Gromnir

we always asked applicants we were interviewing at least one oddball question complete unrelated to job qualifications. literal asked somebody, "if you were a type of pasta, what type of pasta would you be? why?" interviews revealed to us what the applicant thought we wanted to hear from them rather than anything 'bout who they were. sure, we would ask obscure technical questions which would tell us if an applicant were genuine qualified, but were tougher to figure out if we were being shined on 'bout character and personality. the stoopid questions which would not have been something they prepared for a thousand times were often more illuminating 'bout who we were interviewing even if it seemed like such were just Gromnir being a jerk. ... don't think we ever used google for such unrelated questions. woulda' kinda defeat the point if it were something which would come up frequent in an internet search. oh, and our favorite answer to a stoopid Gromnir interview question were as follows: "that is the single dumbest question anybody has asked me in my entire life. ever." honest thought we would get such more frequent but it only happened once. hired. HA! Good Fun!

“We’re losing our damn minds”: James Carville unloads on the Democratic Party other than his defense o' the hillary clinton campaign, am largely agreeing. admitted, we tend to use fewer profanities, but such paucity o' four-letter words in our impassioned arguments is a personal affectation less than it is a judgement. as an aside, there is a picture we got o' our self alongside J. Scalia and José Pertierra taken at a barbecue with all o' us in casual attire. amuses us 'cause almost everybody who sees the picture reads something complete different into the image. oh, and let us make clear the image were a once-in-a-lifetime kinda thing. am not claiming to be (or have been) a peer o' either individual. weird coincidence which resulted in a memorable moment. HA! Good Fun!

am knowing the simpsons were being funny, but is not untrue... though hardly complete true. the US federal system is the founder's solution to the plagues spawned by athenian democracy. is no need for three branches o' government in a true democracy. is no need for purposeful design which favors bipartisan in a true democracy. is no need for a bill of rights, which is specifically a limit on potential tyranny o' the majority in a true democracy. tribalism is bad as our hillary and pelosi examples stress. in 2020 we are so polarized that groups may and do look at same actions done by trump or clinton or pelosi, and depending on no real change save party affiliation, bad actions become laudable and vice-versa? is one o' the nightmares o' the founders. founders determined that one o' the bestest ways to deal with tribalism were to craft intentional gridlock into the system, 'cause democracy, true democracy, doesn't work. HA! Good Fun!

with another superbowl in the rearview mirror, it is now officially (well, maybe not official) nfl draft season. two consensus best players available are qb joe burrow and de/olb chase young. qbs will once again get disproportionate press. justin herbert senior bowl practice week has propelled him up the board a few notches and nfl.com suggest he is now the #2 qb on many/most draft boards. http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-draft/0ap3000001099024/Justin-Herbert-highlights-2020-Reese-s-Senior-Bowl http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000001101022/article/threeround-2020-nfl-mock-draft-10-dolphins-pass-on-tua tua camp has been kinda hedging on his post-op progress o' late and while they remain positive, they is now saying the 3-month post op mri will be determinative. *shrug* regardless, is 3 qbs (for now) who appear locks for first round: burrow, tagovailoa and herbert. additional, is likely 1-2 o' the following three will also go first round: eason, love, and fromm. HA! Good Fun!

... uh. ... HA! Good Fun!

ok, so space force is kinda silly and unnecessary, but that don't mean we oppose it. *sigh* is the kinda transactional badness we recent derided in the politics thread, so am gonna do our mea culpas right from the start recognizing is wrong to indulge a wrong just to get what you want. the thing is, nasa and government investment in civilian space applications has benefited most when there has been a military driven raison d'être for the US space program. during space race with the soviet union, there were a couple years where nasa budget were ~4.5% o' total US gdp. steady drop since moon landing and functional soviet capitulation o' the race. the US current total defense budget is less than 3.5% o' total gdp. current nasa budget languishes under .5% total gdp. every President who cuts nasa budget gets our complaints and criticisms. space force is cartoony and stoopid, but if it means nasa benefits, then our deal with the devil is struck. isn't enough for us to keep trump in office, but we won't complain 'bout space force. nevertheless recognize how the self-aware hypocrite is perhaps worst kind. HA! Good Fun!

am not suggesting pelosi actions were ok or innocuous 'cause o' trump fails. so missing the point. is an acknowledgment o' hypocrisy on an issue which does nobody any good 'cause it further divides. to observe sudden derision o' what were a positive moments before pelosi did is hardly what is whataboutism. so missing the point... as usual. HA! Good Fun!

