Gromnir

welsh rarebit for all intents and purposes, were nothing more than a grilled cheese sandwich but with welsh rarebit am able to extra load the cheese. am gonna embrace any excuse for more cheese in a recipe. we oven toasted thick cut sourdough making sure both sides were toasted. ordinarily we use rye bread, but we did not have rye bread and we were not gonna make rye bread. is not traditional, but we were throwing on a slice o' tomato for each piece o' bread. 'cause. too bad we do not drink, 'cause this woulda' been perfect with guinness as were a fair amount o' guinness in the cheese sauce. HA! Good Fun!

we got the flu... think we have the flu. symptoms: muscle aches, runny nose, head congestion, sore throat. have had a slight fever at times over the past 24 hours, but were in the sub 100F range. no coughing. no shortness o' breath. no loss of smell or taste. nevertheless, we thought it were prudent to get a covid test as am aware covid symptoms is hardly universal. january 7. unless we wanna drive more than 50 miles, earliest we can get tested at any area location testing site is january 7. 7:00pm on january 7. have been informed that the response time for covid test results is current 3 days. to be safe, am self quarantining, but is likely we will not know results o' our covid test until seven or eight days following our initial symptoms? HA! Good Fun! ps we got a flu shot in early october. for many months have been active avoiding any indoor situation where we might come into contact with people, but last week our pharmacist called us and said we should get a shingles vaccination, 'cause am now old enough for that to be a thing. went to get shingles shot on new years eve day but 'cause of an administrative snafu, we did not actual get vaccinated. days later we got flu. go figure.

the thing is, the alt-right/fringe element spouting conspiracy theories on radio were largely dismissed by the republican party leadership up until bannon and trump. mccain added palin to his ticket in 2008 'cause his advisors realized how the less educated and increasing angry element o' the republican party represented a large number o' voters. not only did mccain lose, but he opined how adding palin and legitimizing her crazy were the single biggest mistake o' his campaign. post 2008, republicans went back to trying to be more inclusive as 'posed to embracing the wingnut divisiveness o' the alt-right segment... but trump success killed that. ... am knowing people get tired o' hearing this, but as none o' the trump voters with conscience has ever responded, am gonna once again point out how the muslim ban were the turning point o' trump's campaign in 2015 and were quite possible the death knell o' the republican party as we know it, even if we didn't realize what were happening at the time. recall, every republican candidate at the time condemned trump's proposed muslim ban-- every single one. the muslim ban is what genuine distinguished trump from the other candidates. the republican party, if not ordinary republicans living in texas and florida, were at least vocal appalled to the the muslim ban, to conspiracy nonsense and to divisiveness. 2015 and the republican party, in spite of tea party elements, were desiring o' identifying its lineage as the party of lincoln and more recent, reagan. sure, the fringe has been around for decades, though am gonna note it were more a cultural and ethnic element than a party element. thirty years ago southern democrats were as likely to embrace the wingnut conspiracy theories and divisiveness kp sees as inextricable linked to the republican party. were not party. were culture and education which were the predictors o' the conspiracy theory element and such stuff crossed party lines. southern democrats and rust belt republicans were equal likely to embrace stoopid. not 30 years. the great recession magnified income inequality on a massive scale. with greater income inequality came predictable greater political polarization. the same economic forces hurting rust belt farmers and factory workers were punishing low-income urban dwellers. nevertheless, 'cause o' polarization, people who is functional sharing the same freaking fox hole sees each other as the enemy. is stoopid, but alt-right radio is selling stoopid. bannon recognized how the alt-right radio elements kp mentions could mobilize a considerable voting bloc which might reshape the repuiblican party. admitted, alt-right radio has been selling the same schtick for 30 years, but were always considered fringe. it were fringe until after the great recession. is a perfect storm. US republican democracy results in the possibility o' a minority nevertheless able to control all branches o' government. trump as a populist is a ridiculous notion given how relative unpopular he is, but our electoral college and genuine split legislature designed to enhance the need for bipartisan cooperation failed utterly with a President unwilling to follow norms or the Constitution. after +100 years o' Congress ceeding more and more power to the Presidency, the wisdom o' the Constitutional design began to falter. 30 years ago? nope. fifteen years past and the party were still identifying itself as a party with values espoused by reagan. some time after the great recession, the party o' lincoln swung towards representing an electorate which woulda' been more likely to vote calvin coolidge into office than ronald reagan, and for many o' the same reasons. HA! Good Fun!

