Gromnir

and the thing is, there weren't no specific day within a window o' opportunity (from gd's pov) o' less than a week which woulda' been essential. POTUS stepping into to announce support for protesters in cuba is understandable having limited practical impact and even when such occurred we know at least one boardie pretends like it never happened. converse, imagine if trump had stood up and declared his support for peaceful protests and committed fed resources to prevent the diminution o' civil liberties o' those arrested or detained during the summer protests... instead o' sending insignia-free troops to places such as portland and disappearing people into unmarked vans. were no specific day trump needed do the right thing during the summer. were a whole lotta days he were doing the wrong thing, and more than 25% o' the nation were cheering as trump violated basic Constitutional and human rights, and almost another 20% o' americans, while perhaps less comfortable with such authoritarian excesses, were nevertheless willing to go along with the leader of their party as he and william barr sent masked troops to imprison and attack protesters whether they were involved in crimes or not. there were days and weeks and even months when trump coulda' changed course and gotten things right, but chose to do exact opposite. but yeah, cuba situation would be complete different if the press release had been delivered days earlier, and mentioned words like "socialism" or phrases like "police crackdown" right? HA! Good Fun! ps state tv and other sources o' news convincing people that major metropolitan areas were burning non-stop for months legitimized trump actions, but even so it were POTUS who coulda' made a difference on any o' a multitude o' different days during the summer.

indeed. we know exactly what were your complaint 'cause you posted for all to see and you posted two days after biden did exact what you said he wouldn't/couldn't do. your after the fact retconning in an effort to somehow legitimize a criticism which ignored reality is indulging a level o' obstinacy we dare not try and match. HA! Good Fun!

loki. ... f'ing time travel. time manipulation carries with it the potential to use the gods-o'-time-travel-be-damned reset button which means anything which happened season one is quite possible invalidated in season two. bring back dead? ez and is already implied. change and even reverse the most important dramatic events o' season one? no problem. loki went there and did that and we won't know the extent o' the reset 'til season 2. ooh, cliffhanger. cliffhanger? screw you disney. so, once again, fu time travel plot device. no real rhyme or reason for why such is possible or which dramatic story elements is inviolable from the vagaries o' time manipulation. time travel just is and it can be whatever the directors and writers says it is. the audience just needs to sit back and take another hammer blow to the cerebrum, 'cause is time travel. HA! Good Fun! ps we do not like time travel.

to be fair, wil were just a kid at the time. dunno 'bout you but the twenty years 'tween when we were ten and when we hit thirty resulted in changes which would render us unrecognizable to those who knew us when we were 9ish or 10ish. converse, have somebody meet us when we were thirty compared to today and the changes is more subtle and less disconcerting. also, and let's be honest, patrick stewart looked like an old guy long before he were actual old. 1985 patrick stewart ... btw, the only reason we responded were the opportunity to use the lifeforce clip. HA! Good Fun!

gd: His natural inclination would be to support the demonstrators in Cuba. But he dares not do it because quite a lot of the Democrats he needs (and who already don’t like him) are quietly sympathetic to the Cuban government. biden (two days earlier): We stand with the Cuban people and their clarion call for freedom and relief from the tragic grip of the pandemic and from the decades of repression and economic suffering to which they have been subjected by Cuba’s authoritarian regime. The Cuban people are bravely asserting fundamental and universal rights. Those rights, including the right of peaceful protest and the right to freely determine their own future, must be respected. The United States calls on the Cuban regime to hear their people and serve their needs at this vital moment rather than enriching themselves. you need specific words "police crackdown"? or somesuch? you are as bad as marco rubio. you got a narrative and and reality be damned. sounds like support for protesters and is clearly not showing some kinda approval o' the cuban government. went through the same exact issue with bernie sanders criticizing antifa violence. no matter how many times we showed how bernie criticized antifa specific and violence in general, gd believed that bernie were supporting such elements. dog with a bone. HA! Good Fun!

and two days previous to your post complaining that biden likely wanted to criticize cuba but wouldn't couldn't because of "a lot of Democrats." dog with a bone. HA! Good Fun!

given the gd position on foreign entanglements, am dubious 'bout such a conclusion. as an aside, marco rubio did find time to complain 'bout President biden's statement. joe's failure to mention the evils of "socialism and communism" were the fatal flaw in the President's condemnation o' cuba and the support for the protesters? go figure. HA! Good Fun!