am not a democrat, so this may have less impact we had no illusions 'bout impeachment trial. we knew it were doomed from the start. we nevertheless supported impeachment 'cause this President made it impossible for men o' conscience to continue to ignore his continuing and flagrant disregard of the Constitution. if it makes @MedicineDan feel better, we have some sympathy for your plight. again, Gromnir is largely conservative, so as often as not we were one o' a small number o' opposing view obsidian board posters on any number o' issues in recent years. obama foreign policy, bush "lies" 'bout wmds, israel, kaepernick sitting out the anthem and a whole laundry list o' issues has had us not perfect aligning with the republican narrative, but clear opposed to most democrats. am recognizing how you have painted a target on self by being that guy and we do sympathize. however, being conservative does not require a defense o' trump. trump is petty, mendacious and willing to use any underhanded trick he thinks he can get away with to promote himself. whatever transactional reasoning you come up with to legitimize the continued defense and even support o' trump must, in our mind, give way to the overriding concerns o' character and Constitutional integrity which clear show trump's lack o' fitness to hold any public trust much less to occupy the office of the President of the United States of America. HA! Good Fun! ps is amusing all the republicans qq over pelosi when trump has daily been rejecting norms and values since before he became President. those same trump supporters who often cheer the President for being so real when he acts like a spoiled child is now pointing fingers at pelosi? the hypocrisy is thick and would be laughable if not for fact it is just another brick in the intangible but nevertheless effective wall between them and us... which, btw, makes it a far more effective wall than the silliness at the southern border, spending for which coulda' gone to actual beneficial infrastructure projects.

is an ez way to see just how transparently vacuous the republican process arguments regarding impeachment is: change a mere handful o' facts. President hillary clinton has a call with zelensky on july 25... asks ukrainians to investigate jeb bush. only person she ever asks the ukrainians to investigate regarding corruption is jeb bush. obviously all appointed positions o' Prez hillary is gonna have different names (no mulvaney or bolton or pompeo) but have facts be otherwise identical. one other fact change is that house of representatives is a republican majority. so, play out impeachment and trial exact same up until articles reach the senate. republican house attempts to get documents and witnesses but Prez hillary stonewalls total. similar witnesses make similar testimony 'bout near similar events. same. same. same. so, same articles reach senate regarding Prez hillary. what does mitch mcconnell and the republicans do with same articles from their republican house brothers and sisters? well obviously mitch and senate republicans and fox news and medicineD decry the failure of the house of representatives to fully investigate the President. *insert eye roll here* is any doubt witnesses woulda' been called and subpoenas for documents issued if were republican house going after Prez hillary? ... the process stuff, from the start, were a bs excuse. republicans who wanted (needed) a reason to acquit were fed pap they could easily swallow just as long as they didn't think 'bout the situation reasonable. HA! Good Fun!

have mentioned previous how our views on affirmative action have changed. am not suggesting one need be straightjacketed. nevertheless, if views change, is good to ask why. explanation is required, yes? otherwise appears, at best, fickle. at worst? we were sympathetic towards bill clinton's impeachment, right up until he perjured himself. the idea the whitewater investigation would lead to a stained dress were kinda embarrassing and we chastised republicans for indulging such obvious overreach. even so, we couldn't accept clinton lying under oath. failure o' republicans to play fair did not exonerate clinton's perjury. am not seeing how so many republicans who sought to political crucify clinton could simple change their mind 'bout what constitutes impeachable offenses and what is a President's duty to comply with Congressional oversight. if you tell us such were an evolution o' thought process you are gonna understand our lack o' faith, yes? reasons offered so far do not appear to be so much fickle as they is mercenary and self serving. from start this whole ukraine thing were all kinda ugly as the wh tried and bury the ig report on the whistleblower complaint regarding the july call 'tween trump and zelensky. ig needed to step up and step forward 'cause wh were not following requirements imposed on them by law regarding an ig report once it were determined to be urgent and credible. am not certain how that issue keeps getting swept aside. is noteworthy such were only the first o' many acts by the wh which had our head spinning. is no excuse whatsoever for burying the ig report, and yes, as is violation o' statute, is technical a crime to fail such reporting. pretty much a day 1 fail... and went downhill from that point. can change mind. however, when the change appears on its face to be partisan or self serving or biased, then am thinking is appropriate for people such as Gromnir to be suspicious o' motives. is hard to believe so many republicans and democrats evolved. w/o some evidence, am not believing the motivations o' either group. however, like it or not, this is one situation where consistency adds credibility in our mind, particular when is consistent and against interest. woulda' been far easier for romney on 2/6/2020 if on 2/5/2020 he had voted not to convict. imagine motives which is contrary to interests is less than compelling and require a bit of imagination, yes? is another situation we ain't gonna change hearts and minds. doomed. nevertheless, am thinking romney is right 'bout history. yeah, republican voters will forgive, but history's rebuke will be felt by more than one senator who did not do as romney and vote their conscience. HA! Good Fun!