the heretofore unphotographed fermi oven: chicago pile-due (doo-eh) HA! Good Fun!

am rooting for the eagles. why? an eagles victory means nfc east winner is 6-10. HA! Good Fun!

"Opinion by Ashton Carter, **** Cheney, William Cohen, Mark Esper, Robert Gates, Chuck Hagel, James Mattis, Leon Panetta, William Perry and Donald Rumsfeld" All 10 living former defense secretaries: Involving the military in election disputes would cross into dangerous territory another situation wherein the shocking aspect o' the story is not what fits within the four corners o' the piece. "As senior Defense Department leaders have noted, “there’s no role for the U.S. military in determining the outcome of a U.S. election.” Efforts to involve the U.S. armed forces in resolving election disputes would take us into dangerous, unlawful and unconstitutional territory. Civilian and military officials who direct or carry out such measures would be accountable, including potentially facing criminal penalties, for the grave consequences of their actions on our republic." every former defense secretary not in the dirt were concerned enough to state what should be axiomatic regarding a possibility which four years past woulda' been unthinkable. carter, cheney, cohen, esper, gates, hagel, mattis, panetta, perry and rumsfield is reminding military officials o' the oath they took to defend the Constitution. dismiss as impossible trump invoking the insurrection act in a last ditch effort to maintain his grip on the resolute desk ignores the dozens o' previous trump actions which were previous unthinkable, improbable and even impossible. am personal still in the "improbable" zone, but such does not blind us to a real possibility which for us became considerable less improbable today.

breaking news: video o' raffensperger responding to trump's conspiracy laden doggerel aimed at changing certified election results. HA! Good Fun!

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the wacky aspect o' this is not trump's efforts to influence an election official, but the predictable inability o' most trumpers to see anything wrong 'bout the audio. HA! Good Fun!

am suspecting in many neighborhoods with loads o' college educated parents, having a social studies teacher who introduces machiavelli and orwell to his/her middle school students will be applauded... just so long as the kids continue to get good grades. alternatively, the problem with letting people make choices for themselves is they will all too often make choices you do not like. people are stoopid, bigoted and petty. people are generous, courageous and wise. when The People decide... HA! Good Fun!

we were thinking same thing as we reflected 'pon our recent paid property tax bill(s). am knowing ca is relative reasonable for property taxes, but doesn't feel reasonable when am writing a check with so many digits. HA! Good Fun!

december 29, 1890 20 medals of honor awarded to us soldiers for the killing in the snow. less than 500 us soldiers. as many as 300 dead indigenous people. by comparison, o' the 70,000 us marines who fought on iwo jima, 27 were awarded medals of honor. Wounded Knee: Healing the Wounds of the Past ... "I did not know then how much was ended. When I look back now from this high hill of my old age, I can still see the butchered women and children lying heaped and scattered all along the crooked gulch as plain as when I saw them with eyes still young. And I can see that something else died there in the bloody mud, and was buried in the blizzard. A people's dream died there. It was a beautiful dream..." --black elk

