Gromnir

well, they are trying her in juvenile court, and no doubt her defense will be along the lines o' what you suggest; that she was just doing what she was told to do. has never been a particular strong defense, but the fact she were a kid will no doubt be a significant factor. am not bothered that a secretary would be deemed complicit for knowing aiding in mass murder. the thing is, am wondering how far down the proximate cause chain justice demands we take this. how many germans knew? how many germans had some small role which contributed to the attempted extermination o' a minority population? is probable that the guy delivering bread or milk in 1944 to stutthof knew what were happening to jews, poles, russians and others. why wasn't he put on trial? were the milkman's contribution so fundamental different from the secretary? how do we distinguish the stutthof milkman from the secretary? is doubtful the milkman and the secretary gets put on trial in the days immediate following the war even if there were strong evidence which showed they were knowing exact what were happening in stutthof. how many delivery people and craftsman who contributed to the maintenance o' stutthof knew? is always civilian contractors and workers at such facilities. can't help but wonder how much o' this is political theatre. decades removed from events, prosecutors get a chance to show they is still aware and sensitive? again, am actual ok with finding a seventeen-year-old to be complicit if the evidence supports. the thing is, if she is guilty, then so were a whole lotta other people and no effort were made to prosecute 'em. lack o' prosecution o' the multitudes does not make the secretary less complicit, but it severe undermines fundamental notions o' justice if she gets singled out so temporal remote from actual events. and don't get us started on the pogroms from before the war, and the dirty euro secret regarding the large number o' jews quiet murdered by local populations after they were liberated from the nazi camps. is a whole lotta complicit. is mighty convenient for 2021 populations to single out the nazis as the villains when is fact the nazis neither started nor finished the murder. HA! Good Fun!

warning: potential unsettling video

we fully support mr. navarro's suggestion. am thinking this is a fantastic idea. a trump defense should be directed by an individual with a dubious ethical code who understands that all you need to convince the trump base o' anything they already wanna believe is volume and a bit o' gaslighting. as long as the republican party is pandering to the trump base, sound legal representation is a waste. what trump needs is an infernal carnival barker. matt gaetz were born for the role. HA! Good Fun!

our approval o' pathfinder: kingmaker were marginal given a few o' the perpetual bugs, our dissatisfaction with 3.5 legacy dnd, and our frustration with the horrible kingdom building mechanic. the ap (adventure path) wotr is based 'pon were also not a fave for us, although the first two adventures weren't bad. tragic, the ap descended into stoopid right quick after those initial offerings. our ambivalent approval were not enough to keep us from backing a tier which included beta access. go figure. we recognized the only potential games we would be playing in early 2021 were betas for bg3 and wotr. beggars and choosers. whatever. haven't managed to steel our self enough to actual play the wotr beta, but am certain to try out a zen archer/inquisitor at some point. likely a dwarf. is too bad for shady that owlcat went with wotr, 'cause carrion crown were not only a fantastic ap (top three out o' ~ two dozen in our estimation) but it were filled with gothic stuff. HA! Good Fun!

agree, but as odd as it seems, is not unreasonable if you ignore the lessons o' history. if you are nevada, how do you compete with texas and their tax friendly scheme? looking ahead, how do you compete with shanghai? sure, the problems won't start with a self-contained future intel campus in sparks, nevada, or at least it won't be noticeable. the stem employees got too much personal leverage and automation will increasingly handle the grunt work, but there will be less educated employees being exploited amazon style. all those menial job folks working in the company towns/counties who is insta interchangeable with thousands o' other unemployed service workers will be having zero power. count on big business to look out for such persons? 'course tech is looking ahead. problem is too few is looking behind. HA! Good Fun!

y'know, if at least the company town stuff were the realm o' science fiction you might be able to excuse nevada. unfortunate, multiple somebodies didn't pay attention in class when teachers were talking 'bout the late 19th and early 20th century coal wars. teddy roosevelt had to step in in 1902(?) to stop what looked like a looming class war. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/minewars-coalcamps/ there were kinda a sea change with the passage o' the national industrial recovery act o' 1933, which made massive unionization efforts possible. even so, it took more than a decade for the government to dismantle the worst excesses made possible by the company town model. am knowing this stuff were 100 years in the past, but the kinda necromantic stoopid by nevada is exact why we teach history in schools, no? HA! Good Fun!

