Gromnir

wait, usa media doesn't count as western media? curious. we provided numerous western exceptions to the posited generalization that pahlavi is being portrayed as heroic by western media. is kinda axiomatic that evidence o' additional exceptions undercuts a generalization... and if the generalization is only legit for the "first few lines of the articles," it shouldn't take much to zor or anybody else that the generalization was a failure. well, that further diminishes the heroic portrayal in western media generalization and given even zor recognizes it weren't just american western media which were portraying pahlavi as less than heroic, there isn't much of a point in your protest. deja vu again? as is typical, we are getting to a silly/stoopid place much faster than we expected. so you half-assed it or you were deliberate misleading? is a tough choice with no good option for you. considering your past shenanigans with selective quotes, am gonna default to deception, but if you are settling on lazy, am s'posing that is a kinda explanation. to blame your failure to provide meaningful context on your belief that people don't actual read articles beyond paragraph two is hardly an excuse for your personal mistake... and such an observation does little to reinforce the notion that pahlavi is genuine being portrayed heroic... though it does explain a couple o' your recent posting errors. a significant number of western media articles (USA and other nations) do mention the fact that there is iranians chanting pahlavi's name. is newsworthy in part 'cause it is not what many western readers would expect. we don't need the angel gabriel to explain to you why the curiosity o' pahlavi being invoked by 2026 iranians is newsworthy, yes? no doubt zor has read at least a few pre 2026 sources which would make a Pahlavi, Hero for the Iranian People, seem unlikely. converse, the suggestion that all of a sudden, in 2026, the monolithic western media (again, not genuine a thing and undercut further by zor inexplicable distinguishing USA sources) would try and promote pahlavi as a hero o' the revolution is something Gromnir would find almost as curious as iranians chanting pahlavi's name... would be newsworthy if it weren't just some bs cobbled together from half-arsed search engine silliness untethered from the substance of articles. however, am gonna observe how the fixation o' media on pahlavi, western and non western media, is likely 'cause reporters has not yet adjusted to the 21st century dynamic o' large protest movements. who were the leader of blm? who were the leader of the hong kong protests? converse, who were the face o' protests in russia a couple years past? 'cause o' 21st century communications, there is no need for a charismatic leader to be the face o' a movement. a leader is also a target. why give putin a target? is doubtful the iranian protesters is mentioning a specific leader they got in mind for after tomorrow, but the media has a need to report, and if the only guy getting mention is pahlavi, media outlets is gonna fixate on him. regardless, am thanking you for providing us with, "Every single quote I picked was in the first few lines of the articles," 'cause am suspecting that bit o' zor-specific pith is gonna get future use. HA! Good Fun!

other than chargers v. pats, the playoff games has been highly entertaining. @ShadySandslikely doesn't wanna jinx by commenting, but the ten year playoff win drought for the broncos could end if they beat the team which knocked 'em out 31-7 last year-- the buffalo bills. 49rs v seahawks also looks like a fun contest with baked in drama given the two previous meetings this year... akin to packers v. bears. color us shocked, but am genuine interested in nfl football this post season. huzzah. HA! Good Fun!

well, am gonna observe that one author stands out 'cause his name not only represents an optional rule but may be used as a verb. stackpole, baby. is thousands o' battletech players (tabletop and online) who has never read a battletech novel, but they nevertheless venerate stackpole. that's a legacy... of sorts. on a more serious note, am just finishing battle cry of freedom by james mcpherson. fifth time. the first third o' the book reminds us of eerie similarities 'tween US 1830-1850 and today, while at the same time offering encouragement 'cause we ain't quite at bleeding kansas... yet. highly recommended. HA! Good Fun!

