Gromnir

Hasan Minhaj’s “Emotional Truths” things that make you go, "hmmmm." HA! Good Fun!

Pennsylvania announces automatic voter registration PA is likely a battleground state in 2024, so this is big news. https://www.gpb.org/news/2023/06/08/new-study-shows-the-impacts-of-automatic-voter-registration-in-georgia georgia shifted purple contemporaneous with auto voter registration. young people has historically been failures at registration. unless a candidate or issue captures the imaginations o' millennials and gen z, registration becomes an afterthought. automatic registration is not a panacea for combating youth apathy, but it does result in a noteworthy uptick in millennial and gen z turnout on election day and especial in states like california where mail-in is de rigueur. in 2016, clinton lost PA by less than a % point... ~45K votes. edit: the reason we added the fox news link is so those interested could read the comments section. am aware europeans is unable to access the comments. you do not need take our word, but as one might imagine, the fox viewer feedback is dominated by conspiracy theories 'bout how auto registration leads to massive voting fraud. sure, auto registration is already a thing in multiple states and unsurprising there is safeguards in place to make certain people who should be prevented from voting do not gain access to the franchise because they acquired a driver's licensee. tucker carlson may be gone from fox, but the conspiracies remain, eh? 'course the writer o' the linked article does nothing to disabuse readers o' their obvious anticipated misapprehensions. HA! Good Fun!

we got a number o' decent butchers in the vicinity, but we also got corti brothers which is a one stop solution for people interested in food. their full service meat counter would make our chosen butcher unnecessary if it were a smidge closer to our home. https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/article/Grocer-Darrell-Corti-navigates-a-world-of-rare-9182014.php https://www.winespectator.com/articles/the-wizard-of-all-california-grocer-darrell-corti https://www.latimes.com/style/la-fo-corti10-2008sep10-story.html the CB deli offers the best sacramento area sandwiches and am admitted impressed with their selection o' sausage, cheese, meats and specialty items. downside is their limited in-house baked goods. am suspecting 'cause o' the popularity o' their sandwiches, corti brothers ovens produce little beyond the bread for their sandwiches. we recent did a pros/cons lists o' moving to eureka/arcata in ca or possible to idaho falls (am kinda exhausted by sacramento summers) and one o' the cons were no more corti brothers. during the late spring through earlyish fall, we also got this place: https://www.davisranchproduce.com/ their selection is considerable, but davis has the best corn and tomatoes we have ever had anywhere, and the early season snow peas and asparagus is also beyond reproach. davis ranch has a fantastic variety o' peppers as well. not an exotic choice, but we bought a bunch o' poblanos earlier today. we get our eggs and bacon from another local farmer. rare do we need milk in quantity, so that is one item we could get local but do not. the US is the world's largest ag exporter and the california valley(s) represent a significant % o' US food production. it would be almost criminal if we failed to take advantage o' abundant local sources for produce and meat. HA! Good Fun!

when am having done azata, mephistopheles is an encounter extreme early in act v. for our couple aeon runs, the archdevil were only slight more temporal remote than azata. from our personal experience, pre dlc there were no chance o' reaching the level cap with the archdevil fight, but it did mean that azata and aeon were the mythics which did cap out fastest o' our various wotr finished games. the xp boost from the single fight was substantial. again, for us the battle were almost shocking early act v. however, the numerous dlc have added a fair amount o' xp bloat to the game. by exhausting all the possible dlc content before tackling the azata or aeon mephisto battle might it be possible to reach the level cap? dunno. maybe. HA! Good Fun!

couldn't help but think what it would be if not french. korean: there would be extreme bullying and a revenge plot. japanese anime: would have no real plot but there would be at least one scene at the beach, and possible one at an onsen. the school cultural festival would figure prominent and one character would likely have an inexplicable pet 'bout which nobody would comment. german: the important aspect would be it would be black and white. there would also be a whole lotta symbolism fans o' the film would pretend to appreciate. polish: same as german but a whole lot darker. english: distilled, the movie would be ninety minutes o' uncomfortable shame and embarrassment... and that would be the comedy take on the subject matter. american: actors (likely pro models) too old to be high schoolers do their best to pretend being average american teens navigating cliques/heart ache/drugs/teen angst/etc. HA! Good Fun!

