Gromnir

as an aside, am not sure why there has never been a fafhrd and gray mouser movie or tv vehicle. is four or five decades worth o' fafhrd and gray mouser stories and leiber's prose style were far easier (better) than tolkien's. c.s. lewis has had animated and live action adaptions o' his works. has been how many conan/robert e. howard movies and shows? there were a couple aborted attempts to do elric movies and tv, which is nevertheless more than has ever been done insofar as leiber's rogues. am having no idea what is the situation with the intellectual property, so perhaps the leiber estate don't want movies or tv, but the absence o' arguable the most entertaining o' the early fantasy works o' fiction from tv and movies is a curiosity. HA! Good Fun!

... ... https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57950.Swords_and_Deviltry *shrug* tolkien, howard and leiber arguable represent three o' the top five fiction sources for original d&d. HA! Good Fun!

is worth repeating that Gromnir is a ubi advocate in the sense am recognizing that as automation becomes more common and ai improves, vast swaths o' US jobs is gonna disappear, never to be replaced. ubi, long-term, is unavoidable in our estimation. whatever resistance we got to ubi is sole based on matters o' practicality and implementation. there has been numerous ubi experiments conducted over the decades in europe and the US and none o' those efforts has been sustainable and positive. to manage US $12k per year as some envision would require and additional near $3 trillion per year and is impossible to magic into existence that kinda money. to achieve ubi requires Congress to pass paradigm shifting legislation and am not seeing that happening anytime soon, even if all the kinks in past programs could be addressed so is feasible with a diverse republic such as the US. HA! Good Fun! ps keep in mind Gromnir also is not bothered by free rider problems in large social programs. as we noted, am disappointed, baffled and not surprised by the folks who is angered 'cause kids who ain't needy might get free school lunch or breakfast while attempting to feed those who desperate need such a program. so what if bill gates receives ubi if hundreds o' thousands and possible millions is lifted outta poverty? can't let a few hypocrites and ne'er-do-wells sabotage beneficial social programs. as we observed, "any social program is gonna suffer a free rider problem." inevitable. our point were naught save to address the most common ubi hypocrisy we has seen on these boards.

we would say the friedman observation that, "The number of people on welfare has been skyrocketing. Why? Because once they get on welfare, we make it almost impossible for them to get off," is indeed complete wrong. is not almost impossible to "get off" welfare and statistics reveal most persons/families do indeed stop taking free money sooner as well as later. yeah, there is more than a handful o' folks who abuse the system. any social program is gonna suffer a free rider problem. unlike welfare/snap/disability, with ubi it is initially rich people and middle class who will be free riders exploiting the handout, yes? based on extreme limited example o' obsidian feedback, the most ardent appeal o' ubi is a prospective free rider exploit where individuals who have jobs and own property and can afford to send kids to college nevertheless want the free money. regardless, the welfare trap is not as friedman describes... nowhere close. HA! Good Fun! ps to make clear, to describe as a trap near impossible to escape when more than 50% stop taking welfare w/i the first year and 90% terminate benefits w/i five years, strains credulity, no? if Gromnir or @Achilles made such a boast we would at best be accused o' gross hyperbole.

what fruit? am assuming is a non factor for stuff such as cherry, apricot and even grape jams... and 'course orange marmalade, which am s'posing is technical jam. converse, never woulda occurred to us to try and remove the seeds from something such as blueberries. raspberry, blackberry and strawberry is perhaps targets for seedless, but am admitting have never seen such and now that am forewarned we will avoid. unrelated, am serious considering downsizing our place, which would mean needing staring kitchen anew. the problem we got is the property we own which makes the most sense is having a downdraft cooktop and the current cabinets would allow for only a 30" wide cooktop replacement. if we wanna do gas or induction we would likely need one o' those telescoping downdraft risers, but the countertop is also only 24" deep, so is an extreme tight fit. there is a nice wolf 30" induction cooktop we had considered, but am gonna need serious professional consultation 'cause is no way am doing this our self. HA! Good Fun!