... link if it doesn't match the gd narrative, then it doesn't exist? HA! Good Fun!

somebody talking ill o' the 80s? HA! Good Fun!

is our recollection from old days o' university that tolkien were using man 'stead o' human 'cause he were english, and not french. human is from french by way o' latin. man sounds like a shortened form o' human, but isn't. man is actual distinct and comes from old english. tolkien were creating an english mythology, so... HA! Good Fun!

am not surprised. has been kinda glut o' cookie cutter ya fare the last few years on netflix and similar services. listening to boardie feedback has informed us that more than a few who in 2018 mighta' given something like ragnarok a chance by watching most or even all o' a season before reaching a conclusion is now hitting their threshold after an episode or two. don't need more than a couple episodes to see ragnarok fall into same old ya patterns. what we saw o' ragnarok was no worse than other ya shows we has tried to watch. not better either. am thinking more than a few boardies is waiting for better, but are no longer optimistic such is probable. HA! Good Fun!

for cardio we don't need "buddies" and is unlikely we would find anybody willing to join us pre 6:00am for our morning rides. current is too hot to go any later, and by mid august the air quality is gonna force us indoors to stationary bike and rowing machine. long 'bout early-mid november, when the air clears a bit, chances are the rains has started and a cycling schedule becomes weather dependent. january and february is coldish and windy. we look ridiculous in our thermal gear, but riding in winter is not unpleasant if you dress appropriate, with special attention to fingers and ears and nose. nevertheless need to go early as inevitably the winds pick up as the sun gets higher in the sky. honest, march thru june is fantastic for cycling, but the rest o' the year requires a bit o' intestinal fortitude, and even during spring, am ordinary riding at times few buddies would voluntarily join. we live in a curious community with retirees and a few serious hardcore athletes. greg lemond once lived 'bout 1000 metres distance from where we live today. +10 years past our community were kinda an ideal location for a cyclist as we are at the base o' the foothills and you can find flat or incline or anything in-between. increased summer heat and +3 months o' predictable dangerous air quality due to now yearly wildfire problem has had a less than positive impact. even so, we got a surprising number o' winter and summer sport olympians living not far from Gromnir... and we would be nothing but dead weight if we tried to join that select group. got no illusions 'bout our abilities compared to international level athletes. the other significant group o' folks in our community is the people who believe playing 18 holes via a golfcart counts as cardio. sure, there is a few people who are not olympians or golfers but most o' them is gainful employed and have lives to live. now the gym and weights is different. have always preferred working out with somebody who could spot us. not need a cheerleader, but work out with somebody makes less likely we will take off a few too many days. heck, work out with somebody makes less likely we take off a set. no doubt is same for cardio. regardless, we much prefer to have somebody reliable at hand when am doing squats, military press and bench. have never once required a spotter when doing cardio. HA! Good Fun!