interesting. we haven't. the last trek we watched every episode 'pon release, baring the unforeseen, were ds9. rather early into voyager's first season we realized we were not a true trek fan who would suffer many bad episodes in the hope we would get lucky and enjoy an infrequent good offering. am now having seen every voyager episode, but we didn't accomplish such an arduous task until a couple years post the initial dvd release... so, 2006 or thereabouts? that said, in spite o' our voyager cynicism, is no way we were gonna miss brad dourif episodes o' voyager. paul williams' guest spot were also can't miss for us even though it weren't great tv. edit: joel grey and scott thompson also were guests who inspired us to tune into voyager when their episodes were broadcast. converse, in spite o' being a ray walston fan, we skipped the boothby installments o' voyager. to keep on topic, am a trek fan same way am a traditional conservative. we most certain do not vote for every gop candidate. we have seen extreme little trek since discovery first aired--2017. is also approximate when we said our final fu to the republican party and any republican candidate who refuses to speak out against sh!te such as muslim ban, the fed portland response and january 6. with an extreme brief viewing o' discovery, we realized we no longer recognized trek. we similar don't recognize the gop o' trump, mtg, gaetz, hawley and so many others. HA! Good Fun!

off topic, but am gonna note we watched voyager for ensign lon suder. edit: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/09/16/texas-attorney-general-paxton-impeachment-verdict/ texas once again trying to out do florida. HA! Good Fun!

on second thought, @ShadySands should probably avoid the atlantic article we linked. the author o' the piece describes romney's bachelor existence in dc and it ain't pretty. warning: the following is not for the faint of heart. is no way to unsee or unhear such tragedy/travesty. HA! Good Fun!

unnecessarily serious response: ethical? am admitted stretching our imagination to the limits to excuse theft of a book. moral? 'cause is a book, is similar difficult but at least more plausible. an alien invasion is occurring and you need something to wedge a door closed so the xenomorphs can't get reach you and a group of defenseless children hiding in the last bookstore in galveston, texas, so you grab for a copy o' romney's bloated and insufferable book o' apologies and critiques with no intention of paying for it but hopeful the use o' romney's words will hold off the acid-blooded insectoids better than they did his gop colleagues. theft is the moral choice in such a situation. the obvious moral and ethical response to a ultra wealthy person further enriching themselves with book sales is not theft but rather protest and a refusal to personal purchase said book... although the grift, particular for a wealthy guy such as romney, is ordinary focused on ego as 'posed to monetary gain. no doubt bartimaeus is aware o' folks such as ted cruz and donald trump jr using skeevy methods to inflate their book sales so as to attain some desired position on the nytimes bestseller's list, yes? romney did something similar with his previous book, making the mass purchase o' his book a prerequisite for his attendance at speaking engagements. in romney's defense, am recollecting he waived such requirements at public universities and the like, but the compelled book purchases were nevertheless a naked effort at self-aggrandizement. personally we want books we do not like to be in libraries, 'cause am knowing people not named Gromnir tend to dislike books we would want to read and to grace the shelves o' libraries. if only books popular with the masses is on the shelves o' a public library, am thinking we all lose. regardless o' how much we dislike an author, the situations in which we would feel compelled to protest the presence o' a book in a public library is real but extreme limited, and short o' alien invasions or similar, am unlikely to come up with a compelling moral reason for theft o' a book. thus ends our unnecessary and not wholly serious response... but yeah, theft o' books and other ip is bad. HA! Good Fun!

