Gromnir

moving on... HA! Good Fun! edit: @Gorth still our favorite "fantasy" movie and the basil score is a contributing factor.

am maintaining our distance from ukraine specific discussion, however, we couldn't help but recall another uc berkeley talks event. long but worth a listen. now keep in mind am not suggesting the russian generals deserve to be fired. is tough to tell how much the fails o' the invasion is due to military blunders as 'posed to political interference and the russian culture o' kleptocracy. is also kinda weird how guys such as michael kofman constant warn us to not underestimate russian military based on the social media coverage o' ukraine while they simultaneous blast russian efforts thus far with more than a little frequency. is just one reason am keeping some distance from commentary 'cause many is generalizing, often self contradictory, 'bout situations which is ambiguous... save for stating obvious that the only way the original invasion made real sense is if russian leadership genuine believed the ukranians were just gonna roll over and effective surrender with little resistance, 'cause were nowhere near the manpower or the resources required to achieve meaningful successes assuming any kinda meaningful ukranian opposition. regardless, point is a willingness to fire generals were arguable a strength o' the ww2 era US military which has been lost. combat relief due to lack o' effectiveness or a refusal to be a team player were not career ending for a ww2 US combat commander-- leadership had "sixty-to-ninety days" to prove itself. in fact, in the linked video, is anecdotal examples offered o' commanders being relieved after three days. also, am gonna admit the linked video is 'bout generals firing generals and not so much civilian leadership doing so, but am gonna suggest a willingness to relieve combat commanders quick is not necessarily a problem. HA! Good Fun!

aside, for years we thought we disliked stephen king, until we read short stories. now admitted, is a whole lotta terrible stephen king short stories, but we were pleasant surprised by how much better king were in smaller portions. HA! Good Fun!

you identify/repeat the problem and not a solution. is overstatement and misleading to state that lies is believed the more they is repeated. no matter how many times Gromnir hears moon hoax claims, am not gonna be more likely to believe. am not the significant portion o' the population which already wants to believe the government would coverup a moon hoax and we got too much science-based education to fall for the outright misinformation. you are speaking o' lies which resonates with a significant portion o' the population 'cause o' biases or faith in the speaker. is those lies which gonna be believed even if is untrue. can't fix that with more truth or alternative lies. also, and have observed this curiosity more than once, but is distrust o' mainstream news and government which counter-intuitive results in the self described cynics glomping onto alternative and fringy sources. the more the mainstream news and government pushes back on the lies and disinformation, the more credible the lie becomes to the "significant" portion of the populace which wants to believe the lie. after all, the reasoning *snort* goes that the government wouldn't be pushing back so hard if there wasn't something to hide and the faceless and soulless government is precise the kinda organization which could fabricate chem trails or seth rich and then manage a believable coverup. prove such lies ain't true, eh? lies which resonate is credible to a significant portion o' the population 'cause we educated previous generations poorly and have now replaced reflection and cynicism with faith-based political beliefs and fear inspired ideology as sold by folks such as tucker carlson. to be fair, is not as if ignorance is a new problem. the situation we face in 2022 is no different than the mid 1800s or 1920s or whenever save for changes in tech. the internet and social media makes it much easier for the disenchanted, fearful and angry to find sources on the internet which resonate. lies proliferate so much faster nowadays and those who embrace quackery and lies no longer feel marginalized by embracing their crackpot beliefs 'cause is always experts somewhere on the net who agree with them. heck, we even had a President, an unrepentant fabulist, spewing national enquirer quality bs, which further legitimized for the "significant" portion of the populace," that their ignorance were in fact the last best hope for preserving democracy and the american way o' life... but not real democracy or american life as it ever existed for reals, but rather the convenient fairytales sold by skeevy politicians and infotainers. if there is a solution to the problem o' disinformation other than real education we ain't seen it, and education takes time and bipartisan commitment. HA! Good Fun!