source. as usual, gd doesn't check sources. the school district in Massachusetts referenced in the recent wsj opinion piece (poorly sourced itself) did not ban orwell or homer. what happened were that books by homer and orwell were removed from the curriculum-- no longer part of required reading lists. weren't some kinda trigger nonsense which prompted the removal neither. arguable worse reasoning were actual at fault for removal: poor student performance. closest thing we heard which matches gd description is a district in california allowing for review o' a handful o' books. bipoc is asking for numerous books to be removed from required reading lists. again, the school district will not ban such books, but pending a public hearing, the books has been temporary sequestered from required reading lists. again, the school district is not banning or removing books, but they are making clear they is willing to listen to concerns from groups offended by... whatever. personal, the idea o' removing of mice and men, adventures of huckleberry finn, and to kill a mockingbird annoys us as shortsighted if the reason for such removal is sensitivity to depictions of race or handicap. am equal annoyed if a massachusetts school district removes homer and orwell from reading required curriculum 'cause o' poor student performance. regardless, gd needs do better at accurate presenting facts, 'cause at this point we need assume he is talking out his kiester whenever he makes a claim. gd beats stuffing out of straw men he builds from odds and ends half-heard on alt-right radio or taken from op-eds? *shrug* gd gots weird and self contradictory notions 'bout democracy and liberty while refusing to make any effort to check sources before posting as fact anything he mighta' heard which aligns with opinions he already believes. serious, check sources. be more suspicious o' a source with which you agree. HA! Good Fun!

Donald Trump’s pardons must not obstruct justice The result is not to negate the pardons issued but to expose a president to prosecution for the way he deployed them. If Mr Trump abuses pardons to shield himself and key allies from justice, that could be charged as criminal obstruction of justice, an abuse of the constitutional power of clemency to accomplish an illegal end. In a poetic turn of justice, such obstructive pardons would make prosecuting a president who granted them easier. If Messrs Manafort and Stone and former national security adviser Michael Flynn were called to testify against Mr Trump, their pardons would make it much harder for them to invoke their constitutional rights to remain silent to avoid self-incrimination. ... an interesting read. two observations: 1) the author is the foremost expert on law o' the US Constitution. 2) the author is also an unabashed partisan who does not hide his contempt for trump. is our opinion larry's intellectual integrity supersedes any political opinion he might embrace. nevertheless we do feel compelled to observe that the professor's legal analysis and conclusions, o' which we find no obvious flaw, conjure forth a scenario grounded as much in a solid understanding o' law as mr. tribe's personal sense o' justice. HA! Good Fun!

"the most offensive song"... evar? warning: seriously merry christmas obsidian made a south park game, so, let's not be hypocrites, eh? HA! Good Fun!

trump pardoning all the russia investigation dirtbags could come back to haunt the President, and quick at that. nothing to stop biden's ag from convening a new grand jury and bringing in stone, manafort, and the rest to testify. catch 'em in a lie and you got 'em for perjury and as we know they previous lied, "catch" is kinda a misleading description o' what would be taking place. either the scumbags gotta roll on trump, or they prompt go back to prison. 5th amendment is an issue, but could grant 'em immunity. am uncertain biden wants to go the retribution route as he is talking 'bout mending divisions, but a few o' these pardons is particular loathsome and there should be some kinda pushback. admitted, the pardons which bothers us most (so far) is kushner and the blackwatwer mercs, but am not seeing a path to retrying those scumbags. am suspecting 2021 will be almost as unpredictable as were 2017. "may you live in interesting times," eh? HA! Good Fun! ps am thinking worst thing trump could do if he wishes to avoid fed prosecution is to pardon himself. biden is unlikely to push for prosecution and will leave such up to his new ag, but joe is likely to pick an ag reluctant to prosecute trump. however, if trump pardons himself, is no way we see the new administration allowing such an unconstitutional precedent to stand w/o challenge. can't test the validity o' a self-pardon w/o a case/controversy. only way to make sure is no future self-pardons by corrupt Presidents is to charge trump with a fed crime and then have the courts weigh in on the pardon question. a trump self-pardon functional forces the doj to prosecute, and mueller left behind a whole lotta evidence o' obstruction of justice in addition to january 20, 2021 marking the end of trump Presidential privileges protecting witnesses and documents. will indulge a clumsy christmas reference and observe that the self-pardon is the coup de grace of all dares: the sinister triple-dog-dare.