the atlantic article on romney is an amusing read. is multiple instances wherein a spokesmen for mitch mcconnell observes the senator from ky does not recall conversations as does romney. mitt's observations about a few other senators is a hoot. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2023/11/mitt-romney-retiring-senate-trump-mcconnell/675306/ is no way we buy the book, but am s'posing we might give it a looksee once am able to get it from the public library. unlikely, but maybe. HA! Good Fun!

am gonna guess trump believes he would still be President if his vice president were other than mike pence. the thing is, pence supported just about every trump excess, no matter how extreme, save for on january 6. pence were ok with pu$$y grab and muslim ban before trump were elected and pence stood by trump through the mueller report, a couple impeachments, a government shut down, maga cronies and their get rich quick schemes related to the wall boondoggle, sending armed federal troops to states where state governors express rejected federal "help," which amounted to kidnapping protesters and whisking them away in white paneled vans, not to mention the mishandling o' covid which 'ccording to multiple persons on trump's covid team resulted in hundreds of thousands of excess american deaths. also recall that pre january 6, pence were like some kinda bobble-head doll whenever trump mentioned the rigged election, reflexive and mechanical agreeing with conspiracy theories in spite o' zero meaningful supporting evidence. trump started with the rigged election nonsense six months before the election and continued from november when he lost until today. trump needs somebody more servile than pence? good luck. am thinking 'cause o' how poor trump does with educated women conservatives, he will likely choose a vp who polls well with that demographic. nikki haley has said the wrong things about trump, so her potential as vp appears diminished. perhaps kristi noem? trump's vp choice doesn't need be a woman, but am honest not sure who is polling best with conservative soccer moms other than nikki. regardless, am not seeing a whole lotta great possibilities and almost none which genuine is gonna help trump with the demographics he needs. reports are that kamala harris had a historic dysfunctional presidential campaign, and once she became veep, there were considerable turmoil w/i her office. worse, the stories about kamala's interpersonal and management problems were not coming from fox news. say what you will about the biden administration, but is noteworthy how the white house rumors and leaks diminished to a mere trickle after trump left the building. is kamala harris staff who were portraying the veep as a less huggable joan crawford. am thinking democrats is gonna downplay as much as possible the fact that if biden is reelected, kamala harris could be the next President, and not 'cause o' a 2028 election win. am suspecting the 2024 vp choices to be as uninspired as the candidates. rfk jr? our dark horse choices is stella immanuel, douglas maccregor or harvey. all is win, but am pulling for stella immanuel. HA! Good Fun!

as o' today (things will change) am thinking pretty much any moderate democrat ticket could beat trump. democrats need independent voters, so progressives are problematic unless they are overwhelming popular. even so, democrats, most independents and quite a few educated conservatives (particularly suburban women,) will not vote for trump in 2024. converse, biden has little chance o' beating most possible republican candidates... with the exception o' trump. is an insane game o' chicken, but trump and biden ain't strapped into their respective vehicles aimed at each other so much as they is pedal to the metal and bearing down on their own parties, daring 'em to chose somebody else. to have any chance in 2024, republicans need the trump base to vote for the gop candidate. the gop understandable believes trump will burn down the republican party before he voluntarily supports any other candidate for President than himself. democrats understandably believe they have the upper hand in a biden v. trump rematch, so the safe bet is to stick with biden in spite o' his numerous documented flaws? the safe bet seems mighty risky from our pov. HA! Good Fun!