interesting third point. too bad is complete wrong. the majority o' adult welfare recipients get benefits less than a year and 90% stop w/i five years. somewhere 'tween 1/2 and 2/3 who leave welfare w/i a year do so 'cause they found meaningful gainful employment... ~15% leave 'cause o' marriage and the remainder is attributable to a variety o' reasons. am wondering how much further the numbers would drop if you accounted for the functional unemployable. for example, seeing as how we does such a bang-up job in this country addressing mental illness o' our homeless population, more than 25% is serious mental ill and ~45% has some documented mental illness. those mental ill individuals is not ideal future employees save for possible gop Presidential candidates and air traffic controllers. the "welfare trap" isn't what is advertised. darn inconvenient facts. HA! Good Fun!

we lived williston, nd for a bit. arid winters, relative speaking. less than a couple feet o' snow all winter. ... is tough to explain how much difference wind chill makes to folks who are unaware. -20F lows is cold, but when wind chill makes -70F and when such conditions last for weeks on end... am guessing is all relative. HA! Good Fun!

ps: possible unnecessary clarification. am not suggesting US schools is anywhere teaching that "socialism is automatically better than capitalism." sure, the new deal is all too often taught as good w/o nuance, but am not claiming is a stoopid endemic either/or fallacy happening in schools where 'cause some aspect o' socialism is indeed glorified it necessarily means capitalism is being derided. such non-existent indoctrination is an imaginary hobgoblin and refuting is not worthy o' debate... but here we are... again. unfortunately, the current gop platform thrives on grievance and if the reality don't fit a narrative o' grievance, the not so alt anymore right creates bs to fit a narrative o' fear and rage which motivates the base. HA! Good Fun!

socialism is indeed glorified in public schools, but am thinking much as with democracy, too many students don't learn what is socialism. what US kid ain't taught 'bout fdr's new deal? ordinary high school/middle school teaches rather shallow, but kids still get new deal glorification, which is actual misleading given how much new deal were abject failure. and who didn't learn triangle shirtwaist factory fire? more than a few schools still has upton sinclair's the jungle as required reading, though is probable advanced class stuff nowadays. regardless, the evils o' capitalism and free market profiteering is taught in schools and necessarily you get the socialist contrast. is plenty o' socialist glorification, and some o' it is even deserved. 'course is all too rare for kids to actual learn, so too few recognize how the laws which ended company mining towns were socialism, which explains why adults fail to see farm subsidies as socialism neither. our education o' kids is having holes which don't disappear once school kids become adults. somehows, if is a government action which red state people see as positive then then it can't be socialism. is hardly a conservative-only problem as have had similar difficulties explaining democracy more than once. HA! Good Fun!

have repeated more than once, but democrats are bad at voting, with young democrats being even more terrible at exercising the franchise. one o' the down sides o' the january 6 hearings is the committee is painting numerous not-trump republicans as heroic because they did not choose to overthrow US democracy. we are told mike pence were a hero on january 6, which ignores how for months pence fully embraced the bs regarding a stolen election, not to mention how he supported every other trump excess for four years. those doj icons o' justice who marched into the oval office to confront powell, flynn and giuliani's madness were quiet when bill barr and trump sent stormtroopers to oregon to kidnap protesters off the streets o' portland, throwing 'people into unmarked white vans and whisking 'em away to... wherever. same guys didn't rage when bill barr tried to prevent an ig from reporting to Congress 'bout trump's ukraine call. where were these folks during four years o' illegal and excessive trump actions? trump were improbable in 2016, but trumpism is now part o' gop dogma. appeals to outrage and grievance and attacks on education and those with education is gonna continue. unfortunate, as long as trump is portrayed as the villain, individuals such as desantis is gonna be able to advance trumpism and am unconvinced democrats vote in the kinda numbers they mustered 2020 to prevent a possible desantis administration. HA! Good Fun!

denver... in march. our recollection is denver winters is a smidge colder on average than tallinn, but am admitted too lazy to double check. is quite possible our recollections is wrong, but am suspecting if am wrong, is not by a significant amount. 'course these observations ignore the obvious possibility that shady loathes denver winters and would like to go someplace less mercurial with more mild januarys and februarys... and marches. HA! Good Fun!