reminded us HA! Good Fun!

the question is, "why?" who here believes trump gives a darn about economic suffering of americans, present or future? so, the more vital and pertinent question is, how does this move benefit a soon-to-be ex-President? what is trump 'bout to do which he believes necessitates drumming up popular support? as @BruceVC observes, demand $2000 stimulus puts pressure on trump Congressional allies as 'posed to democrats. petty mischief and wanton vandalism is motivations enough for trump, but one would expect such to be directed at those he deems enemies. $2000 stimulus is not the goal. eye on the ball. HA! Good Fun!

oh, they changed the definition, but is understandable 'cause more than a few idjits were false reading "vaccination" and "previous infection," as being equivalent approaches for reaching herd immunity 'cause such appeared in same sentence authored by WHO separated by nothing save a conjunction. only an a-hole or complete yutz would take the june 2020 definition and ignore lethality, transmissibility and projected body counts when out-of-context quoting o' the WHO definition, and yet... am suspecting previous to 2020, the november revisions woulda' been deemed unnecessary by WHO as the additions woulda' been considered self evident. who knew? HA! Good Fun!

am predicting this post does not age well... and won't take too long to be proven as such. hospitals is current at icu thresholds in numerous states, and past such thresholds in numerous locations. christmas and new years is gonna create new mini-surges, but we won't see the damage from such for a couple weeks following those dates. winter is finally here... literal. first day o' winter were the 21st o' december, and winter were always predicted to be difficult, regardless o' vaccine distribution. am thinking it makes a whole lotta sense to assume january is gonna be terrible, and if such doesn't end up being the case, then we can all indulge a sigh o' relief. plan as if january is gonna be brutal, and will be brutal 'cause o' what is happening today. ... is good to listen to science, but this is one situation where listen to social scientists might be beneficial and am speaking o' historians specific. the methods we got to combat the virus has been same since december o' last year... and is in fact same as since middle age plagues. social distancing and mask wearing were known to be efficacious in 1918 and during many prior pandemics. widespread recognition o' hygiene as a defense 'gainst disease were a bit more 20th century, by we have functional same tools as did past generations. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-04-19/coronavirus-lessons-from-great-1918-spanish-flu-pandemic the plague during shakespeare's era were not an airborne virus, but folks knew 'bout social distancing. large gatherings were rigorous and draconian prohibited during the plague years o' 1592 and 1603 forcing the shuttering o' theatres and any other places where multiples o' people congregated, with the exception of churches, 'cause obviously God wouldn't allow people to become sick in church. *groan* same f'ing mistakes. don't trust science? fine. look at history instead. history makes all too clear that is far better to act quick and aggressive when facing a pandemic and "we are turning the corner" thinking is likely to result in multitudes o' unnecessary corpses. thanks to science, particularly darpa, there is an end in sight. is multiple highly effective vaccines. but for next couple months we don't need rocket science or sooper geniuses to tell us solutions. we need be more vigilant than at anytime since we collective became aware o' covid-19 on a national/international scale, but basics is same as they were in early 2019 or in 1918: social distance; wear masks; avoid travel; wash your hands.... and unless you got allergy issues or are pregnant, take the freaking vaccine. assume next month(s) is gonna be worse. behave as if today is the worst and covid-19 situation is only gonna get better is the kinda thinking against which we need defend. seriously folks, in the US at least is likely only a few more months o' serious pain IF we don't collective go ultrastoopid. significant increases in holiday travel is anything but a good start, but is not too late to get less stoopid. HA! Good Fun!