HA! Good Fun!

solutions is all long-term and unfortunate is gonna be as much if not more resistance to real solutions 'cause they involves education, and education is current a bugaboo for elements on both sides o' the aisle but particular for the maga crowd. with US first amendment, you are not gonna stop the flow o' disinformation. solutions has gotta instead be dedicated to teaching the public to discern disinformation and how to choose more reliable options w/o ignoring fact even reliable options for info is gonna be wrong 'cause o' biases (willful and unconscious) as well as simple mistake. we recent read a couple scholar linked articles offered in this thread. am not gonna call out specific, but the sources offered were terrible, but you wouldn't know they were terrible unless you bothered to read not only the sources offered but a few o' the linked sources the articles used as support. follow chain and realize the authors use a single judge taking bribes from a local private run juveniles facility to support the notion that law enforcement is active supporting privatization efforts is kinda a suspect basis for a generalized claim, no? bunch o' such examples, but who is gonna read what appears to be legit academic sources, eh? worse, we got the folks who cannot discern reputable sources from reliable. as already noted, no source deserves your complete faith, but the conspiracy-minded folks is quick to dismiss those news sources which do not conform to their own personal biases. why? well, look how many times ________ and _________ reported wrong. *sigh* saw this with the russian invasion o' ukraine invasion stuff. if ___________ reports that "pentagon sources say," and the pentagon source ends up being wrong, then is not a situation where _________ were wrong and unreliable, but rather the reader didn't have enough intelligence to realize that unnamed pentagon resources is not particular reliable given obscurity and uncertainty which comes with the fog o' war. readers need be smart... more smarty. regardless, just 'cause a so-called reliable source is run by libs or conservatives don't make 'em wrong, unfortunate we got a populace so distrustful o' news in general that any source which do not resonate with the reader will be dismissed outta hand. is also true major news outlets which provide news daily or even 24/7 is gonna be wrong from time-to-time. *feigned shock* nevertheless, the folks who argue in favour o' their skeevy state-run sources or fringey conspiracy blogs will focus anecdotal on the times major and reputable sources got wrong and ignore how their preferred sources is orders o' magnitude less reliable particular when a relevant issue is related to an obvious bias o' the source. first step o' education is the most difficult: help people understand their own biases and how those biases colour their perceptions. regardless, the real solutions all involve teaching kids to be better than us. decades long approach to fixing disinformation. decades long fixes is not political popular. explain how the real solutions to biggest problems is generational, taking many years to provide meaningful results is never gonna sell in a democratic republic. each new Congress or Presidential administration is gonna have their own priorities and is rare generational fixes survive. is much easier and is providing a better political payoff to end those useless and anti-liberty government programs initiated by they and them from the previous Congress or the former President than it is to commit to long-term solutions. HA! Good Fun!

we got a 7 series viking, 48", dual fuel, (VDR74826GSS) and for what it cost, it should be able to read our mind w/o the need for us to depress buttons or turn knobs. that said, is surprising few confusing doohickeys and whatchamacallits on the viking... though am gonna admit we initial gave the "gourmet-glo" *snort* infrared broiler the skunk eye with its six freaking settings. serious? there is a feature for backlight knobs which we used once- were christmas when we had young guests. red and green. is not s'posed to be for decoration, but whatever. the linked manual reveals just how few non-intuitive features the model boasts. is designed to cook food and not do our taxes or navigate solar space travel. we prefer simple. as for washer... we got some kinda whirlpool model whatever. matty ryan and ice-t say we should wash our clothes in cold water 'cause climate change, something-something. at this point we throw clothes in, hit power and then start and hope for the best. HA! Good Fun!

given what were the utter fail o' prohibition, is kinda mind blowing that a mere fifty or sixtyish years would elapse before repeating the same mistakes... mistakes magnified by minimum sentencing guidelines voted 'pon and passed democratic 'cause society were not satisfied with the namby-pamby notions o' justice judges were embracing... or at least the conjured notions o' justice self-interested politicians were selling to the ignorant masses. am s'posing law & order as a political platform has been popular since before the athenians, and deterrence and reformation has always been at best secondary concerns for The People who demand criminals to get their due. HA! Good Fun!

borrowing the immortal words o' vol, no. am thinking most people do not understand what a corporation is. not social organization. most US corporations have a single owner. many corporations do indeed have multiple shareholders or is public traded, but the vast majority is single owners who wish to limit their financial liability. most simple description: corporations is a scheme for encouraging business ventures and investment. that's all. example: bob wants to start a commode refurbishing business but he don't want to lose his house or his daughter's college fund if the venture fails to succeed, 'cause a commode refurbishing business is not a slam dunk venture, eh? so bob files articles o' incorporation for his new business. the corporation is a legal construct which provides bob with a certain amount o' security from creditors. as long as bob don't comingle funds or break certain rules and laws, he can't lose more in his commode business than he has invested. bob's commode business assets is separate from his personal assets. so, no. HA! Good Fun!

