Gromnir

Our Republic Is Under Attack From the President op-ed from retired navy admiral william h. mcraven. original posted at nyt.

lebron might wanna stick to his taco tuesday crusade. HA! Good Fun!

saw this story 'bout a week ago and couldn't think o' a good way to respond. short o' burning books as fuel to prevent hypothermia, am thinking a book burner voluntarily yields moral high ground. burn huckleberry finn. burn bible. burn quran. burn lolita. heck, burn the unabomber's manifesto would bother us on some level. if you are so angered by a writing you cannot respond intelligent, then you should reflect on such anger and consider what the burning says 'bout the act o' destruction, 'cause such destruction doesn't say anything constructive 'bout the work being torched but it does say much 'bout the one indulging in pyrotechnics. ... that said, we do not like "white privilege" label. if you claim minorities is disadvantaged in the US, am suspecting most college aged kids would agree, including those at georgia-southern. however, "white privilege" implies that white folks, regardless o' their situation, didn't earn what they has worked hard to aquire. protestant work ethic, though diminished in recent decades, is still a thing here in the US. Americans tend to work more hours and with less vacation than a large % o' the western world, but even if they didn't, suggest white americans hasn't earned what they got, or has exploited others to succeed means you start a conversation 'bout race by potential placing +60% o' the population on the defensive. meaningful dialectic regarding race is elusive, so why make more difficult when simple change in definitions and labels avoids conflict? have heard the arguments from our family who tell us white americans need "wake up" and realize just how unbalanced is US society, and the only way they recognize the depth o' the inequality is to fundamental challenge preconceptions. unfortunate, from our pov, "white privilege" polarizes listeners rather than creating reflection or dialogue opportunities. why start a conversation with a label you know is gonna drive some portion o' moderate listeners to become adversarial? have watched the baldwin and buckley cambridge debate a few dozen times over the years. much has changed since 1965. sadly, much has remained same. am by nature more inclined to find resonance with baldwin than buckley and am not suggesting "white privilege" is unworthy o' discussion and debate. however, from a practical perspective, those who accuse the 60% o' white privilege is polarizing folks who might ordinarily be open to the notion that unavoidable class handicaps unfair and disproportionate continue to affect large numbers o' Americans, and it polarizes far too many such folks to opposition. nevertheless, one would hope a college campus would be a place where in 2019 white privilege could be discussed w/o resorting to the kinda action we dismiss as a trapping o' nazis... or florida man. HA! Good Fun!

"By the time agents walked out of Milner's apartment, they'd taken 906 live psychedelic mushrooms, 20.42 ounces of dried mushrooms, an iPhone X, a computer tower, three T-shirts with a logo for Happy Fox Edibles, a brown leather-bound notebook, and packaging with a logo that matched the T-shirts." confession: what stuck with us from the article is Happy Fox Edibles. am not a recreational drug user, but can't help but wonder if purchasing a happy fox edibles t-shirt is possible. 'course we would wanna see logo. HA! Good Fun!

was thinking similar. 'ccording to board we got near 8k posts. am suspecting 3/4 o' those posts is functional recycles. we point out same flaws in new obsidian games and repackage same arguments with same posters in wot. is a bit like groundhog day, but w/o a circa 1993 andie macdowell to make our willingness to endure the endless cycle o' repeats reasonable. HA! Good Fun!

as an aside, suicide by firearms is kinda an overbroad and misleading category as handguns o' specific calibres is the weapon o' choice for suicide, and many countries has limits on handguns. if the typical firearm owned in country A is a .22 lr, then compare to US or even canada is hardly gonna be analogous. "natives" is also less helpful in US and canada as 'posed to elsewhere. is partial a matter o' size. in the US, there are 573 federally recognized american indian and alaskan native tribes, which is itself misleading as there is tribes and peoples who is not recognized in spite o' fact they is native. is a curious legal limbo for an indigenous people to not have formal federal recognition in spite o' having thousands o' years o' history and genetics and every other measure one might think is important for delineating tribal recognition. in any event, cultural, social, economic and other factors is gonna be differing from tribe-to-tribe and the shorthand o' lumping all together in one homogenous group is resulting in misrepresentation. am empathetic to gabbard's kinda pre-9/11 thinking which ignores the democratization o' destruction that has taken place. isolation reduces the US capacity to prevent, react and respond to the ever growing number o' groups which has the capacity to do the US harm. think we are more safe by holing up in bunker america is comforting on some level, but is so 18th century at this point. gabbard wants to bring US military personnel home, and she believes US involvement overseas makes US more vulnerable. is a simplistic view but has much appeal, particular for veterans. can argue validity. we got empathy for such a view, particular from a vet. on the other hand, is hypocritical and disappointing how gabbard brutal trolled obama 'cause he would not embrace "radical islam" and "islamic extremist labels," but she is doing the most extreme gymnastics to avoid calling out asad for his behaviour. am personal thinking gabbard's worldview is myopic, but am not offended by such. on the other hand, her behaviour insofar as asad is for us a genuine "red line." HA! Good Fun!