@Zoraptor and his amusing selective quotes? *eye-roll* try linking the actual articles so we are able to see the entirety. heck, we picked one at random from your sans context, sharp-oneesque list o' quotes : "Many demonstrators in Iran have been calling for the return of Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran's last shah (king)." first line from link maybe scroll down to the "divisive legacy," portion? we wouldn't call the bbc article singularly critical, but suggesting it paints him as "heroic" would be hyperbolic. the independent article from which you lifted, "Pahlavi’s name is being chanted through the streets of major Iranian cities including Tehran and Mashhad, with phrases “Pahlavi will return” and “Seyyed Ali will be toppled,” is also hardly painting pahlavi as particularly heroic. in fact, the independent article is extreme brief and not particular informative, but it does mention pahlavi's efforts to garner favour with trump and netanyahu, which is not gonna be seen as positives amongst the independent's typical readership as a progressive/lefty uk media source, eh? etc. the most recent nyt article am having read is kinda like all the rest in that it observes that pahlavi is mentioned by iranian protesters and that he has been making the rounds to gain support in the west, but... "Mr. Pahlavi, 65, has long been a divisive figure among Iran’s opposition, many of whom disdained the idea of restoring a monarchy that Iranians ousted because of its repressive rule. But he appears to have gained a base of support inside Iran in recent years, according to some analysts. ... "Whether Iranians will be further emboldened by Mr. Pahlavi’s calls for U.S. intervention remains to be seen. When Israel launched a 12-day war on Iran over the summer, briefly joined by U.S. warplanes, many Iranians expressed disdain for foreign intervention and did not turn against the government." most western articles include the observations repeated by zor's less then helpful out-of-context lifted quoting, recognizing that more than outlier numbers o' iranians are invoking pahlavi's name. beyond that, there is a consensus recognition that son o' the former shah is 65, has lived in exile for decades, and that he is making efforts to topple the current iranian regime. not really the stuff o' heroic tales.... and given the half-dozen links am having now offered that don't fit the narrative zor reflexive pushes, one would expect a normal person to question the accuracy o' the initial broad stroke generalization that western media sources is trying to push pahlavi as a hero o' the revolution.... but am suspecting reasonable won't be zor's response. 'course this is a zor mo ain't it? whether is selecta-quote from cnn regarding iran's projected time to reach nuclear weapon breakout, a senate report on iraqi wmds or even in his efforts to label us a liar, zor habitual and fraudulent selective quotes, typical w/o offering links... or clear hopeful nobody will actual bother to read the linked material when he does link. this ain't a one-off and it don't look accidental so much as calculated. poor calculated, but intentional in any event. that said, zor's triggered efforts to not argue with us like this is convoluted but kinda amusing. HA! Good Fun!

uh... most western media articles am having read appear stress how divisive is pahlavi even in 2025 iran and there is a recurring tone o' perplexity coming from writers as they try to explain why some people in iran would offer their support for the 65-year old israel supporting son o' the former shah. real link Few analysts think Pahlavi has a real path to the throne or leadership in Iran. His improved reputation in recent years says more about the mounting discontent with the Islamic Republic than it does about a genuine desire by Iranians for a return of the monarchy, analysts said. Many Iranians see him as everything the current regime is not: pro-Western, secular and capable of ending Iran’s economic isolation. “Over the past decade, Pahlavi’s popularity has increased, reflecting not just nostalgia, but a sharp contrast of what the past was and what the future could be in Iran,” said Behnam Ben Taleblu, Iran senior director at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington think tank. “This rise in popularity correlates with increasing secularism and nationalism.” ... “The Islamic Republic is so bad people will accept anything in replacement, and he offers a simple solution,” said Javad Chamanara, an opposition activist and member of Iran’s Kurdish minority who favors a federalist system in Iran. Pahlavi is seen as a divisive figure among ethnic minorities, which make up close to half of Iran’s population, because of the monarchy’s past refusal to grant them some autonomy, he said. end quotes "western media" is hardly monolithic, but the stories am reading at nyt, time, washington post, cnn and npr are hardly effusive in praise of pahlavi. "Pahlavi's efforts to position himself as a leader for a future Iran have prompted sometimes heated debates inside and outside the country. And while protesters have shouted in support of the shah in some protests, it is not clear whether that is support for Pahlavi himself or a desire to return to a time before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. "His public support of Israel has prompted significant criticism in the past from ordinary Iranians and other members of opposition groups, particularly after the 12-day war launched by Israel in June 2025." ... am having seen opinion pieces at wsj and elsewhere that got more skew, but unless you are in an information silo, suggesting that admitted non-existent monolithic western media is "pushing Pahlavi as the hero of the revolution," is at best misleading. HA! Good Fun! edit: added a few more links... the time piece is noteworthy as a western media take on pahlavi-- The most damning similarity between Chalabi and Pahlavi is the legitimacy deficit. Chalabi failed not because he lacked American support but because Iraqis didn’t want him. He was seen, correctly, as an American creation—a man who had spent decades outside Iraq, spoke Arabic with an American accent, and embodied foreign interference rather than indigenous resistance. Pahlavi faces the same problem squared. The Pahlavi dynasty left Iranians with bitter memories: the 1953 CIA-backed coup that overthrew Mohammad Mosaddegh and restored the shah to power; the brutal SAVAK secret police; the Rastakhiz Party that antagonized formerly apolitical Iranians with compulsory membership and heavy-handed interference in daily life; the corruption and inequality that sparked the 1979 revolution. While most Iranians are too young to remember these horrors firsthand, a substantial proportion—those over 50—lived through them. They remember the torture chambers, the disappeared dissidents, the rampant corruption, the grotesque inequality. They participated in, or supported, the revolution that overthrew the monarchy. Their children have grown up on the stories.