instant recognized as lemmings... 'cause am old. HA! Good Fun!

the thing is, you are being reasonable, and that is a flawed starting point. first step is you need imagine total lack o' self awareness coupled with a me and mine mentality which challenges credulity. school lunches for kids is bad 'cause is free for them. welfare is bad 'cause even if the vast majority o' adults receiving welfare benefits do so for less than six months, they are undeserving; likely using the free money to buy drugs and alcohol. programs which tax me and mine to provide benefits for they and them is necessarily bad even if those programs may be shown to benefit society as a whole. however, if a program is designed to tax the "fat cats" so everybody else benefits, including me and mine, then is good. unreasonable? sure but not necessarily irrational. rationality may be maintained even if the initial premise is unreasonable. as long as internal consistent, unreasonable may be rational. regardless, you gotta start with embracing a comical unapologetic me and mine perspective which am guessing is difficult for hurl. good luck with that. HA! Good Fun!

@Azdeus asked 'bout punishing "soldiers," and a position none wants, so we couldn't help but think o' the old quip 'bout corporals. HA! Good Fun!

corporal? HA! Good Fun! ps don't make the mistake o' referring to marines as soldiers.

new patch fewer fixes than anticipated, but am knowing is typical a few corrective measures which go unpublished. will maybe give the dlcs a shot now that there has been a couple patches. HA! Good Fun!

"potential" is key word for payments for donating genetic material. first, most people is rejected as donors. am recalling is less than 5% acceptance, which makes it tougher to be a donor than is getting into cal tech. second, near half money possible for donations is paid once your offering is actual utilized. am suspecting if you is a 6'4" white guy with mensa credentials you could possible make $26k per year. maybe. third, you is asked to abstain from sex three days prior to a donation, which for a young man 'tween 18 and 35 who is amongst that 5% group, abstaining is kinda tougher than it sounds. if your counts decrease, your donation is rejected and you do not get paid, so the three day guideline is functional a requirement. HA! Good Fun!

speaking o' interesting, how exact is israel occupying palestine? ask self when when were the s'posed initial israeli invasion of palestine. as for some folks talking genocide by israel, will once again observe the strong population growth o' the peoples in gaza and the so-called occupied territories, which at the very least, given israeli capabilities, suggests they ain't trying to bring 'bout the destruction o' a people, yes? by comparison, am suspecting the population growth for ukraine is not gonna look so good for 2022. the killing o' the reporter is likely a terrible accident, but as usual am gonna wait for details. is weird how no matter how many times same situations arise, we nevertheless get folks with same instinctive need to react reflexive. am also not recalling the building the ap needed evacuate *gasp* were "suddenly" discovered to be a hamas stronghold. is unsurprising israel never offered details regarding the existence o' hamas intelligence assets in the building. that said, we wouldn't be shocked if israel had decided that given al jazeera acting as an intelligence gathering arm for qatar backed entities is hardly a controversial position, they would destroy their gaza headquarters. not legal, but were bloodless. am not condoning btw, but on the scorecard o' evils attributed to israel, and has been more than a few genuine bad acts, that one were extreme minor. every few years, israelis reach a limit as to numbers o' gaza launched rocket attacks they is willing to suffer and decide the five minutes o' western infamy they endure for stomping out hamas in gaza (or hezbollah to the north) cells is worth the body count and bad press, and their calculus thus far appears to be a valid approach to maintaining the status quo... and status quo is best possible outcome at this point considering the last legit efforts for peace were 2000 and since then neither israelis or arabs has had real serious interest in revisiting long-term peace solutions. HA! Good Fun!