there is something about the internet which short circuits brains. is multiple examples which would lend credence to such a hypothesis, but in the present context am gonna use the facebook-and-twitter-as-censors complaint. if trump wrote an op-ed and wanted the washington post and nyt to publish it, it would surprise nobody that in the US such publications cannot be compelled to print material they do not wish to be staining their product. am suspecting we not even need explain why this is the case as is just gonna feel offensive and unamerican to force the washington examiner to print a bernie sanders or aoc op ed 'bout the evils of global warming or tucker carlson. am suspecting conservatives and liberals is both gonna be near universal agreeing is wrong to compel publishers to use their resources to promote partisan opinions not shared by the publisher. as such, the newspaper examples we offer is not first amendment relevant 'cause has nothing to do with government efforts to limit speech (duh) and is doubtful anybody would even suggest such a choice by a publisher not to print stories somehow counts as censorship. internet makes different? why? is 'cause facebook typically allows people to say whatever they wish to say? if there is a censorship issue which may be level'd at the tech giants, it is a contracts issue and depends on terms o' service. if facebook said to users that they could say whatever they wished w/o fear o' facebook interference, and then facebook censored anyways, then there would be a contracts issue and perhaps the disgruntled user could get back the money they didn't pay to use facebook? not a particular strong syllogism, eh? *chuckle* internet is indeed a little different from other kinda publishers 'cause unlike newspapers and even tv broadcasters, those who maintain internet fora are not legal liable to the same degree as is ordinary publishers. if a newspaper prints a story which contains facts which is untrue, even if is an op ed, the publisher as well as the author may be held liable if there is a subsequent libel cause o' action. Congress looked at the internet in its infancy and decided that holding internet publishers responsible same as print and tv and radio, or any rando person on the street who might dare to repeat a untrue statement which resulted in economic harm to a plaintiff was gonna undermine the value o' the internet as a means o' communication and education. imagine obsidian entertainment needing potential fact check every post before it is public displayed on these boards. the thing is, the same fox pundits complaining 'bout how facebook failure to be allowing q folks to tell lies using their resources is rising to a level o' untenable censorship is the same folks suggesting that facebook is not deserving their qualified immunity from libel/slander suits 'cause o' republish o' user content. remove the special carveout for internet publishers and do you believe the tech giants will be more or less inclined to prune offensive or questionable user content? ultimate, this is all just part o' the current gop's politics o' grievance. is no genuine policy issues, but we are gonna hear 'bout stolen elections, and critical race theory and big tech censorship while the mitch and others do everything they are able to delay and prevent any biden successes, even if such successes would benefit their own constituents. gonna mostly ignore the groundhog day silliness o' @Guard Dog where he somehow uses this as an example o' they are all bad when this is in fact the unholy necromancy o' a kinda unique pre ww2 phenomenon in US politics. nothing from obama, bush, clinton or reagan were anything close to what we are seeing today, so is hardly useful as an example o' some kinda trend so much as the kinda reactionary bs we never thought were possible w/o a major war or devastating economic upheaval. *shrug* it turns out the great recession and the endemic hopelessness the bootstrap libertarians and the ultra-wealthy deride as a failure o' people to take advantage o' all the opportunities available to make personal success a reality in 21st century america (*eye-roll*), were enough to turn working class southerners, midwest farmers and out-of-work rust belt factory workers into a perpetual mob with no capacity for self reflection and a whole lotta anger just waiting for a demagogue to misdirect it. 'course the political leadership o' the gop has made only token efforts to halt this populist nightmare in large part 'cause citizens united all but guaranteed the career politicians would put pragmatism before morality given how much cash is on the line. HA! Good Fun! ps we will note the hypocrisy o' more than a few obama fanbois when it comes to freedom of press. complain 'bout efforts to collect cellphone data o' nytimes reporters by trump were a horrendous violation too unamerican to endure but obama were doing the exact same with fox reporters. however, in a not so subtle rebuke o' obama, and a clear refutation o' the gd principle, biden made no effort to defend doj spying on press and public committed to make sure such did not continue during his administration.

season one weren't exact our jam. as such it were hardly surprising our only thought after seeing the linked trailer were, "henry cavill doing a ricola commercial seems like a no-brainer." HA! Good Fun!