well, that and conscience, but am agreeing history is a big factor. romney no doubt believes history will not look 'pon the trump Presidency favorable. the thing is, am wondering when medicineD's opinion o' romney changed. were policy stands on medicare or deficit spending? converse, if what changed your opinion o' romney is his position on trump, then am thinking you might have reason to reflect. isn't first time we posted the following: did you mock obama and perhaps cheer romney when we posted in the past? while not a voting republican in 2020, am a conservative as anybody following these boards for a few years could attest. we had more than a few choice words for hillary clinton and barack obama, particular in matters o' foreign policy. 'course we also preffered john kerry to george bush. am a free agent but am, for the most part, a rational fiscal conservative with libertarian views o' fundamental rights. our views has been, for the most part, consistent regardless o' who is running for President. just as our views on deficit spending and national debt didn't change when trump became President, our views o' mitt romney also remained constant. if medicineD's views o' romney has changed, and essential reason for the shift is the utah senator's views o' trump, then am thinking medicineD needs take a step back and reflect a bit, 'cause such would on its face appear to be a condemnation o' medicineD as 'posed to romney. HA! Good Fun!

"Were I to ignore the evidence that has been presented and disregard what I believe my oath and the Constitution demands of me for the sake of a partisan end, it would - I fear - expose my character to history’s rebuke and the censure of my own conscience."

the 'bove linked foxbiz article is amusing. it ignores actual effects o' school vouchers and who tends to use. is a bit like a tax break on non-pickup motor vehicles exceeding a certain weight which is not used predominant for work. were actual a thing which a few states used in past years. sure, anybody may use the tax break, but it quick becomes apparent the tax incentive is geared towards luxury suvs. now perhaps there is good reasons why a state would wanna encourage luxury suv ownership, but pretend as if the tax break is anything other than a rich guy incentive is skeevy. were also curious 'bout claim democrats had been in favor o' school vouchers. perhaps maybe one or two democrats somewhere, but any kinda general support for vouchers in the past 50 years were unknown to us. did some digging and discovered the current administration lumps in gi bill as being a school voucher program when making claims o' previous democrat support. there is legit arguments for favoring school vouchers, but am not certain why some proponents need so obvious skew and indulge in alternative facts silliness to make a point. HA! Good Fun!

so did you pony up 10k? am seeing the "party with the devs in moscow" reward at the 10k tier. HA! Good Fun!

tactical nukes launched from stealthy submarines. am feeling safer already. perhaps not the most creative response to the growing list o' asymmetric threats the US faces, but at least it's worse than nothing. HA! Good Fun!

did a fair 'mount o' fishing for channel cat near clinton. spent a 4th of july in clinton, one o' our favorite 4ths. can honest say we like iowa based on our clinton time. job stuff had us visit iowa city and ames. wanted to catch a football game in both towns, but didn't happen. can tell you more 'bout our hotel rooms than the respective cities. have never been to des moines, but we learned name in school and am suspecting it is one o' the more common mispronounced state capitals... probable right behind pierre, sd. drove through multiple towns and used restrooms and ate at roadside diners, but am doubting such counts. enjoyed clinton a whole bunch. at least in the 80s it were a prototype midwestern town. we paid especial close attention to trump's state o' the union. beyond the predictable web of lies we anticipated, there were a whole lotta appeals to religious right. from pointless claims 'bout school prayer (school prayer he is talking 'bout is already legal everywhere) to abortion, were frequent appeals to religious right. added: as mentioned already, am thinking we made a mistake. just as trump were clear making an appeal to minorities with many o' his speech promises and observations, the religious appeals is not limited to the far right. appeal to christian values (not necessarily our notion o' christian values) may appear to be an appeal to his base, but am suspecting we are failing to recognize how widespread is views we do not share. like gd and others, we cannot figure out why voters should be offended by rainbow colors, but it may be a mistake to ignore how many nevertheless is bothered by such even in 2020. ... so what does hurl think 'bout those "failing government schools" from which children need be saved? HA! Good Fun!