am not sure if such is a fair description, but from a practical pov it probable don't make a difference if democrats know how to plan strategic and tactical. the issue we see is that you are dealing with a polarized "they." democrats and republicans is suffering similar problems insofar as their parties is not unified. understatement. am unable to tell you what is core republican values as o' today and is not much better for democrats. pelosi, schiff and schumer, to name a few, is not dumb, but you got a deeply divided caucus and is tough to draw from sun tzu and clausewitz when every decision is a compromise 'tween wildly disparate pov. am recalling a minivan our folks bought when we were in high school. both parents hated that van. the reason they bought the damn minivan is precise 'cause they both disliked it. mom and dad couldn't agree to purchase a vehicle one o' 'em liked, so they purchased a vehicle neither liked but were nevertheless functional... cause that were a fair resolution? 2021 democrats is far less simpatico than were our parents, so am thinking for the near future we gotta assume democrat compromises is gonna continue to be fugly. and as we noted, is as bad and likely worse for republicans. mitch may be an ammonal opportunist, but he ain't stupid. kevin mccarthy may not be the historic smartest minority leader o' the house (again with the understatement) but he ain't as much o' a fool as circumstances make him appear to be. 145 house republicans in a secret ballot voted to not move against liz cheney in spite o' very public calls from the mouthy trumpers in Congress to remove her from a leadership role. converse, public votes to impeach trump after the attack at the capitol garners less than a dozen. the republican caucus is painful divided and endemic cowardice/pragmatism has 'em saying stuff public which many clear do not believe out o' fear o' antagonizing the base. house members, far more than senators, is constant running for reelection. democracy is ugly even if is better than the alternatives. HA! Good Fun!

hmmm. also sprach zarathustra were what came to mind. HA! Good Fun!

not that anybody asked our opinion, but am against punishing marjorie taylor greene by a house vote. mtg is a nut and a dangerous nut at that. am not gonna run down the list o' all the lies she has told... too many. mtg should not be a member o' Congress, but she ain't the first dangerous loon we has had as a member o' the house o' representatives or senate, and she won't be the last. so assume mtg is kicked off o' Congressional committees (or worse) by democrat votes and ask selves what happens when republicans win back the house. under harry reid and obama, democrats removed filibuster rules for Presidential appointments save for SCOTUS. sure enough, when the republicans got control o' senate and had a republican President, they went crazy with appointments, many o' whom were demonstrably unqualified. didn't stop there neither as the SCOTUS filibuster rules were changed. the reason you got acb on the Court is 'cause democrats refused to consider the consequences o' changes to filibuster. predictable. were all so predictable. similar predictable is republicans looking for payback if mgt is punished. mtg deserves punishment. republicans shoulda' done so. however, what is arguable a reasonable and justified action by Congress to punish a member for behavior unbecoming a member o' the House needs be viewed from a perspective two, four or six years in the future. consider that ilhan omar and rashida tlaib has made comments which were at best ill-advised and arguable bigoted. tell us mtg comments ain't same as squad member nuttery and you are preaching to the choir, but when the opposition party gets control, they ain't gonna be concerned with fairness. btw, am not suggesting members o' Congress should be free to say and do anything w/o any possibility o' punishment by the house or senate. however, am not gonna chase anybody down the proverbial rabbit hole. Congress has had too many foolish, unhinged and even dangerous members. the thing is, the behaviour being punished need be so egregious that we ain't having this discussion. mtg deserves punishment, but if you doubt for even an instant the inevitable day o' reckoning once republicans take back the house, you are being as obtuse as all those qanon dopes. convince us mtg should be given the option o' "crossing the desert" the entire distance 'tween the capitol and wh if she wanna keep her office and committee seats? you win. we agree. unfortunate, in a few short years, is gonna be republicans with the paddles and are you telling us you are comfortable with relying on their restraint and wisdom? HA! Good Fun!

