Gromnir

Trump attorney Sidney Powell pleads guilty in Georgia election subversion case “This is a really big breakthrough for the prosecutors,” CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig said on “News Central.” “And it’s so important to understand there is no such thing as halfway cooperation. If you’re a prosecutor, you would not enter into this deal with Sidney Powell unless you had been thoroughly convinced that A, she is telling the truth, B. she is going to be able to testify for you credibly in the way that you can put in front of a jury, and justify and see she is not going to be splitting hairs,” added Honig, a former federal prosecutor. am tending to think this news is not the big breakthrough being suggested, but am offering nothing save conjecture based on trump campaign treatment o' powell. keep in mind that trump called powell crazy and worse on more than one occasion. the fact sidney were advancing unsupported conspiracy theories were helpful for trump, but am not sure she were part o' the inner circle o' accused insurrectionists. the lawyers who put trump in obvious and considerable jeopardy are jeffery clark, kenneth chesebro (sp?), john eastman and rudy giuliani. am just not sure how much info was entrusted to powell, though clear she did have interactions with rudy, so maybe that is a thread worth tugging? maybe. this is how rico cases ordinary unravel for defendants-- one nogoodnik at a time. even so, am not expecting sidney to be pivotal as a prosecution witness and am uncertain if her plea will be isolated or if it inspires other defendants to reach out to fani willis. edit: 'cause the internet allows for misunderstandings, am gonna state what we ordinarily wouldn't think needs be stated: we do not believe sidney powell deserves to be harmed and we would be appalled if somebody did attack her. the movie scream messed with our head a bit and now whenever we hear "sidney," we instant recall the "hello sidney" phone call from the first scream movie, but we couldn't find a good and short clip from the original flick. ... shouldn't make a difference, but am admitting that now that sidney will be available as prosecution witness, am even more concerned with her health and well being. shouldn't make a difference. HA! Good Fun!

am a bit jealous although not o' the great ape surgeon mind you. we had our appendix removed a few years past and it were s'posed to be laparoscopic-- tiny incision. surgery were six am during summer. we mention the time 'cause when we regained full consciousness in a hospital room, our first reaction were to note it were pitch black outside. dark. nighttime. huh. then we realized we were in some considerable discomfort and we clear had a much larger surgical wound than had been described to us. oopsies. HA! Good Fun!

am embarrassed to admit we know there is a pepper with more heat than the carolina reaper. the source o' our knowledge is not scientific, not data driven but rather is based on a a recent episode o' hot ones, hence our embarrassment. ff to 20:14. pepper X maybe/possibly is higher on the scoville scale. am personally not understanding the point o' such heat in a sauce save as part o' a hazing ritual for special forces. edit: from the previous linked story "Pure capsaicin has a measurement of 16 million SHU while bell peppers, which contain no spice, measure at 0 SHU. Pepper X measures in at an average of 2.69 million units, per Guiness World Records. In comparison, standard pepper spray averages 1 million SHU, while bear spray is advertised around 3 million SHU. The Carolina Reaper measures about 1.64 million SHU. " am serious not understanding the motivation to make a hot sauce, meant to be consumed by human beings, that is similar on the scoville scale as bear spray. HA! Good Fun!

sounds familiar. so sorta like blaming an obvious error about police actions at uvalde on initial washington post info even after more contemporaneous and full video coverage o' the event were available? oh, wait, that ain't really the same, is it? we can go down the lists and is not gonna be helpful. you can misrepresent from 2014 and we can show receipts from numerous and far more recent. but even if it were a tit-for-tat situation, such revelations would only further cement the obvious. the more examples there are o' Gromnir and zor being wrong about facts uncertain, the more such works to support the proposition that waiting is your best option. selective quote also don't help you 'cause as we noted, being wrong is not the problem. just as a rando example, lots o' people were wrong about the russian invasion o' ukraine, but not all o' em made fools o' themselves by lambasting the media for banging the drums o' war and other such nonsense. as if that ever made sense. never saw any western media encouraging war but perhaps it happened in rare ultra hawkish sources. regardless, were not the reporter's narrative but rather they were accurate quoting sources which claimed russians were preparing for an actual invasion... which is kinda what reporters is s'posed to do, right? even if there were no invasion, the reporters woulda' had nothing to apologize for. 'cause would be stoopid to suggest accurate quoting and reporting o' the views o' arguable experts were deserving criticism. who would do that? oh, right. if the facts surrounding an event is unclear, it is best to wait for info before getting up on a soap box and criticizing police, world leaders, media or fellow posters based on those uncertain facts, 'cause even if is no way to svengali your way out o' a russia invasion having happened, what makes you look bad (yet again) is the pontification based on error. wait for clarification of facts is good advice 99.9% o' the time. why somebody would argue against such a proposition is curious. edit: "“There’s just been this massive sort of pressure to get videos out there, get your take, get your analysis, and it’s like a perfect storm for chaos,” Kolina Koltai, a senior researcher at open source intelligence (OSINT) news outlet Bellingcat, tells WIRED." https://www.wired.com/story/al-ahli-baptist-hospital-explosion-disinformation-osint/ "“I think one of the most disturbing aspects of studying disinfo is when you realize that even fact-checking has become weaponized,” Orr wrote on X. “Most people don’t care about the truth about the hospital being bombed; they just care about finding a truth to use against the other side.”" people with genuine expertise ain't sure. wait is reasonable given the lack of certainty. HA! Good Fun!