suicide is very much an impulsive act. make suicide even incremental more difficult and lives is saved. sure, there are exceptions. got stage 4 cancer sufferer who is in terrible pain every waking moment and who is watching their savings, which would otherwise go to spouse or children, get wiped-out in a pointless fight to prolong agony and nobody is gonna be shocked that such a person is convinced and resolute 'bout ending their existence. however, is a fact suicide is ordinarily impulsive. is not one o' those issues which is actual worth debating. can educate selves if you wish, but honest is not fodder for argument. single biggest drop in suicide rate in US history were occuring exact same time as phasing out coal gas ovens. same happened in england with a 30% drop in overall suicide rate direct linked to phase-out o' coal gas ovens. weren't social or economic or mental health. coal gas ovens were convenient. 30%. similar, the recent increase in US suicide rate appears to be direct linked to availability o' opioids as the increase numbers is near same as death by overdose from opioids. kinda a "duh" moment, eh? likewise, states with highest gun ownership rates has highest suicide by gun total, with other factors appearing constant. firearms, particular handguns, is not just correlative insofar as suicide rates. make more difficult to commit suicide, and typically people do not work harder to kill themselves. delay suicide or make more inconvenient results in less corpses. now, am not making any comments 'bout mental health and social mores and whatnot-- those is bigger and more complex issues. is not as if by preventing suicide a person's life magic becomes better and am thinking is obvious how whatever were troubling a person before they contemplated suicide is unlikely to disappear just 'cause they couldn't get their hands on a handgun at 3:00AM. am also not gonna get into why it is men is more likely to off selves with firearms than women. regardless, make suicide even a bit more inconvenient by regulating means o' killing self and suicide rate drops. install "jumper" cameras at golden gate bridge? reduce opioid availability? end coal gas ovens? make handgun purchase/ownership more difficult? HA! Good Fun!

there is always a few ref blunders and a team needs play through 'em. no excuses. ... am nevertheless sympathetic to the detroit lions and their fans, 'cause there were multiple clear wrong ref blunders which went against the lions in the last half o' the last quarter o' the game. green bay played "scrappy" and toughed it out, but to detroit unfortunate an otherwise good game had to end such... unless you are a gb fan, in which case you are less likely to be sympathetic. HA! Good Fun!

HA! Good Fun!

as good a place as any to remind AP FACT CHECK: Trump’s false statement on military pay the fib 'bout trump being the first to provide military personnel with a raise in a decade, often goes hand-in-hand with his lies 'bout VA choice. Trump Takes ‘VA Choice’ Lie To Next Level With Bonus Lie That McCain Failed To Pass It but at least trump is (not) building an effectual wall on the southern border. HA! Good Fun!

keep in mind, we know you ain't a member o' the lunatic fringe. "state, "time for them to pay my way," or "i want free stuff" is nothing but a sardonic way o' poking fun o' the folks selling patchouli scented smoke being blown in our faces. Gromnir sees it and am certain gd does too. others?" the thing is, every time somebody suggests that the "redassbaboon" is throwing p00p at zoo onlookers, he digs in, becomes offended, and insists he is 100% serious. trying to out vol vol? perhaps. doesn't matter. regardless, only reason we posted was 'cause we knew gd were keeding, and we could tell gd thought he were part o' a joke response rather than serious. HA! Good Fun!

gd sarcasm would indeed be obvious 'cept for fact you were agreeing with somebody who insists they are serious. disconnect. HA! Good Fun!

pretty sure the typo wasn't the problem. HA! Good Fun!

went basic. reverse sear o' a small cross-rib roast. have a bakery here in town which makes kimmelweck rolls. is good we may buy fresh rolls 'cause while am capable o' baking, we avoid. am now having roast beef for the next couple days. only drawback is we had to use additional stew meat and beef stock to make au jus 'cause the roast were producing virtual nul pan leavings. HA! Good Fun!

that would be reassuring. am not particular worried 'bout a cabal comprised o' obsidian board regulars. you? HA! Good Fun!