am lighting a candle and saying a prayer for the soul o' @Bartimaeus following the improbable packers v. bears playoff game. is only a few games we recollect with so many wtf moments. Matt LaFleur 'not coaching for his job' vs. Bears per Ian Rapoport hmmm. HA! Good Fun!

our best friend half joking keeps telling us to avoid home depot for the foreseeable future OST Seeks Answers After Tribal Members Taken Into ICE Custody she might have a point considering our post retirement wardrobe makes it appear as if we raided john fetterman's closet. HA! Good Fun!

am not doubting doxxing is a genuine concern for federal law enforcement, but such has been an issue for all kinda cops for years. cops got a license to use force ordinary citizens do not possess. seems like an issue where we reasonable weigh the possible harms, yes? am admitted a teeny bit surprised just how passive the freedom loving and gadsen flag waving folks has been as fed cops in dark glasses and masks has become the norm. yeah, am getting that with the current polarization in the country, as long as the feds are attacking them (minorities, non south african foreigners, libs) as opposed to us, (white christian nationalists) then any possible hypocrisy accusation or shame is nullified, but we nevertheless thought a few more o' the don't tread on me people would be worried about what happens when the libs got power and began erecting their fema concentration camps targeting god-fearing americans. ... not joking about the fema camps thing. serious, do a search: alt-right, conspiracy, fema, concentration camps. but shame is dead, or dying. the internet provides anonymity to d-bags who wish to say things they would hesitate to utter aloud in public. cops who might otherwise hesitate to twist-up an abuelita 'cause o' fear somebody could be filming them is gonna be less restrained when wearing a mask. doxxing is a newish and real concern for law enforcement and am not completely numb to the fact the cop job, as difficult as it is, has become increasing hard 'cause who wants the aggravation? selective edited video could make saint francis appear to be a psychopathic animal molester. most cops cop get paid pretty well, but they also need take a whole lotta abuse and 'cause firearms is so widely accessible to the american population, the stress o' the job is rare worth the money. everybody expects cops to be superheroes who will run into oncoming fire to protect and serve, and given the nature o' the job, chances are high that if they make a mistake, somebody is gonna get hurt... and maybe even dead. unlike some, we don't expect every cop to be a highly trained sooper soldier with lighting fast processing skills and fantasy hero courage. at the same time, 'cause cops is authorized to use force on Gromnir if they got probable cause (recently a fed judge revealed that far too many dhs officers and leadership were under a mistaken belief that reasonable suspicion were enough to trigger use o' force,) am thinking it is not too much to ask that they is denied the faceless anonymity o' an internet troll. shame is not necessarily a bad thing... and am not just saying that 'cause we were raised catholic. HA! Good Fun! ps a weird auto-correct of "weigh"

we often get thickened soup with a surfeit o' bones, but am admitting this last iteration were... unique. we could slide our soup outta the container and cut off slices as needed. heck, am suspecting that with a transparent straw driven in the center, we could sculpt a venus de milo analogue outta the mass and it would retain its shape... although with the greenish-yellow hue and bits o' animal and vegetable matter it would be a venus + toxic avenger kinda monstrosity. maybe something to think about for next halloween. as an aside, am knowing we mentioned once or twice, and am suspecting shady were already keen aware, but for others reading, powdered gelatin will replicate the thickening and moisture retaining properties o' bones or veal. gelatin is fantastic stuff. the collagen from veal which keeps your meatloaf or meatballs tender may be included via a bit o' gelatin powder sans the veal. in fact, nowadays we never use veal for squeamish reasons, and gelatin makes us feel the loss almost not at all. also, instead o' thickening a stew with cornstarch, potato starch or flour, it is possible to achieve similar results with gelatin... although you gotta add the gelatin earlier in the cooking process than you would flour, so it takes a smidge more practice to get the quantity just right. part o' the problem with reducing a liquid is that as you cook off liquid, you are also cooking out flavour... the more wonderful is the cooking aromas in your home when making a stew, the greater (if still small) the tragedy 'cause all that beautiful smell is escaped flavour. 'course you are also concentrating the flavour by reducing, so... in any event, instant pot and gelatin is nifty options for keeping the flavour in a dish which ordinarily requires long cooking times and/or significant reductions. bone broth umami won't be replicated by gelatin, but in some instances you won't need the extra meat flavour. HA! Good Fun!

