Of course, Japan being so Japanese turns it into a team sport!

Say hello to the new ultimate martial art contest!

One of my favourites... The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane. Marcus Aurelius Edit: It just appeals to my inner anarchist for some reason

Split off a few posts to continue from previous thread:

Politics... the gift that keeps giving!

Financial Times Moscow Bureau chief Max Seddon said the meeting made for uncomfortable viewing. “The public dressing-down Lavrov gave Liz Truss was so brutal, and the gap between them so yawning, you almost have to wonder why they even had the meeting – and Lavrov did indeed wonder that aloud during an excruciating press conference in Moscow,” he tweeted. With people like these... no wonder Johnson is in big trouble on the home front (do they have the 54-7 however many letters yet for an internal "no confidence" vote?). They might want to get rid of him before the next election, or it will almost certainly be a labor government. As for saying the UK would send aid to our “Baltic allies across the Black Sea”: “Mrs Truss, your knowledge of history is nothing compared to your knowledge of geography,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, wrote in a blog post. “If anyone needs saving from anything, it’s the world, from the stupidity and ignorance of British politicians.” I guess this is what happens when people are in positions of power, not because of any skill, but because of who their friends are?

"Something else is happening behind the scenes, because the real issues are completely different," Sodhi told CBC News. I think we already covered the "real" issues earlier... i.e. what takes place now has little to do with covid mandates and has more to with whipping up a crowd, encouraging fear and especially anger. Edit: Because scared and angry people are easier to manipulate.

Up to episode 19 of JoJo... that's some bizarre naming conventions The first super villain (the original "man in the pillar", nick named Santana) is disposed of, but 3 new super villains show up in Rome. Named after bands apparently Wham, AC/DC and (The) Cars. A new leader introduced on the side of the "good guys", Lisa Lisa (not a typo) and her maid/servant named after Suzi Quatro.... JoJo and Caesar are no match for the villains, who wipe the floor with them, being too unimportant to even kill. However, JoJo, being his charming self (i.e. constantly aggravating) manages to goad them into a challenge. He'll improve his skills so much in a month, that he'll offer them a good fight. Being proud (and vain) super villains, of course they can't resist such a challenge. To add pressure on JoJo, they place poison rings around his aorta and his windpipe, which will dissolve and kill him in 30 something days or so. The only way to safely dispose of them are an antidote for each of the two poisons, carried in the nose piercings of AC/DC and Wham. JoJo and Caesar does the training together, but of course are not exactly the super heroes their ancestors were, but still manage to dispatch AC/DC through some nice team work. As for what the trio of villains were after, some kind of perfect gem, which was a perfect red aja gem. No, I have no idea what it is. But the stone masks, which turns humans into vampires, are too weak to penetrate the skulls of the super villains, so they need the gem to boost the stone masks and turn them into some kind of legendary super vampires. The stone got stolen and sent by train in direction Switzerland, where the German army intercepted it before it reached it's destination. The German boss is none other than Von Stroheim (the German antagonist in Mexico), with an all new, mechanical body. That's about where I got to. The red aja gem when it was still in the hands of the good guys... A not so covert mission from Rome to St. Moritz, Switzerland...

Just a preview of New Kaineng, the capital of Cantha in the upcoming Guild Wars 2 expansion (Cantha is an Asian inspired part of the GW2 world, which featured in the original GW) Looks like the Canthans are going to give the Asura a run for the money when it comes to who is the most technologically advanced. I want my own Jade Bot!

Ow nooo… come on, I just had a shower!

Torches and pitchforks up next up for Mitch McConnell? (probably violating some kind of party constitution when making sense)

I'm sure prayers will fix their issues...