in iowa at least, buttigeg appears to be the moderate's choice instead o' biden. ... the rolling stone article we recent linked had an impact 'pon us. we don't take the article as gospel (bad pun) but am recognizing how in spite o' fact we speak with hardcore catholics multiple times a week, am suspecting they is being restrained with a few o' their criticisms o' stuff californians in general is overwhelming accepting. an exchange from the article: “As Christians, do you feel like you’re under attack in this country?” I ask. “Yes,” my mom says adamantly. “When did you start feeling that way?” “The day that Obama put the rainbow colors in the White House was a sad day for America,” my aunt replies. “That was a slap in God’s face. Abortion was a slap in his face, and here we’ve killed 60 million babies since 1973. I believe we’re going to be judged. I believe we are being judged.” now am recognizing the ladies in the article ain't the catholic women we see at the food bank, church or the school for homeless kids where we volunteer. a few o' our catholic grandma friends is... salty. have never questioned if we were getting honest from our catholic friends. article portion we quote is anecdotal representing views o' two women from alabama. even so, am suspecting our personal experience and dialogues has misled us 'bout how strong the religious right feels concerning issues other than abortion and the penumbral and elusive concept o' religious freedom. am beginning to believe Gromnir may not be aware o' the degree to which a large % o' americans is offended by "the rainbow colors." a month ago we woulda' beleived buttigeg being in a same-sex marriage were an extreme minor issue for all but an extreme small group o' voters who would never have voted for any democrat anyways. so what? am not so sure today. is easy to forget just how religious is a large % o' 2020 americans. is tougher to forget how such religious folks represent an even larger % o' reliable voters. how many moderate and even liberal christians is genuine offended by the rainbow colors? am not a huge fan o' buttigeg, but such is 'cause we prefer booker and klobuchar as more experienced and capable moderates. may not be fair, but in spite o' booker no longer being in the race we still compare buttigeg to booker and find the mayor o' south bend wanting in most ways that matter. *shrug* being moderate, for Gromnir, is honest the only thing other than military service which buttigeg brings to the table. if many christian voters, christian voters who is democrat and independent, see the devil hoisting the rainbow colors everytime they consider voting for buttigeg... is not fair, but neither was the nightmare the press put geraldine ferraro through... or swift boating. rainbow colors shouldn't be an issue and it will not be an issue for us personal. even so, we didn't think rainbow colors were a serious issue for a 2020 democrat party candidate for President. am no longer certain. HA! Good Fun!

False Idol — Why the Christian Right Worships Donald Trump Conservative pastor: Jesus would have 'beat the crap' out of John Bolton we read stuff like the 'bove and lament how the religious right indulges the perfidy and mendacity o' not only the current wh administration but o' too many o' their so-called religious leaders. the thing is, 40% o' the country reads such stories and nods head sadly at how Gromnir just doesn't get it. am s'posing if the zealotry were limited to religion, we could be more understanding. the folks who helped make abortion a wedge issue in the late 70s and early 80s is honest believers with a certainty they are complicit in the deaths o' thousands if they do not fight for the lives o' the unborn. say what you will, but such folks honest believe if they do not fight with every tool available to them 'gainst wholesale murder o' those most helpless, they will be damned along with all those more intimate and direct involved in abortion. criticize the belief if you will, but recognize the sincerity and the intentions. as impossible as it may be to communicate with the religious zealots (some, not all,) we at least respect their motivations and their beliefs... up until the point where their actions do actual harm to others more than bruised egos and hurt feelings, we kinda/sorta sympathize. am just not able to understand how those same folks who on their knees may literal weep in prayer for the unborn, the impoverished and any in pain are able to look past trump's obvious mercenary motives and his methods which are so antithetical to any kinda christian teaching. regardless, the rolling stone article led us to trump's campaign liaison for christian policy, frank amedia. "touch the ant." HA! Good Fun!