non-sequitur is the rv diesel? go diesel. is relative inexpensive to convert a diesel engine so that it runs on plant and animal-based oil. old cooking fat, suitably strained, is a perfect viable fuel, and the exhaust from your vehicle will smell like french fries. rendered human fats would work as well. as such, so as long as you are willing to murder-per-mile, your rv would never run outta fuel once doomsday cometh. HA! Good Fun!

gd is knowing fundamental truism o' the libertarian maxim: TNSTAAFL. you will pay more taxes and get reduced services elsewhere. tax the rich is a swell notion 'but utter unworkable in current incarnations, and even if such were workable, the President isn't actual the person who does any o' the stuff which would give gd a free lunch. Congress is the folks who writes the big checks. (trump, btw, just watched another court to put a halt to him using emergency money to build his wall... o' which near nothing has been done anyway save remediation.) the current polarized political reality means is asinine to promise fundamental alterations to US economy and society w/o first showing a plan for building the necessary consensus which is a precursor to all this silliness. state, "time for them to pay my way," or "i want free stuff" is nothing but a sardonic way o' poking fun o' the folks selling patchouli scented smoke being blown in our faces. Gromnir sees it and am certain gd does too. others? HA! Good Fun!

https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4822045/hr-mcmaster worth a look. video is a bit long, but panelists clarify significant geostrategic considerations for US. 59:43 is also deserving a looksee. HA! Good Fun!

giuliani made more than a little money riding them ponies. doesn't take much imagination to recognize how having the President's personal attorney involved in diplomatic efforts is a bad idea, but this somehow surprises us. if you are giuliani, and these is your clients, the last thing you are gonna wanna do is draw national media attention to ukraine and self, no? nevertheless, here we are. HA! Good Fun!

am not a vampire fan, but we couldn't help recall the james earl jone reading o' the raven for the simpsons. have james earl jones, ian mcshane or christopher walken read most edgar allan poe or other spooky stuff would be gold. david tenant is ok too. HA! Good Fun!

curious. our understanding is the serious stress begins after the birth... and then lasts more than 18 years in ordinary situations. good luck. HA! Good Fun!

housekeeper is official retired, though we do make sure to call her at least once every week or so and give her a chance to berate us for not going to church. am a catholic who volunteers for all kinda church stuff, but am only going to services for special occasions. former housekeeper is concerned 'bout our soul and am knowing she feels better if she has a chance to try and persuade us to attend at least every sunday service, and perhaps more. she is one o' those catholics who goes to church sunday as well as at least once during the week in addition to regular attendance o' her bible study group. if we sudden started showing up to church every sunday, am certain it would count as little more than a good start. we cook for each other. am thinking Gromnir gets the better end o' the deal. still no cooking secrets learned. the new/old buick is in the garage and is slow getting the attention it deserves. technical is driveable. barely. we only have two season in our area: 1) hot and dry; 2) less hot and less dry. our rainy season should be starting soon, which means we should wrap up most o' our outdoor home and yard improvement projects within the next couple weeks. rain starts and the le sabre will get some tlc. 'course our yard is still a freaking mess... is embarrassing how much attention our yard needs. more first world problems, but we got a 1/3 acre golf course lot (more actual 'cause we landscaped common area) and am barely able to see any golf course from a first-floor window. the landscaping is more than a little overgrown. our photinias is in the 18' height range and capable o' repelling ww2 era tanks trying to penetrate our suburban fortress. am genuine shocked our neighbours haven't complained. should work on the yard more. don't want to. am approving o' your improvement to the cart, but am unlikely to be a role model for right and wrong for government enhancement projects. we were once chastised for encouraging kids in a juvenile hall where we worked to turn their oranges, a snack item which they typical threw in the garbage almost immediate after receiving, into juvenile hall jack o' lanterns. black marker, an orange and even the tiniest imagination can be combined to create a miniature approximation o' a traditional halloween decoration. one halloween, pretty much every kid in j-unit had a "jack o' lantern" sitting on their window ledges. the supervisors did not approve o' our sense o' whimsy. HA! Good Fun!