and our point was your misinterpretation o' what we said. to varying degrees, near all US Presidents could be described as racists, but am thinking it should be obvious that observation, w/o context, is meaningless. btw, is kinda starting point o' crt that racism is normal and if is evil, then is an inherent evil o' human nature. brookings site offers good insights. is easier for Gromnir to embrace foundations o' crt 'cause while you are selective pretending not to recall, is Gromnir who suggests state o' nature is brutal and that is 'cause o' inherent flaws in all men. you are the one who curious believes politicians is unique subject to flaw... particular major party politicians. and you are serious misrepresenting your own past observations/claims. how many times has you suggested it makes no difference which you choose as 'tween lesser and greater evils? they are all bad. self paralysis resulting from convincing self choice 'tween evils don't matter? so again, is only funny 'cause you misinterpreted. our observation were in response to your less than meaningful descriptor o' woodrow wilson. is Gromnir who has always made clear that given the magnitude o' the job and the challenges presented, US Presidents and Congressmen is near always gonna come outta the wash looking dirty and unsuited for the job. Presidents were never s'posed to do what we want 'em to do, so is hardly shocking when they fail to meet expectations. is not 'cause they is bad (edit: though is no question at least a few potus has been undeniable corrupt) they fail to meet gd expectations but rather 'cause they is men, human beings. spam. has us chasing you as you chase your tail? more fool us. HA! Good Fun!

am knowing there is no sympathy for landlords hereabouts, but both o' our current tenants (sadly, our best tenant, the butcher, moved and we sold the property in question. no more free meat to make up the difference in rent) whom we provided more than a year advanced warning we would not be renewing leases, has informed us they ain't gonna be moving out by may 31 and june 30 respective. ... at minimum is gonna take us 60 days to evict 'em, if we choose to do so. one o' the tenants is 85. am kicking an 85 year old woman out on the street? for chrissakes, we know her daughter lives w/i 2 kilometers and her sons are both in the sacramento valley. is not as if she has no family, but either our tenant refuses to move in with family or they don't wanna take her in, and her health/physical mobility is limited such that she no longer cooks for herself and family needs come check on her daily. 'course if we don't sell soon, the market is likely to change dramatic, which is exact what we anticipated. the thing is, if we let our tenants stay and collect rent after the end o' the lease, then am effective creating a new month-to-month lease, which means we are required to add another sixty days notice before starting the aforementioned eviction efforts; 120 days becomes the new minimum time frame to be rid o' would be squatters if we take rent. as such it makes more sense to not collect rent. how long am s'posed to not collect rents? we were also serious considering moving into one o' our two remaining rental homes as our current place is too big by far for one person... even if is one person and multiple dogs. so yeah, am not expecting sympathy, but we never expected both remaining tenants would screw us after we gave 'em years o' significant discounted rent and an extra long advanced warning on non-renewal o' lease. no good deed... HA! Good Fun!

laughy gif but am knowing you believe it, so... gd likes to ignore the substantial degrees o' variation. convinces self biden is no more corrupt or skeevy than trump? sure. andrew johnson and jimmy carter were both democrats and supporters o' racist policies during their political careers, but am suspecting even gd would agree the degree o' villainy those two Presidents displayed as it pertains to equitable treatment o' race were vast different in terms o' scale. nevertheless, 'cause is convenient and supports gd worldview, he simplifies to they are all bad. @Hurlsnotcontribution is noteworthy as it provides balanced context for lbj. converse, label a late 19th century and early 20th century US politician as racist and a believer in eugenics is less than helpful w/o context. is unfortunate but am suspecting such labels would apply in varying degrees to at least 90% o' US politicians circa 1910s. is not that woodrow wilson were racist and a believer in eugenics which made him a bad guy by the standards o' his day but rather the degree o' his belief and the efforts to which he attempted to have US policy reflect his racist beliefs. however, so is no misunderstanding, woodrow wilson were indeed vile. the following is woodrow wilson quotes used in the film, birth of a nation: Adventurers swarmed out of the North, as much the enemies of one race as of the other, to cozen, beguile, and use the Negroes.…In the villages the Negroes were the office holders, men who knew none of the uses of authority, except its insolences. The Policy of the congressional leaders wrought…a veritable overthrow of civilization in the South.…in their determination to "put the white South under the heel of the black South." The white men of the South were aroused by the mere instinct of self-preservation to rid themselves, by fair means or foul, of the intolerable burden of governments sustained by the votes of ignorant negroes and conducted in the interest of adventurers. *shrug* regardless, as is typical, gd jokes... but not really. HA! Good Fun!