pets are not toys which is ok to outgrow. post pandemic pets sudden become an inconvenience and are discarded? is not as if you can public shame these people either 'cause you know the folks who would abandon their cat or dog at a shelter would just as likely kick fido out o' the car 50km from nowhere if the alternative were having their name displayed on some kind animal control/shelter website as somebody who returned their pet... probable act offended at the government trying to public ridicule hardworking americans just trying to go back to work. we knew this were gonna happen. 'tween folks dying from covid and leaving behind pets and now the d-bags who is sudden inconvenienced by pet ownership returning their boon companions, we knew this were gonna happen. were a similar dynamic during and after the great rescission. once the moratorium on evictions is lifted, am suspecting the situation will get even worse for pets. sucks.

reminds us o' a post from not so long past. led zepplin has been a gateway drug for more than a few o' our hip-hop acquaintances. get 'em hooked on clyde stubblefield takes little effort. is then a short journey to appreciation o' john bonham. HA! Good Fun!

coyotes, owls and rattlesnakes is the most common non vehicular direct slayers o' felines in our neck o' the woods, but a dvm friend o' ours informed us that while it were not shocking to have a cat dispatched by one o' the aforementioned, the far more common source o' feline death were rodents-- diseased rodents spreading whatever contagion they might be suffering from to their would be feline predator. am suspecting it becomes kinda difficult for a lay person to know whether disease killed sylvester before the coyotes and vultures arrived. not exactly disney "circle of life" material, eh? our doctor o' veterinary medicine friend kinda convinced us w/o trying to keep all future cat pets indoors. HA! Good Fun! ps we also discovered you don't need a particular big owl to take out a cat neither. a few o' those birds is disproportionate powerful for their size and they will kill prey which seeming outsize 'em even if their most common food is small rodents n' such. don't mess with the owls.

"most important first amendment case"? https://xkcd.com/1357/ HA! Good Fun!

you are so odd sometimes. yeast extract, if it poses any known and measurable health problems, is 'cause o' the salt. and is nowhere near enough sodium phosphate in a can o' soup to cause problems unless your husband is actual an infant. you are married to a guy who is getting older and you are nevertheless unconcerned with his apparent high sodium diet, but the yeast extract (not the salt it brings to the table) and sodium phosphate has you concerned enough that you is considering warning your significant other away from canned soup. *shrug* am recalling not so long past one o' our predictable science-challenged boardies expressed reservations 'bout the deaths attributed to covid 'cause so many o' those dying had comorbidities and were old. duh. exercise and eat healthy every day o' your life, but as you get older, chances increase dramatic that you will have some kinda health problem, which will no doubt make you more susceptible to other health problems. am not having been married, but traditional wedding vows mentions "in sickness and in health," no? is a good chance your husband's health problems (if any) becomes your problems one way or another. regardless, homemade lets one control whatever goes in a recipe. HA! Good Fun!

didn't watch the video, but canned soup is ridiculous high in sodium. if your spouse has any kinda heart issues, avoid canned soups is probable the smart option. make soup is ez and it saves well. not need to be a whiz in the kitchen to make fantastic soup. however, as 'tween emptying a can into a pot, perhaps adding a bit o' water and then making hot, homemade soup is far more time consuming. *shrug* low sodium and heart healthy monastery lentils is filling and delicious. a quick look with google produced a recipe almost identical to the one we posted here sometime in the past. technical not soup, but is close enough not to matter. if your spouse likes split pea soup, then such might be a good start 'cause unlike other beans or peas there is no pre soak and typical split pea soup requires few ingredients. maybe even speed up cook time 'w/o needing long slow simmer by using bacon instead o' ham bone. downside to bacon or ham is 'course the salt, so need be careful with how much you add. a ham bone recipe, with only a bit o' ham added will produce good flavour with little added sodium. any soup, as is mostly water, will freeze almost indefinite. make a gallon o' soup and freeze in quart sized containers which you defrost as needed. spend a saturday making three different soups and you likely got a month or two worth o' meals... if you have the freezer space. good stock is key. wanna keep low sodium then make your own stock. super market or costco rotisserie chickens is maybe not on Gromnir's shopping list, but they is popular. 'stead o' throwing out the carcass, make stock in anticipation o' your soup day. canned soups, eve reduced sodium varieties, is ordinary very high in sodium. we have literal gallons o' homemade soup in our freezer at any given time, 'cause we like soup, but if we had any heart concerns we would most assured avoid canned soup and go homemade instead. HA! Good Fun!