no way is there enough votes, and am ok with that. yeah, after january 6 am thinking guys like lindsey graham were shocked by how much support trump retained. were after the capitol were attacked. no doubt many republican senators did some quick polling and discovered that a significant % o' republicans were still devoted to the Stop The Steal narrative and to trump personal. fine. democrats managers should make their case. there will be a record o' who stood with trump in spite o' fact a cop died and many people were injured while insurrectionists broke into the Capitol, some o' whom were calling for aoc, pelosi and mike pence to be murdered. not enough votes? fine. the senators who once again vote transactional instead o' choosing to vote integrity will face a reckoning... maybe. probable not immediate. more significant, as we keep pointing out, the post mortem from the Presidential election reveals a significant % o' the republican party doesn't approve o' trump. republicans made gains in the House, but trump lost. the reason georgia lost two republican senators is in large part due to trump. force republicans to effective swear fealty to trump keeps the trump base happy, but is gonna make situation a whole lot tougher for any republican who needs educated and suburban republicans to win an reelection. a senate trial where as much trump ugly as possible is revealed daily/nightly while republicans resort to strained procedural arguments to take cover from facing reality makes it more difficult for the complicit republicans to later disavow trump when is clear he is doing more harm than good for the party. the trial won't result in a conviction. what the trial will do is make it more difficult for those considerable number o' suburban republicans to vote for a trump candidate. doesn't need be 50% of republicans. doesn't need be 20% of republicans. particular for national elections like Presidency, the bannon line is enough. a trial forces republicans to public stand with marjorie taylor greene and trump. good. you will continue to see business reduce republican funding efforts and you will have more than enough suburban republicans become actual independents to undermine future republican voting efforts which go beyond county levels. HA! Good Fun!

is about political appointees. from our pov, show emails from previous administration officials stating that the new administration would honor parental leave o' political appointees is hilarious, but if we need explain the joke it is ruined. of all people, gd siding with political appointees who knew they could/would be having their jobs end january 20, 2021 and attempting to suck on the government teat after termination is curious... or maybe not. gonna lose your TANSTAAFL cred. this were not a hidden problem. political appointees pretending as if they were caught unawares that they would lose all benefits and privileges with a change in administrations? these individuals had a whole lotta time to prepare before january 20, 2021, and rely on email correspondence from previous administration officials as if it grants some kinda authority or restitution claim is straining credulity. yeah, anybody recent terminated from their job may sympathize. is possible anybody who has lost health coverage benefits might somehow sympathize... we s'pose. whatever. is not as if wh gardeners or service personnel is losing benefits. we are talking political appointees who will not be fulfilling the post parental leave obligation for obvious reasons. again TANSTAAFL. call us cold, but to paraphrase, flow my tears, the trump appointee said. HA! Good Fun! ps change situation. assume for a sec that amy klobuchar or corey booker becomes President after biden (am not liking k. harris, so let's not even pretend she is next Prez) and a bunch o' former biden political appointees is given all kinda benefits after january 2025. we would be a bit annoyed. am suspecting gd would be annoyed. President booker, with no intention o' bringing the biden appointees into his new administration, nevertheless extends benefits 'cause the democrats are just one big happy family... or somesuch. screw that.

if you haven't seen paths of glory, we recommend... is another kubrick and kirk douglas classic. warning: is not as cheerful and sunny as spartacus. HA! Good Fun!

‘Vladimir the Poisoner’ A translation of Alexey Navalny’s speech in court on February 2 The main thing in this whole trial isn’t what happens to me. Locking me up isn’t difficult. What matters most is why this is happening. This is happening to intimidate large numbers of people. They’re imprisoning one person to frighten millions. We’ve got 20 million people living below the poverty line. We have tens of millions of people living without the slightest prospects for the future. Life is bearable in Moscow, but travel 100 kilometers in any direction and everything’s a mess. Our whole country is living in this mess, without the slightest prospects, earning 20,000 rubles [$265] a month. And they’re all silent; they try to shut people up with these show trials. Lock up this one to scare millions more. One person takes to the streets and they lock up another five people to scare 15 million more.

people forget what it were like when nixon resigned. republican Congressmen who were not loyal enough were punished by republican voters in the following election. one reason we had so few Congressmen condemn presidents clinton or trump is 'cause they learned from history. keep in mind, nixon were much more popular than trump. is gonna take a few years. Trump Destroyed Himself am knowing there is a few who keep on with the correlation fail, but trump lost suburban and educated white voters in numbers sufficient to negate fact trump increased republican voter turnout and did better with minorities in 2020 than he did in 2016. new automatic registration laws in a couple key states such as michigan and georgia (nevada were a battleground just added to the list) as well as disaffected republicans made the difference. is why so many threatened republican Congressman were elected in states/counties where trump did worse than the competition. reason we don't have a trump Presidency in 2021 is in large part due to the fact many republicans had enough o' trump. the plethora o' lawsuits trump faces is gonna be extreme public and the many annoyed republican suburbanites is gonna be appalled and indignant and pretend as if news o' trump corruption and deceit is revelatory. am s'posing quicker the nixon, the bloom will come off the rose. however, there is the trump base which has turned trumpism into a religion o' sorts and those folks will never admit they made a mistake. the hardcore will only further galvanize. HA! Good Fun! ps one thing to keep in mind is just how slow a few o' these trump lawsuits is gonna happen. for example, am assuming is three years before the trump tax stuff finally advances to a point where we see a trial. will be more than a few pundits at fox, newsmax and oan warning viewers that any rush to judgement is unfair. will be some time before we see the considerable number o' ambivalent republicans admit their mistake.