am taking a preventative approach to hypertension/heart disease as both our ethnicity and specific family history suggest we got a high probability o' needing deal with some kinda heart problem. also, we got in the habit o' cooking for folks who have difficulty making their own meals and it is shocking how few services there is for people who can't cook for themselves and simultaneous require low sodium intake. https://www.mealsonwheelsamerica.org/ https://sacloaves.org/ these organizations do fantastic work for elders and homeless, but they understandable don't have the resources to do low sodium. even so, am simultaneous recognizing that the correct amount o' salt in a dish is to aim for just a hairsbreadth short o' too salty. if am cooking for guests, we do not skimp on salt. also, having grown up on a small ranch, and being raised in a farming community, am quite aware is nothing 'bout small farms which precludes the use o' all those terrible chemicals and genetic altered seed/beasts. a corporate farm with revenue in the hundreds o' millions or billions actual has a better chance o' successful doing "organic" production as predictable blight, pest or critter disease on a farm or two (or a dozen) may be overcome by the megafarmer. a typical small farm/ranch is one avian flu or drought away from collapse, so they don't risk. our grandparents, by necessity, were self-made mechanics, chemists (fertilizer and pesticides) and veterinarians. recall covid? there is a reason why you could get ivermectin paste at any local feed store. might not count as processed, but the things people seem to be afraid o' insofar o' process is not avoided on small farms/ranches. *shrug* HA! Good Fun!

... deserves a place right up there with... so... megyn kelly and bret baier interviews will probable be admitted as evidence in trump's retention o' documents case... and is a whole lotta additional opportunities for undignified efforts at seppuku by trump 'tween now and the current may trial date. am baffled that anybody would wanna be trump's attorney... and am reminded o' a classic fauci moment. Fauci on Trump coronavirus comments: ‘I can’t jump in front of the microphone and push him down’ HA! Good Fun!

organic doesn't have a fixed definition, so am having difficulty taking it too serious. processed is also not a big deal for us but that is mostly 'cause o' the way we cook. we make a whole lotta soup and we start with homemade stock and vegetables which were at least fresh at some point, but our concerns 'bout store bought is less process and additives than it is sodium content. (edit: also, as have noted previous, better than bullion chicken and beef options is frequent added to our stews and soups albeit in small amounts. the stuff is fantastic for elevating flavor and is no question even the organic options qualify as processed.) we have a reputable butcher we visit, but again is less 'bout process than it is a matter o' quality as well as humane treatment o' the meat while it were ambulatory. we eat catfish regular (and other fishes often enough,) but the truth is we would prefer it to be farmed as 'posed to river or lake caught. farmed fish means it is less likely to have high levels o' toxins and/or parasites. same goes for game meat you might acquire just about anywhere in the continental US-- assume such game is loaded with toxins and parasites. is worcestershire sauce and tomato paste processed? sure they are and we can't imagine trying to replace 'em in a host o' recipes we make. etc. regardless, given the fact we do so much homemade cooking and the fact quality and fresh ingredients is so readily available in our vicinity, processed just isn't a frequent issue. 'course am thinking people can get curious fixated on the evils o' processed. am not saying processed foods is always harmless, but somehow the idea o' processed is bigger than the reality. are the process phobes gonna give up their hard liquor and beer? pasteurizing milk has valuable health benefits and on the spectrum o' process, is less concerning than is even home crafted beer. bread is by necessity processed but not ultra-processed. even so, while is not difficult to bake bread, real bread has a notorious short shelf life and people rare make in single serving portions. in any event, we rare bake, so... oh, and cheese. am s'posing we could make our own cottage cheese and end up with minimal processed, but such is so not what we mean by cheese. we need cheese. the infrequent pizza doesn't scare us. heck, we will travel the ~64 km to auburn to get a #9 and a half order of fries from wiener works. no fear. no guilt. process be damned. am thinking it is a good idea to minimize ultra-processed foods from a diet, y'know 'cause that is the consensus o' the big brain medical and science folks who am recognizing know far more 'bout such stuff than we do, but am not losing any sleep over our current diet and am likewise not concerned 'bout a whole host o' foods which is somewhere on the spectrum o' processed. also, am lucky wiener works is a +50 minute drive from our location. HA! Good Fun!