the US actual fought great britain in the revolutionary war and the war of 1812. enemies. all the more reason to betray those pasty-faced chumps at the next possible opportunity. no doubt the brits has been nursing a grudge since the drubing they took at the battle o' new orleans. far better if we turn on them before they get a chance to do same to us. OUR HEROES Native American Soldiers in Our Midst additional noteworthy, 10,000 native americans served in ww1 in spite o' fact they were not afforded an opportunity to be citizens at the time. am perhaps too close to the issue, but am thinking if there is one population which deserves to hold a grudge 'gainst the US, is the indigenous people o' what is now the USA. some still do. nevertheless, am betting more than a few folks is surprised by just how well represented has been native peoples serving in uniform during US wars. and while the US and vietnamese were allies in ww2, clearly the relationship soured. nevertheless, is worth considering a counterpoint to trump's notions o' international relations, using vietnam as an example. How Vietnam fell in love with John McCain trump says stuff which is inane to the point o' nonsensical, but all too often such dogrel, bordering on evidence o' aphasia, resonates with his base. HA! Good Fun!

the warren story as spun from the right is also more than a little misleading. The Elizabeth Warren pregnancy smear shows how poisoned the media world is or https://www.cbsnews.com/news/elizabeth-warren-pregnancy-claim-democratic-presidential-candidate-stands-by-being-pushed-out-of-teaching-job/ "Warren also told CBS News that she was, in fact, officially offered the job for the following year as the school board minutes indicate. "In April of that year, my contract was renewed to teach again for the next year," Warren said. She also said she had been hiding her pregnancy from the school. ""I was pregnant, but nobody knew it. And then a couple of months later when I was six months pregnant and it was pretty obvious, the principal called me in, wished me luck, and said he was going to hire someone else for the job," Warren said. "Asked repeatedly whether she meant she was fired when she said the principal showed her the door, Warren said, "When someone calls you in and says, the job that you've been hired for for next year, is no longer yours, we're giving it to someone else. I think that's being 'shown the door.'"" HA! Good Fun!

mid-september, one o' our renters calls and tells us she is quitting her lease with 8 month remaining. we scramble to mitigate our losses and we get lucky. well, sorta lucky. talk to one o' our real estate friends and the real estate friend has a client whose mother needs a place by mid-october, but the mother is old and has a fixed income and will need daughter to cosign. *shrug* we have been significant undercharging the current renter, so continuing to leave a couple hundred bucks on the table each month for the next few years is disappointing but not a real issue for us. however, new renter is old enough such that she may only have a few years in her before she either needs go to an assisted care facility or... well, or. old persons fall. is the nature o' old persons. the rental property in question is a one-story but there is stairs on the back deck and stairs from the garage and stairs to get in front door, not that anybody in our community ever uses front doors save for picking up deliveries. regardless, we may need add handrails in bathroom and garage and at front door just to cover our asre. is a 3 bedroom and 2 bath 1900 sqft home, and in our area that makes it a family home. such homes is ordinarily rented in late spring and summer so families may get little billy or cindy registered with the new school district before classes begins in august or september. october-february is a serious freaking dead period for family home rentals in the area in question, which is why we have such leases end no later than end o' may. manage to get a new tenant in october with almost no vacancy? will take it even if is not optimal. anywho, the exiting (deadbeat) tenant is complaining 'bout how much access we is demanding this last week. ... seeing as how we now have only 'til the 11th o' this month to get the place ready for the new tenant, (mid-october became an october 12 hard cap) am not thinking a bit o' access is unreasonable, particular as new tenant moving in gets current tenant off the hook for rent she owes 'tween now and may 31, 2020. deadbeat is also angry 'cause we reminded her that she agreed to have carpets be professionally cleaned 'pon end o' lease. we always demand professional clean carpets be covered by tenant if they have pets. curious, what pushed tenant over the edge is when we offered her paint to cover up the dozens o' glaring white spackle patches she left on walls to fix minor dings and scuffs and nail holes. told her she were responsible for such painting. deadbeat tenant is abandoning a lease which we generous were allowing her to remain in (signed a 1-year extension this last may) in-spite o' her paying at least $400 below market rate per month. she had a sob story and lives on a fixed income and Gromnir is a softy. nevertheless, talking to her, you would think we is a kushner-level slumlord. aside: am wishing tenants in general wouldn't "help" by spackling every freaking nail hole. a reasonable number o' nail holes is ordinary wear and tear, but literal dozens o' spackle patches ranging from golfball size to basketball, is a whole 'nother issue. typical we remind tenants to leave nail holes untouched and focus efforts elsewhere, unless we is planning to repaint anyway. nevertheless, while the deadbeat is abandoning her lease and hasn't even pro-rate paid for october, she did go ahead and spackle every freaking nail hole and looks as if she were using a snow shovel instead o' a putty knife to get the job done. next year am selling our remaining properties. first world problems? maybe. nevertheless, HA! Good Fun!