https://theins.ru/news/239080 reporter arrested by police and having a bag placed over her head were threatened with electroshock if she did not surrender her phone password.

Bonus episode: Inside the craziest meeting of the Trump presidency Flynn went berserk. The former three-star general, whom Trump had fired as his first national security adviser after he was caught lying to the FBI (and later pardoned), stood up and turned from the Resolute Desk to face Herschmann. "You're quitting! You're a quitter! You're not fighting!” he exploded at the senior adviser. Flynn then turned to the president, and implored: "Sir, we need fighters." Herschmann ignored Flynn at first and continued to probe Powell's pitch with questions about the underlying evidence. "All you do is promise, but never deliver," he said to her sharply. Flynn was ranting, seemingly infuriated about anyone challenging Powell, who had represented him in his recent legal battles. Finally Herschmann had enough. "Why the **** do you keep standing up and screaming at me?" he shot back at Flynn. "If you want to come over here, come over here. If not, sit your ass down." Flynn sat back down. ... is gonna take years before those who voted for trump a second time will realize (and forbear they admit) just how fortunate is america that trump failed to be reelected. HA! Good Fun!

in spite o' being a multiple award winner, libra is one o' the books by delillo which is rare mentioned when cataloging his best works. were a fascinating read and tonal unique compared to previous and subsequent works. delillo loses us when he indulges his philosophical pretentions, but with libra kept us engaged with a yarn o' improbable (and sometimes terrifying) inevitabilities. is fiction. real people. real dates. real events. nevertheless, in the gaps 'tween real, delillo colors with crayons which don't match any known shades o' real. libra is not pretending to be anything other than the fictive dream o' an author with similar curiosity as gorth. am recommending. HA! Good Fun!

Матери 11-летней девочки, задержанной на митинге в Петербурге, пригрозили уголовным делом и ограничением родительских прав well, ok then. HA! Good Fun!

Navalny’s nationwide protests: Round II HA! Good Fun!

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First on CNN: Trump's impeachment defense team leaves less than two weeks before trial while he was in the wh, there were at least a couple people who, if for no other reason than self preservation, would point out that trump's impulses towards self immolation were ill-advised. those people clear did not go to florida with donald. if steve bannon is the voice of reason, you may have a problem. ... rudy, meet your newest problem: win defamation regarding an issue o' arguable public interest is not ez, but rudy is providing casebook examples which don't happen in rl 'cause nobody is so reckless. as noted in a previous post, dominion doesn't genuine want rudy, but am suspecting the lincoln project lawyers are hopeful rudy doesn't retract and apologize by february 3. HA! Good Fun!

Dodger Stadium’s COVID-19 vaccination site shut down after protesters gather at entrance so, a group o' antivaxxers and alt-right crackpots who weren't satisfied with refusing to volunteer for a covid-19 vaccine is now active trying to prevent other people from receiving their scheduled vaccines. so it goes. HA! Good Fun!

hmmm we reflected on the appropriateness o' posting in this thread, but the woman in the video called 'em "cute," so who is Gromnir to quibble. HA! Good Fun!

you have a gift for understatement. as to the godzilla v. kong movie, am admitted intrigued although we should be a bit embarrassed by the admission. am not a kaiju movie fan, but perhaps that is 'cause am a kong fan even if not at the peter jackson level o' fandom. unlike most kaiju, kong is an actual character and he weren't just a fat stagehand in a rubber suit neither. the stop-action animation for kong set the bar for decades. is actual little in common 'tween kong and godzilla from a storytelling pov and is no good reason to wanna force 'em into the same film, other than the crazy-arsed impulse which has folks arguing 'bout which would win in a fight, a polar bear or a tiger. nevertheless, as already stated, am intrigued. ... don't like the bond-with-a-child aspect... at all. that were gamera's shtick. HA! Good Fun!