am gonna observe mordin solus does patter songs better than de lancie, but regardless, this one is for the bronies. HA! Good Fun!

the US is a republic, which am suspecting were the founder's solution to the issue gorth identifies. even after the Constitution, most americans saw selves as virginians or pennsylvanians as 'posed to Americans, which made sense 'cause most o' their problems were being addressed at the local and state level. am thinking many people who are not american is shocked when they discover just how much state and local government autonomy there is in this curious nation. on these boards we rail 'bout national elections, but the reality is most o' the ordinary laws and government intrusions americans suffer or benefit from is achieved local and state. the US already kinda has the apparatus to achieve what gorth suggests, but am suspecting you would never get enough americans to vote for a change which would functional result in the US returning to pre ww1 (or perhaps even pre civil war) reality o' the states being practical nations unto themselves. more than most western democracies, individual states is more capable (if still inept) at handling essentials o' day-to-day governance as well as addressing more exotic issues such as international trade n' such. the thing is, once you got national programs and apparatus such as social security, and an interstate highway system and national defense, is tough to decentralize and to reduce. furthermore, not all states is capable or desirous o' such autonomy. have mentioned in the past that in spite o' texans occasional talk o' succession, they actual is depending on the national teat for sustenance far beyond the national average. states such as ny and california see a net loss in fed dollar benefits. converse, states such as texas is not in a position where they could easily endure an absence o' federal supporting dollars. get those states, and there is many, to agree to some serious long term pain from a return to real decentralization? regardless, is kinda amusing how the US started out embracing the solution gorth posits, and then abandoned it. no doubt many will argue granting the fed government greater power and authority were a mistake. is not an unreasonable argument, but is hardly axiomatic. HA! Good Fun! ps is also worth noting the US started out with something called the articles o' confederation, which were a colossal failure and were abandoned in favor o' a bit more federalism. shay's rebellion were perhaps all too fresh in the minds o' the Constitutional delegates? dunno. (edit: added a link for shay's rebellion 'cause expecting any non american to know 'bout such would be unfair. however, am gonna admit we didn't bother to read the linked material 'cause am lazy. we apologize in advance if the article is terribad.)

following libertarian "politics" is where we learned about the support of the "bronies" for the cause. the my little ponies fans were so enamored with vermin supreme's campaign promise o' a free pony for every american, they has endorsed him and the libertarian cause since 2012. libertarians, as a party and at the national level has been a joke a lot longer than gd suggests. bronies. at the local level, libertarians is often serious and sober candidates even if they is fringe and in spite o' fact mj support became inextricably linked with libertarians running for office. if libertarians have a single unifying platform position, is probable legalization of marijuana, which maybe hurt the party as states has increasing passed marijuana legalization legislation. once marijuana is legal in a state, then there isn't much setting the libertarian apart from the crowd. HA! Good Fun! ps more proof every post is a star trek post, john de lancie were a narrator for the bronies kickstarter project and he even "sings" a song.