there has been something like a half dozen different locations for the state capital o' california. san francisco were capital for 'bout a year when floods wiped out sacramento before even Gromnir were born. for practical reasons which were more important before instant communication and advances in motor travel, were a tendency to make state capitals geographical centered in a state. denver, for example, is an exception to malc observation, but if you look at a map you will notice how denver is also central located w/i the state o' colorado. 'course maps may be misleading as is the case with oregon and nevada. central located is not just a matter o' as-the-crow-flies geocentric but is also a recognition o' where people actual live. try and have centered in nevada would result in a capital situated in otherwise inhospitable making pre 20th century development and travel prohibitive. none o' which provides an excuse for President o' the USA, and a guy who also wanted to own an nfl team at one time, to be unaware the chiefs play in misery... or missouri for those who have never been to the state in question in january. no, is not a big deal, but am kinda surprised the tweet were corrected rather than the wh attempting a mind bending excuse for why the mistake were actual accurate. unrelated, but more relevant to thread, in spite o' the yard short being the most memorable super bowl moment for us when game clock were running, the following remains our favorite super bowl memory. HA! Good Fun!

might not be as convincing as you believe to rando lump Court decisions together which depend 'pon complete different jurisprudential reasoning. is little basis to analogize the two cases. however, we will observe how dumping the entire fail on citizens is an oversimplification as is hardly a single case which has broken campaign finance. and sure, it resonates as fair that if michael bloomberg or some other billionaire may spend hundreds o' millions o' dollars on a commercial/film temporal proximate to primaries, is no reason a corporation composed o' less wealthy people should be prevented from doing so. the thing is, citizens reasoning depends on twin pillars o' anticipated disclosure requirements and the existence o' corruption laws. is not citizens but rather a complete different line o' cases which undercut traditional notions o' campaign finance corruption and made so outright bribery is actual required to trigger corruption protections. furthermore, Congress could enact meaningful disclosure laws. immediate following citizens there were a push to enact such legislation, but it failed. citizens is not the only problem, but invocation o' the particular fraught decision is convenient shorthand when lamenting current state o' campaign finance and the Court's complicity in the problems which plague election spending. idealized notions o' free speech w/o any recognition o' realities has never been the Court's mo. after all, were 100 years o' cases which citizens functional overturned, cases which warned o' the obvious dangers o' faceless corporations and anonymous donors generating war chests to functional buy elections while simultaneous avoiding tax and disclosure laws. ignore reality has never been an admirable trait in a Justice. ok, now let's talk 'bout SCOTUS recent gerrymandering decisions... HA! Good Fun!

ignoring the obvious solution. HA! Good Fun!

the shnook selective posted those social media examples he were thinking were particular egregious, so we are hardly getting a fair showing. even so, +1000 flagged strikes us as a large number, even if is broad categorized. as abrasive as is Gromnir, take all our posts from this board, near 15 years worth, and only a small fraction o' posts and likes could conceivable get flagged. heck, we dogged avoided wot for many years, so were limited to game development posts for more than a decade. how many such posts would be flagged under any categorization scheme? look at the victim's examples. is all from last few months o' 2019. didn't need dig deep into yesteryear, eh? yeah, if you are jobless then you are having much free time, but the thing 'bout compulsive behaviours is they don't stop just because you got a job. serious, wash this guy off and don't look back is our advice. even so, am recognizing we are old, so we don't get social media. need for people to post personal thoughts public and then reciprocate with likes o' 140/280 character epiphanies from rando bob or betty is beyond our capacity to fully grasp. we purposeful own an old flip phone so as to avoid smartphone umbilical syndrome. am admitting to being out of touch. HA! Good Fun!

dead people can be so inconsiderate. there were a time when we were making monthly 500 km trips from santa barbara to berkeley in a 78 cherokee which were always seeming one rusted bolt away from falling apart somewheres on the 101. only broke down twice in 1.5 years o' such trips, but were nerve wracking even so. HA! Good Fun!

is likely not the point o' the post, but with 351 pages o' documented social media silliness, Gromnir is not hiring the guy regardless o' contents. 351 pages? 351 pages is only the flagged material? is too likely this shnook is gonna be spending a portion o' his working day responding to social media as 'posed to getting work done. don't care what he thinks 'bout billionaires or pronouns or even the seeming endless stream o' new poodle hybrids people thinks is the keen new dog they gotta own 'stead of going to pound and adopting an animal facing euthanization. ... ok, the last one is Gromnir-centric, but fact remains that kinda voluminous social media footprint should be source of shame-face. and yes, we get this opinion is coming from a guy with 7800 posts on a game development message board at the armpit end o' the internet, but am retired. so there. HA! Good Fun!