'ccording to the us census, luzerne county in pennsylvania is the only county in the US where polish is the most common reported ancestry. is quite possible after a visit to plymouth, kingston or nanticoke, @Keyrockwould never wanna leave. HA! Good Fun!

was planning on getting a motorcycle when we went away to college. given the parking situation in berkeley, our 78 jeep cherokee were gonna be problematic. we thought a motorcycle were a decent alternative and we already had experience (limited) riding. our aunt, an er nurse, advised us not to wear a helmet if we rode a motorcycle. said the people who wore helmets tended to survive, "poor bastards." motorcycle injuries, being on the horrific end o' the spectrum, our aunt saw death as the more enviable alternative. decided we would get a nice bicycle and use bart as much as possible. HA! Good Fun!

can always try a duel. the tricky part is 'ccording to the code duello the challenged party chooses the "ground" and am suspecting the shark selects ocean/sea. so monsieur bruemmer needs goad the shark into being the challenger, then demand to meet "behind the luxembourg at noon." the shark's briny hiney is done for. HA! Good Fun!

kinda repetitious, but so it goes. given the reasoning o' the majority in dobbs, and recognizing thomas' concurrence as a next logical step, the basis for maintaining loving has been serious undermined. however, we will note the Court in loving were not relying exclusive on a substantive due process. equal protection were also recognized as being a basis for declaring the anti-miscegenation law which prevented interracial marriage to be Unconstitutional. so is not complete identical to dobbs. HA! Good Fun!

what is with the obsidian logic fails lately? God(s) gets discussed all the time and secular dogma (resulting in bloodshed) surrounding liberty, honour and other notions is hardly unknown. try and stay focused. Gromnir is the one who suggested the belief in god has merit and value divorced from proof of existence. freaking opposite world. you got issues with religion? great. you already mentioned you got an emotional skew on this topic, yes? even so, have at it. we got all kinda issues with organized religion, which is another human creation btw. regardless, you do self a disservice if you can't be honest with self. point out subjectivity regarding honour and love as if that is meaningful? your notions o' what god signifies is no doubt gonna be different than many other boardies not to mention the rest o' the world population. if you are using such subjectivity as a contrast to the notion o' god am admitted baffled. am not claiming religion is good or bad or that you need believe. we limited discussion to address the obvious hypocrisy in those who are finding an absence o' value in the belief o' god 'cause is unprovable. there don't need be a god for there to be value in the belief, which were neitzsche's point when he did lament that god were dead. again, 'cause am suspecting forest is missed for trees, the value o' belief in god is not necessarily diminished by lack of capacity to prove god's existence. lord knows we never suggested belief related to god or religion were unworthy o' scrutiny or debate. nevertheless, to focus on the provable existence o' a deity as a prerequisite for value is indeed hypocritical if you simultaneous see value in honour, love, justice, etc. HA! Good Fun!

Uvalde massacre puts spotlight on tiny police departments The criticism heaped on a six-member school police force in Uvalde, Tex., after its response to a mass shooter this spring has drawn attention to a ubiquitous American institution: the tiny police department. ... Agencies with fewer than 10 officers make up nearly half the nation’s more than 12,200 local departments, a 2016 federal survey found. In many cases, these agencies have sprung up and evolved alongside the towns and communities they serve. ... McClelland said officers in many of Texas’s smallest agencies receive only the state minimum of 40 hours of ongoing training every two years, while those at bigger agencies often far exceed that. “The state requirements are very minimal, and it’s not adequate,” he said. ... please recall it is impossible for the fed to do anything meaningful 'bout state and local police in the US-- is a Constitution thing. HA! Good Fun!