mike williams died. on august 21 williams was doing electrical work at a construction site and suffered a head injury-- hit with a steel beam. on septmber 1, williams were hospitalized. after hospitalization, williams father had a gofundme page with a few details regarding his son's accident and medical situation. william's father were requesting monetary contributions so he could travel from texas to see his son who were hospitalized in tampa, florida. following his fourth round rookie contract, williams signed a $40 million deal with the bucs. $9 million guaranteed. none o' it actual matters, but of course we got questions 'bout the delay between the accident and hospitalization as well as why williams were doing electrical work after an nfl career which shoulda' seen him earn in excess o' $12 million dollars. maybe williams enjoyed electrical work and were doing for fun, but perhaps he had managed to lose his fortune. not enough info, but it sure sounds as if there were multiple tragedies at play in the untimely death o' mike williams.

there is numerous online guides which offer builds which exploit aeon summoning, but am never having gone that direction for very long. we played a couple different aeons and am personal not enamored o' the summoning route even if am able to see the potential. late game, an aeon acquires spells and abilities which makes most any aeon party functional invulnerable for boss battles, but there is a whole lotta game which ain't late game, and by late game most o' the other mythics (and legend) is sooper powerful too. early game, which particular on higher difficulties is where the game is most challenging, is a tough(er) slog for aeon 'cause other than the nice ab, spell dc boosts or the attack o' opportunity buff, the aeon gets an ok dispel ability and not much else; compared to other mythics, the aeon lags more than a little early game. however, with a high initiative character who gets many attacks per round, as soon as the aeon gets the greater dispel power, game challenge difficulty evaporates. most wotr foes is so tough 'cause owlcat gives 'em every conceivable buff, and then bends/break the pnp rules to give 'em a few more buffs. an aeon makes all those buffs evaporate. is possible to stack initiative through the ceiling in wotr, so your ranged or melee aeon should almost always attack first, and once you do... on the plus side, there is few drawbacks to building a high initiative melee or ranged character for wotr. particular on higher difficulty settings, initiative becomes an all but essential concern. you aren't losing anything by conscious stacking initiative. HA! Good Fun!

sad music which nevertheless comforts? am knowing there is studies which explain the brain chemistry, but for us the studies don't change the primal strangeness. top o' the list is gonna be arvo pärt, samuel barber... maybe ryuichi sakamoto songs? roberta flack were probable the artist who gut punched us at the earliest age. edit: is worth noting the linked song were the inspiration for the roberta flack piece and it also reached us on a fundamental level. a more recent top choice. HA! Good Fun!

well, after murdering all the younglings, anakin kinda reduced the pool o' possible worst padawan competitors by a dramatic amount. add the order 66 purge and is gonna be incredible limited challengers for any worst since anakin trophy. nevertheless, am agreeing with the sentiment. ahsoka plot points thus far has been more akin to a slasher movie wherein one predictable marvels at the abject stoopid o' the protagonists. however for ahsoka, the curious drive to self-destruction is not so much a character flaw o' the "protagonists" as it is o' sabine. HA! Good Fun!

one of our aunts turned 88 on the seventh, but she didn't answer her phone when we called her so we reached out to her 84 year old sister, just to make sure everything were ok. with somebody in their late eighties, you never know, eh? turns out everybody is fine, although the older aunt had a refrigerator give up the ghost (she lives alone and maintains two refrigerators and two large freezers *eye roll*) and the younger aunt's cat, a feline of eighteen years, has kidney problems. color us shocked. from the younger aunt we heard a great deal about the cat's health problems, and how joe biden was at fault for all the dirty, immigrant, homeless people down in los angeles. our older aunt most certain does not share her sister's views on homelessness, so the younger aunt unloaded on us. 'cause? what were weird were our aunt insisting how our father, when he were younger, looked "identical" to the host of fear factor... which didn't immediate register for us as we had literal never watched fear factor. joe rogan? ... had same reaction as axel same build, same facial features, same ability to do that exaggerated bug-eye stare. our father never lost his hair and were o' darker o' complexion, but otherwise a younger Gromnir sr. and a fear factor aged joe rogan with hair could ez pass as brothers. credit to our aunt as we had never seen the similarities until our she mentioned. weirder still, our aunt shared the fact our father loved to dance when he were young. apparently he danced all the time at home. our grandfather wired stereo speakers into their basement so the our father and his two sisters could dance to music whenever they wanted to. our father competed in and won local and regional dance contests. our father were ex-military and the "ex" were something he never quite accepted. the dad we knew ate old horseshoes for breakfast and the only time we saw him smile were when he were about to hurt somebody, but he loved to dance? ... well, ok then. am mid-fifties and still learning things 'bout our immediate family. go figure. HA! Good Fun!