yeah. am having reflected on this more than once. in ye goode olde days (maybe twelve years past?) if a politician said something objective wrong before facts were known, there were consequences as all major news outlets would lambast the yutz for his/her stoopid. political foes would seize on such a moment and even political allies would seek to distance themselves from the wrongdoer. sadly, in the post algorithm age, getting out in front o' the narrative with the most extreme take possible is how you get views and go viral. the speaker reveals self as alternatively clownish (ignorant) or sinister (mendacious) but those is ephemeral flaws which will disappear when the next viral take grabs the national attention. worst is that kinda mentality has filtered down so that we see as increasing normal behavior amongst ordinary people ands not just politicians and media personalities. have linked previous. the two we share here is the offerings which show how much has changed as 'posed to remaining the same 'cause is specific dealing with politicians dealing with press. gotta politician saying he would never lie to the press 'cause doing so always turns out bad... and most o' the people, some o' the biggest brains in america in 1989, is nodding their heads in agreement? feels positively surreal, no? @Zoraptor actually, the last example we specific highlighted were your purposeful gaslighting about the time-frame for iran to build a nuclear weapon. recall when you selecta-quoted Gromnir, cnn and others as you fumbled repeatedly to make coherent sense outta an original bad take? what you are describing with your gaslighting on the cognitive test is not actual the same is it? is hardly a rush to frame a narrative before evidence is available as much as you wanna smash a round peg into a square hole. after all, 2017 were the cognitive test zor misremembers as trump distancing himself from not-yet-candidate biden... so, hardly the same. our pointing out that 2017 is a long time remote and we still don't have reliable reasons for the test being administered is so not same as a few o' the clowns making up facts to fit a preconceived narrative regarding contemporaneous events. heck, am the only guy in that linked exchange who shared the insights o' actual experts. but you keep pluggin' away little fella. eventual, if only by accident, you might trip over a valid argument instead o' repeated stepping on rakes. aside, who in their right mind boasts about remembering "person woman, man, camera, tv," ff to 11:45ish we still don't know why trump doctors keep giving trump the cognitive test no other President has received... and again, zor's biden excuse is pure fantasy as biden weren't running for office when trump were first tested, and it sure seems unlikely trump is measuring himself against biden in 2025. typical wacky stuff from triggered zor. thanks. edit: "Last line from my previous post still applies, I'm not going to bother arguing with you so no need for a thesis length word soup (yep, not just Trumpists used the technique) reply." am not thinking we need to point out how funny it were zor had to add this... after his triggering. another rake. *chuckle* HA! Good Fun!

am more likely to make pierogi, but am finding we like most dumpling variations, regardless o' cultural origin. however, am posting 'cause o' your mention o' bone broth. made chicken soup. is one o' the few soups we don't need add broth to 'cause am making the broth by boiling the chicken, right? the thing is, we still have a bunch o' frozen turkey bones from our thanksgiving birds and so we added turkey bones (which we had roasted in an air fryer before freezing) when we were boiling our chicken in anticipation o' making soup. ... perhaps we added a few too many bones, 'cause the couple quarts o' soup we did not freeze and instead refrigerated has become a solid mass o' gelatin. we got a weird looking and extreme dense jell-o mold instead o' what you would expect from a soup. tastes delicious, so... whatever. HA! Good Fun!