had a couple three-inch thick rib-eye pork chops in a bag with (bread and butter) pickle brine and 'cause we got too busy to cook, it were +2 days before we got 'em outta the fridge. thought they would taste kinda funky, but the pork turned out better than anticipated. as is our habit these days with any thick cut o' meat, we did reverse sear; effective roasted in the oven for almost 40 minutes at 250F and then threw the chops on the grill to finish. since the grill were hot, we cooked a couple peaches. also had sauteed spinach which mighta' been arguable healthy if we hadn't used so much butter. regardless, am nevertheless shocked by how delicious were the pork as we expected cloying sweet or overpowering pickle flavour. HA! Good Fun!

identify the "pot" o' pascal's wager is a droll response and kinda missing the point regardless. is admitted incredulous perverse that a sky fairy who in spite o' limitless awareness and power demands individual obeisance o' apes who live on a single planet in a rather dull corner o' the milky way galaxy, especial as a good ending afterlife may depend on the right choice o' faith from amongst a multitude o' potential religions... while convenient ignoring the unfortunate apes who were born and died before the sky fairy chose to make itself known, but whatever, eh? regardless, the skeptic rational demands proof the sky fairy is real, 'cause if no proof then is just like any other snake oil scam, yes? nevertheless, those same people accept w/o question the reality o' a whole host o' intangible human inventions such as honor and love. those demanding proof as an antecedent to belief in sky fairies most likely not need proof o' reality o' those things already most important to them. the notion that proof o' reality is a prerequisite to belief is a hypocrisy many indulge unaware or ignoring their own ardent belief in the unprovable. supposed the good ending afterlife hinges on belief, and real or not is immaterial to the question o' belief. as such, god's existence is immaterial. HA! Good Fun!

have always thought people were overinvested in questions regarding what happens after death, the nature o' souls and the existence o' god(s). does that stuff matter? why? am suspecting there is extreme few hardcore nihilists 'mongst you all, and even if there were, they would have same pov as Gromnir: those questions is the least important. chances are you believe in love, family, justice, fairness or some other invention o' the human beast. in fact, chances are the things you is most willing to die for, and hopeful live for, is having no existence save for belief. bob believes in god and his deity is vengeful and hates teh gays. wilma believes in god and her deity is compassionate and loving, embracing all walks o' life. bob, in spite o' his beliefs, volunteers at a local homeless shelter and helped fund weave outreach in his community. wilma is a keyboard warrior who never hesitates to tell folks how to be better people, but she has never helped a person who couldn't help her in return. michalangelo does Sistine chapel ceiling and his pieta. jim jones had his koolaid. chances are you believe strong 'bout any number o' things which ain't objective real and can never be prove real. why should god and souls be different. strength o' belief and how you change your behaviors based on those beliefs is what matters, no? HA! Good Fun!

no idea if they have the french style stuff. pasztet z kaczki is what we gravitate to, but we don't get it from tarnowski's... not bacik either though as we make our own. many delis which carry polish foods is gonna have bacik brand, but pasztet z kaczki is not particular hard to make at home and we like our duck. (edit) curious, we recall never seeing bacik brand goods in pittsburgh. if we had to name the three big(er) US cities which is most polish, w/o checking a search engine, we would immediate guess chicago, pittsburgh and buffalo. we recall a distinct absence o' bacik in pittsburgh. HA! Good Fun!

https://polishfooddirect.com/ is our second favorite source for sausage. highly recommend these guys HA! Good Fun!

sitting and waiting to take a first year civ pro final, am hearing a guy behind us murmuring same thing over and over. i must not fear. fear is the mind-killer. fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. i will face my fear. i will permit it to pass over me and through me. and when it has gone past, i will turn the inner eye to see its path. where the fear has gone there will be nothing. only i will remain. at the time we thought it were kinda funny to hear a dude audibly repeating the litany against fear mantra before a final, but it so stuck with us we have been doing in similar situations ever since that day. HA! Good Fun!

gonna take a bit o' analysis to unpack this. will sooner than later offer thoughts, but regardless is a significant if arcane development. HA! Good Fun!

for those who may have been skeptical regarding our claims o' deer boldness. got even closer 'cause she wouldn't leave in spite o' Gromnir doing a barbaric yawp and making wild arm gestures. shrubbery looks so bad 'cause o' the deer. HA! Good Fun!