won? be honest and call it a surrender. you are so certain all democrats and republicans is corrupt that you unreasonable grasp at any story which would support your conclusion. how many times has Gromnir needed correct your hasty conclusions? whether is dead bodies in arlington or obama imagined support o' national police, gd is quick to assume the worst of they/them. worse, every time there is actual evidence that a group o' politicians did something wrong, you predictably turn it into a chance to rail 'bout how they are all bad. example: this story were proof that, "Republicans = Democrats =Republicans =Democrats"? your syllogism is, to say the least, lacking. but in your mind is so obvious that the democrats, (and not just some democrats but all democrats) is corrupt that you no longer even bother showing how the other guys is doing the exact same thing... and you sure as heck ain't showing is endemic evhul. wanna revisit the biden thing again? really? am happy to watch you try and explain burisma as proof o' biden corruption. we gonna rehash where you serious complained that the biden speech writer from pre 2000s failed to proper attribute quotes as some kinda proof o' biden lack o' character? can't believe you wanna try and defend that silliness one more time, but don't you worry, we will address your newfound embrace o' relativism in moments. inept, btw, is a extreme different condemnation than corrupt. am quite willing to concede biden is inept. the thing is, almost none o' these guys is up to the task o' running a national level government. 'course part o' the problem is the demands the people make is unreasonable. fix systemic racism? sure, we can do that in two or four six years, yes? oh, and since this is one gd fails habitual, try and come up with a plan to reduce national debt w/o raising taxes or cutting funding for programs which the people would be enraged 'bout if they learned were getting pruned. is a whole lotta problems and all too few is simple... and the simple stuff gets addressed bipartisan and with little fanfare. but again, your cynicism has limits. if they are all well and true bad, then less bad shouldn't make a difference. in fact, refusal to accept a lesser o' evils has previous been foundational for gd. if is all just degrees o' deceit, then the only thing libertarians have to argue in their favor as being less subject to corruption is the fact they ain't never had a meaningful national presence, so is predictable fewer stories o' graft. if libertarians is occupying a spot on the corruption spectrum same as the rest, then a vote for libertarians makes little sense as the only value they offered in 2016 or 2020 were as spoilers. given gd has now admitted to having found religion in relativism, vote for the spoiler is curious. they are all bad except for the libertarians or anybody who agrees with your extreme narrow worldview regarding rusty chain saws, even if such folks stumble outta a tiny car in harlequin garb and face paint. am recalling how certain gd were that 2016 represented a sea change for libertarians in spite o' fact there were overall extreme low voter turnout. so, how did 2020 affect your certainty that 2016 were meaningful for libertarians? as a national percentage o' total vote, 2020 libertarians lost 2/3 o' what they achieved in 2016. oh, and if the criticism o' biden is now ineptitude as 'posed to some kinda endemic party politician corruption, then gary johnson is hardly an improvement. you are not doing a particular good job supporting your hard won cynicism. admitted you has stated you indulge in hyperbole from time to time but you didn't even bother with your meme deflection this time, eh? is doubtful you concede this is all just a big joke, yes? meme or no meme, is the same old same old, yes? HA! Good Fun!

and if your nihilism were consistent, it would still be comic but at least it would be believable. unfortunately, you distinguish them, the established parties, as corrupt and irredeemable and then do your broken record bit o' repetition lamenting how voting democrat or republican is a kinda voluntary self mutilation... at which point you observe there is an alternative. government is broken. the democrats and republicans is all bad. you rage 'gainst the stoopid o' the people for not seeing as clear as you do. how may the people ignore biden and burisma (*snort*) or the florida gop trying to legislate free speech on college campuses and not rage at how such is flip sides o' same coin? (huh?) is no winners. only losers. well, almost. your cynicism takes you to ridiculous places where you suggest they is all broken and beyond hope o' redemption, and then you vote seth cohen, and not as a joke but 'cause you see such as the intelligent and reasonable alternative. you take any example o' a government fail, even if you need manufacture such fails with the help o' fringe radio conspiracies, and use such to justify the fear they is just looking for an excuse to take your guns... or whatever is the current hobgoblin running naked and screaming in your brain today. taxes is theft and the government goons who come to take his rusty chain saw (and pay him for it) deserve a lethal reply. is tough to keep track o' gd's fever dreams 'bout the evils o' government... though based on past comments gd fully expects government to protect him from fellow citizens who wanna take his stuff, which is kinda hypocritical given the statement which started this current side journey. "flamethrowers" indeed. HA! Good Fun!