am thinking @Malcador and similar posters learned their lesson and am not seeing the need to embarrass them with their initial failure o' imagination (reasonable and understandable) followed by a curious obstinate reluctance to ignore just how different were the trump threat compared to previous examples o' bad Presidents from post ww2. converse, people who has invoked TDS as a response to those critical o' trump post january 6 deserve the same scorn and ridicule as the seth rich conspiracy nutters... and people who set off fireworks after midnight multiple days before or after holidays such as new years, chinse new years and the fourth of july. it were raining here on new years, so once the weather cleared a few folks in our neighborhood felt justified in firing off their unused arsenals a couple days later. not cool. sadly, suing kriti noem for her defamation is gonna be difficult... and perhaps surprising, her dhs post ain't what is insulating her from deserved legal punishment. maybe hurl has heard us caution people against speaking out before facts is clear. has been a few doozy examples where we highlighted that the rush to craft a narrative in the absence o' evidence has a tendency to mark the lightning quick pundits as clowns and fools... not that such happening over and over again has slowed those most egregious purveyors o' stoopid even a little. so it goes. unfortunate, the lack o' facts, or at least the possibility o' a counter-narrative before accepted facts is widely available, results in a legal defense to slander even if such behavior is moral repugnant. most o' us believe that government figures should have facts straight before they make accusations o' criminal behavior or moral turpitude, but that ain't a rule for kristi noem anymore than it is for the clowns posting on this board. when discussing matters o' public interest, or when speaking o' individuals who is loosely defined as public figures, you may only receive damages if you are able to prove that the speaker knew (or should have known... which gets a little fuzzy at the margins, eh?) they were lying when they made their outlandish utterance. krisit noem has shown time and again that she is not only extreme ignorant but that she will speak before it is even possible to know a truth. as far as we can tell, her definition o' domestic terrorist is less a legal identifier than it is a label o' political affiliation, and at the moment, there is literal millions o' fox news, newsmax and oan viewers who has only seen selected video o' the incident which could be interpreted in such a way that the victim o' the minneapolis shooting were trying to run down an ice agent. go after kristi noem for her abject stoopid is no easier than winning a court judgement against your fellow boardies who misspoke about police shootings in wisconsin or the unfortunate events at Uvalde. is functional your right as an american to blow your ignorant load. ... also, and am feeling gross even mentioning, but the victim o' the shooting is dead, so kristi is further insulated from legal pain. is much more difficult (although not impossible) for surviving family members to be successful plaintiffs in defamation cases. if the victim had survived, brought a defamation claim, and then died, her family might be able to continue her defamation claim, depending on the state. regardless, as a general rule, you cannot defame a dead person... except in texas. aside, even if kristi noem were held legal responsible, american tax payers would cover the damages. HA! Good Fun!

made our two new years mainstays: pork and sauerkraut hoppin' john black-eyed peas freeze better than hoppin' john, so before we added the rice, we set aside half o' the peas. our family don't particular like black-eyed peas or hoppin' john. as such we got a fair amount o' leftovers. our grandfather became a fan o' pennsylvania dutch style pork and sauerkraut, so our grandmother made it yearly and everybody in our family grew to enjoy the recipe. no leftover pork and sauerkraut. we also made collard greens and cornbread muffins. our clan appreciates our collard greens, but that is 'cause we sauté with 'em with a fair bit o' molasses. genuine southern-style collard greens is too sloppy, wet and bitter for our delicate relatives. in any event, the collard greens and cornbread muffins has vanished. also made a charred cabbage salad which includes hazelnuts, bacon and gargonzola as well as a sweet dijon and vinegar dressing. not a hit with the kids, but the adults liked it. we bought a pie for desert. *shrug* am not a fan o' baking and we already made the cornbread muffins, so... in any event, we do have a fair bit o' black-eyed pea leftovers, which am admitting were part o' the plan from the get-go. HA! Good Fun!

the harder your cutting surface, the quicker your knives will become dull. am not aware o' a common cutting board material which will dull your blades faster than titanium. metal cutting boards o' any type are annoyingly loud and the surface also tends to be slick to the point o' being dangerous. regardless, the biggest drawback to titanium is the speed with which they will dull your knives. a thick ( at least 1.5 ") wood board (teak, maple and walnut are all excellent materials... am personal a fan o' teak,) is probable the best all round option, but if you do not like wood, that narrows the field considerable. composite and bamboo or other grass boards is not great in our opinion, but japanese rubber boards are an interesting alternative as they do not suffer from the microplastic issue and will not warp when exposed to the heat of a dishwasher the way some plastic boards do... not that am ever personal using the dishwasher to clean a cutting board. rubber boards is also thinner and lighter than wood boards, although they tend to be a smidge thicker than plastic boards as they are manufactured with a rigid wood or composite core. it is worth noting that japanese boards are better suited for japanese knives as 'posed to western a chef knife style which relies on rocking as much as slicing, but they are a nice compromise if you absolute refuse to go with a wood board. our recollection is that japanese rubber boards tend to be more expensive than wood boards o' the same size, but as an alternative to plastic, they are worth considering. @Bartimaeus louise brooks were a tragic enough figure that am thinking the tibetan death mask is less disconcerting by comparison. curious, whenever we think o' louise brooks, am first recollecting sally bowles from fosse's cabaret am knowing bartimaeus is not a fan o' musicals, but louise brooks were the inspiration for sally bowles. HA! Good Fun!

New Year’s Eve Concerts at Kennedy Center Are Canceled Richard Grenell, the Kennedy Center’s chairman, said in a statement on Monday night that the artists canceling shows were “far-left political activists” and that they had been booked by previous leadership. “Boycotting the arts to show you support the arts is a form of derangement syndrome,” he said. After Mr. Redd canceled the Christmas Eve concert, Mr. Grenell called it “classic intolerance” and threatened a $1 million lawsuit. HA! Good Fun!