the only reason the aesthetic arguably fits is 'cause a long line o' similar individuals has ignorant or intentional perpetuated the pilgrim buckles-on-hat nonsense. the fact such hats look right in any context is wrong. however, am wanting to make clear that this is not the kinda thing which would prevent us from watching and possibly enjoying a slasher film. yeah, pilgrim hat ornamentation is eye roll worthy, but almost by necessity so will a hundred or thousand other film details. ridiculous situations and people behaving improbable is fundamental in slashers, so the idea the hat is a deal breaker is tongue-in-cheek. even so, we reflexive become annoyed when we see the buckles on pilgrim hats. small annoyance, but by now it should be an unnecessary annoyance. HA! Good Fun!

insta fail for perpetuating the pilgrim buckles-on-hat nonsense. ... only kinda kidding. HA! Good Fun!

well, it took a bit o' time, but the "retarded" people o' the US did eventual deport osho's con man arse, so score one for the developmental challenged, eh? furthermore, pretty much nobody says retarded anymore and even if they did the actual issue is ignorance as 'posed to some kinda endemic learning disability. however, the guys who invented modern representative democracy were quite aware o' the importance o' an educated electorate. "if a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." -- thomas jefferson, from one o' his innumerable letters to... somebody. is ez to find similar insights from madison, franklin and others. 'course for jefferson and other founders, their recognition of education as an essential prerequisite for protecting liberty were another reason why they were okie dokie with only having landed and educated white men enjoy the franchise. 2023 is a also bit different than 1787. the internet allows many millions o' undereducated americans to convince selves they is aware of and informed 'bout relevant issues 'cause they did online research regarding covid, climate change and january 6. https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2023/09/07/republican-voters-january-6-trump-enten-ac360-vpx.cnn thanks to the internet, never has so many dangerously ignorant people been so unshakably certain in their stoopid held beliefs. HA! Good Fun!

when we make pulled pork, which is too often, we typical regret not also making carolina gold bbq sauce. am a fan o' the tang from the apple cider vinegar mixed with mustard... although am liking less sweet than it is traditional prepared. HA! Good Fun!

has it? this specific situation is a bit unusual and am not sure how much pardons would benefit ivanka or trump jr even ignoring how trump has apparently thrown his progeny under the proverbial bus in recent depositions, which will no doubt make thanksgiving dinner at casa de trump especial fun this year. the ambiguous possibility o' pardons may be enough to convince 2024 white nationalist voters to keep faith with trump (as if they have another candidate choice,) without further antagonizing educated republican women and independents. actual pardons helps with white nationalists and ultra-alt right voters, but who else? a schrödinger pardon solidifies the trump base and gives other conservative leaning voters a chance to pretend as if trump wouldn't actual grant pardons. am just not seeing a real upside for actual pardons. even for the future political prospects o' trump spawn, actual pardons would seem to be an overall net loser. edit: am reminded o' just how improbable is trump. donald beat hillary to become President but both hillary and trump were historical unpopular and trump has lost the popular vote 2x. trump even managed to lose the electoral and popular vote to joe freaking biden. the electoral college process o' selecting the President were not intended to be democratic, so is hardly a surprise when a President isn't elected popular. even so, it took a long causal chain o' unlikely to transform a process intended to make a populist President nigh implausible so that what we got today is "the most disliked politician in all of America," running as a populist candidate and having a not 0% chance o' winning... again. HA! Good Fun!