am aware there is a couple better than bullion proponents who frequent this thread. am also gonna admit we didn't know about the idf info regarding box stock. HA! Good Fun!

the following likely belongs in the funny thread, but oh well... HA! Good Fun!

once you embrace a narrative, it is tough to change your pov. is another reason to wait before becoming invested in a particular explanation. ‘Stunned and sickened.’ Wexner Foundation cuts ties with Harvard over ‘tiptoeing’ on Hamas “Harvard’s leaders were indeed tiptoeing, equivocating, and we, like former Harvard President Larry Summers cannot ‘fathom the administration’s failure to disassociate the university and condemn the statement’ swiftly issued by 34 student groups holding Israel entirely responsible for the violent terror attack on its own citizens,” the Wexner Foundation letter reads. “That should not have been that hard.” ... not that it is particular relevant from our pov, but while "34 student groups" sounds like many, it ain't, and there is comical overlap 'tween the groups. African American Resistance Organization Bengali Association of Students at Harvard College Harvard Act on a Dream Harvard Arab Medical and Dental Student Association Harvard Chan Muslim Student Association Harvard Chan Students for Health Equity and Justice in Palestine Harvard College Pakistan Student Association Harvard Divinity School Muslim Association Harvard Middle Eastern and North African Law Student Association Harvard Graduate School of Education Islamic Society Harvard Graduate Students for Palestine Harvard Islamic Society Harvard Law School Justice for Palestine Harvard Divinity School Students for Justice in Palestine Harvard Jews for Liberation Harvard Kennedy School Bangladesh Caucus Harvard Kennedy School Muslim Caucus Harvard Kennedy School Muslim Women’s Caucus Harvard Kennedy School Palestine Caucus Harvard Muslim Law School Association Harvard Pakistan Forum Harvard Prison Divest Coalition Harvard South Asian Law Students Association Harvard South Asians for Forward-Thinking Advocacy and Research Harvard TPS Coalition Harvard Undergraduate Arab Women's Collective Harvard Undergraduate Ghungroo Harvard Undergraduate Muslim Women’s Medical Alliance Harvard Undergraduate Nepali Students Association Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee Middle East and North African Graduate School of Design Student Society Neighbor Program Cambridge Sikhs and Companions of Harvard Undergraduates Society of Arab Students our understanding is the nepali students association withdrew their signature, so were only 33 groups protesting. additional, the harvard protest letter were posted over the weekend and by monday there were at least one harvard counter protest letter which garnered more than two thousand signatures. maybe, just maybe, this is tempest in a teacup material? a person donating money has zero obligation to continue funding a university whose values do not align with theirs. heck, if harvard changed their colors from crimson, ink and white to emerald and orange, we would not begrudge a philanthropist from deciding harvard no longer deserved millions in free money. sure, we would see a color change rationale for ending donations as kinda petty (even recognizing how vulgar is an emerald and orange color scheme,) but is not as if the contributor owes anything to the university. likewise, am suspecting we would not be shocked if at least a few people current donating money to byu became reluctant to do so if dozens o' student groups protested the misogyny and pedophilia o' john smith w/o any pushback from the university. even so, as a general proposition, the silence from universities regarding student protests o' israel following the hamas attack and kidnappings doesn't bother us and am thinking the taciturn approach is the right move. personal opinion: a university is in the business o' teaching students how to learn, but it should be reluctant to tell those who matriculate what to think. yeah, if students engage in violence, or verbal attack individuals based on race, color, religion, national origin or gender identity (am not sure what is the proper identifier in 2023... and am not being flippant when we says so; am genuine uncertain,) then am thinking a university should step in and condemn clear wrongs o' their students. the byu situation we imagined earlier is a bit murkier for us, but we get it if a religious university decides to take a more vocal stand when defending the reputation o' their prophet. most other situations? well, what is the point o' a university if not to have students expand their world view and perhaps even challenge the dominant paradigm? is a gross oversimplifications, and there will be exceptions, but we do no believe a university should criticize students for speaking their minds. harvard, penn and other schools remaining silent after a small number o' students declared they were more outraged by israel's treatment o' arabs living in the west bank and gaza than they were by hamas' recent attack were to us understandable even if you think it were the wrong choice. we would hope those who believe in a university's capabilities and mission such that they donate millions o' dollars to the school's endowment would be reluctant to stop funding 'cause o' silence regarding students peaceful expressing their opinions. but again, a person could and should donate money to causes in which they believe and if folks no longer believe in harvard and penn 'cause a few university student groups failed to recognize that criticizing israel immediate after the hamas mass attacks and kidnappings was poor timed and less than wise, then am not begrudging the withholding o' donations... even if we disagree with the angry philanthropist's judgement. just our opinion. HA! Good Fun!