unlikely to make you feel less blue, but... Holiday Suicides: Fact or Myth? "CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics reports that the suicide rate is, in fact, the lowest in December. The rate peaks in the spring and the fall." ignoring fact that fall ends today, in lateish december, is nevertheless a curious bit o' myth busting regarding the holiday + suicide myth... at least in the US. on the bad side, if malc is blue now, the 'bove facts suggests he gots a tough couple months ahead as melting snows and blooming flowers is the more sinister harbingers o' lethal blues as 'posed to santa and same eight christmas carols played on a loop 'til you is driven mad, Mad, MAD... HA! Good Fun!

am not gonna speak for @Boeroer, but one cannot help but recognize how you are indulging in arguable the same sin against which you rail. also, while am not agreeing with you regarding obsidian's best titles, am thinking such a recognition is hardly significant. am convinced fact we both approve o' obsidian, in spite o' fact we disagree 'bout their best works, is a positive sign. all too often, "niche" is an excuse for why a game sold poorly. fact that nobody thus far has identified the two titles we would identify as our obsidian favorites (not necessarily their best works) is potential a positive as such suggests the appeal o' obsidian games is not limited to an insular and discreet hardcore fanbase so utter homogenized they is incapable o' embracing a game which could have broader appeal. gonna go out on a limb and predict microsoft wants broader appeal than the bulk o' previous obsidian titles. in another bit o' irony different from your lack o' self awareness regarding boeroer's criticism is fact we disagree with you which has us optimistic 'bout future obsidian games. whatever is the essential appeal o' obsidian, it clear transcends individual titles. notoriously finicky hardcore fans may be able to continue to enjoy whatever is the new brand o' obsidian titles. ... what the heck. am gonna admit that while the game were woeful undercooked and ended worse than even other obsidian titles which tends to end less well than started, kotor 2 were our favorite game from obsidian. sure, near everything after the big confrontation with the assembled masters on dantooine is a torturous slog, but the first 2/3 o' kotor 2 is fantastic. big name title with a publisher as much adversary as enabler and we still ended up with a few o' obsidian's best written characters. obsidian even managed to work with an established ip not their own and do something unique with it. kotor 2 were, even at its best, a hot mess. we liked kotor 2. is aspects o' kotor we liked better than any other obsidian game. manage kotor 2 while working with/for lucas has us far more optimistic 'bout the future working with/for microsoft than is many o' our fellow boardies. and am recognizing kotor2 and lucas ain't same as microsoft situation. just sayin'. btw, am not much o' a star wars fan, so the kotor2 approval for us is all the more curious. HA! Good Fun!

double, but not related to previous post. apologies. Trump campaign takes fight over Penn. election, ballot laws to Supreme Court article isn't worth reading but the comments coming after the article is... am not gonna describe 'cause is a bit like describing a horrific car accident or drug house gang battle; our efforts would be gratuitous. as to the trump campaign's newest attempts to have SCOTUS take up cases the Justices has heretofore been ignoring or rejecting in part or whole, am thinking a visual illustration o' legal efforts headed by rudy giuliani and jenna ellis on behalf o' trump co may prove more succinct. if there were something new or different in these filings, we would share. isn't such. taking aim at the same trees. HA! Good Fun!

his plain speaking rationality woulda' been much appreciated before the hour o' his book's publication, including those days and weeks preceding the impeachment of donald j. trump. in the later months of 2019, one might have thought mr. bolton had perhaps converted to buddhism and adopted a vow o' silence so taciturn were he at the time. "another day at the office"? if so, and calls for martial law recent reported is analogous to the day-to-day excesses o' the President as bolton observe for many months, then am thinking it were moral bankrupt o' him to have kept such information held so close to his chest like miser's ill-gotten silver as posed to exercising his newfound rationality and glibness. he were complicit. now he is not? am doubtful bolton finding his courage in 2019 woulda' made any difference insofar as impeachment, but sharing truths when doing so might have had the chance o' benefiting his country could have had no result other than an increase in our respect today for the man and his rationality... even if such divisive edification woulda' hurt the eventual sales o' his book. and speaking of martial law and the military seizure of voting machines... HA! Good Fun!

somebody were gonna be first. HA! Good Fun!