racism were an official part o' the democrat national platform post civil war (andrew johnson arguable being our most racist President evar) 'til fdr, who himself were a running mate o' the venomously racist james cox, initiated japanese internment by executive order, and ignored jim crow laws. and let's not forget how truman, lbj and jimmy carter all at least flirted with the kkk during their political careers. 'course most (all?) republicans were racist, but the party platform were at least offering a nod to a paternalistic view o' post civil war racial inclusivity. have also mentioned more than once how american eugenics inspired euro fascists and not the other way around. it is not hard to find advocates o' eugenics from both sides o' the aisle for that sin as well, particular 'mongst the so-called intellectuals o' the late 19th and early 20th century. HA! Good Fun!

have been perpetual kinda dumbstruck by how few lessons were learned from the great recession. HA! Good Fun!

overlooked this. apologies. cast iron retains heat, but takes longer than the other choices to arrive at the temp you want and a pot or pan may have hot spots. takes a bit more skill and patience. stainless steel is a nice option as has higher conductivity than iron and is durable (no or minimal warping and unlike iron it isn't gonna crack) as well as light. aluminum is light and cheap and generally sucks compared to the other options, but good and thick aluminum is gonna heat as even as will a cheap layer o' copper. copper, btw, has fantastic conductivity (and anti microbial properties btw which is why adding a layer o' copper were so popular for the hulls seagoing vessels until cheaper paint solutions were discovered) but is difficult to keep looking pretty, is expensive and is not as durable... 'course you won't see all-copper pots and pans. will see pots an pans with a layer o' copper and the cheap stuff has a crap layer which is existing for no reason save for appearances. the sooper expensive copper actual includes a literal silver lining for even better conductivity. the qualities o' cookware is also gonna be dependent on your burner-type. for example, electric and non-induction hops/burners is gonna nullify some o' the benefits o' high-end cookware anyways and is why we initial asked 'bout your cooking surface. HA! Good Fun!

bad math. bill clinton only left office in 2001. 'course for @Guard Dog, woodrow wilson would be the most likely bearer o' the potus antichrist title, with the rest getting no more than a collective, "they are all bad." personal, am thinking calvin coolidge, donald trump, james buchanan, william harrison, thomas jefferson and andrew jackson deserve mention way before regan. btw, is more than a few o' our scholarly indian acquaintances who insist abraham lincoln and ulysses s. grant is among the most vile holders o' the potus office, and is tough to argue they is wrong if you look at the situation through a lens colored by the indigenous people's experience. every generation o' young americans needs a potus antichrist. from a european or canadian pov, am suspecting every post woodrow wilson potus (lending some credence to guard dog's position btw) has had the antichrist label hung on them for a time by some significant number... though obama benefits from a curious get out of jail free pass from all too many euros and kandians. HA! Good Fun!

@Guard Dogam a big fan o' cast iron cookware, and the enameled choices is not particular high maintenance. unfortunate, is a whole lotta terrible enameled iron. ironic, am also thinking some o' the problem with naked cast iron is people put in too much maintenance. the urge to clean is good, but cast iron don't want you to scrub and it dislikes anything but most minimal soap. this is why we got a dedicated fish pan. the fish gets into the carbon surface and stays there until you cook something else... multiple something elses and at high temps to boot. so, we got a dedicated 10" cast iron skillet which we use for cooking fish on our outdoor grill. am knowing folks who literal have special cast iron pans which they will only cook a single dish and they has done so for decades. am not quite so finicky so yeah, every year or so we do need season the non enameled skillets, but otherwise, is not too bad. ... hadn't really considered previous, but particular considering @Bartimaeus concerns, am suspecting a good litmus test for a non-stick pan is to check and see if it is induction capable. if you got a meaningful stainless steel base, is gonna work with induction. am suspecting is uncommon a terrible nonstick pan is gonna have a stainless steel base. HA! Good Fun!

observations: is best not to go super expensive 'cause even the best non-stick pan is gonna wear out in a few years (as such, buying a set o' non-stick is kinda silly. choose a couple pieces you know you will need replace.) ceramic actual wears out quicker go above medium or medium-high is verboten even in 2022 you are gonna want a durable reinforced stainless steel base to avoid the warping which annoys bartimaeus HA! Good Fun!