Takeaways from AP’s reporting on who gets hurt by RFK Jr.'s anti-vaccine work In June 2019, Kennedy and his wife, the actress Cheryl Hines, visited Samoa, a trip Kennedy later wrote was arranged by a local anti-vaccine influencer. Vaccine rates had plummeted after two children died in 2018 from a measles vaccine that a nurse had incorrectly mixed with a muscle relaxant. The government suspended the vaccine program for months. By the time Kennedy arrived, health authorities were trying to get back on track. Kennedy was treated as a distinguished guest and met with the prime minister and other officials. He also met with anti-vaccine activists, one of whom wrote on Instagram that the meeting was “profoundly monumental ... for this movement.” A few months later, a measles epidemic broke out in Samoa, killing 83 people, mostly infants and children. Helen Petousis-Harris, a vaccinologist from New Zealand who worked on the response, told AP that local and regional anti-vaccine activists took their cues from Kennedy. “They amplified the fear and mistrust, which resulted in the amplification of the epidemic and an increased number of children dying. Children were being brought for care too late,” she said. In an interview for a forthcoming documentary, “Shot in the Arm,” Kennedy said he bears no responsibility for the outcome. ... on the downside, adopting a code is mostly theatre as each Justice would need voluntarily interpret and follow whatever ethics rules were adopted by the Court. HA! Good Fun!

gonna once again state what should be obvious: there is no internet prizes for being first. the curious drive to immediate share ignorance when history shows time and time again that cautious reflection is the superior course is as predictable as it is unfortunate. whether is a crimean bridge explosion, an anticipated ground assault or even a police shooting in wisconsin, folks will rush to share their confident evaluations in spite o' being proved wrong after the fact over and over and over again. btw, is nothing wrong with guessing and being wrong, but all too often the speaking-out-their-kiester pundits mix their guesses with pontification. wait. best advice when info is new, conflicting, and/or unclear is to wait. nobody looks like a fool 'cause they waited. a couple days or weeks to start proselytizing 'bout the evils of ________ does not suffer 'cause an individual waited for more accurate info before sharing their outrage or scorn. am not knowing who was responsible for the carnage at the gaza hospital. am sure as hell not gonna be convinced by fellow boardies and their educated guesses, particular given how cruel history has treated vocal resident experts. HA! Good Fun!

is not as if we got any hard data, but am suspecting those maga hats helped biden more than the trump campaign. am thinking that people who buy maga hats is already diehard trump voters. the campaign contribution from hat sales is a nice bonus for trump, but he ain't getting new voters from hat sales. converse, am betting that for every X number o' hats sold, a democrat who wouldn't have otherwise voted is inspired to do so. in some cases all it takes is one dork in a maga hat acting like an arse to convince people to vote not trump, but seeing those red hats in crowds numbering hundreds and thousands adds a heaven's gate/moonies/children of the corn vibe to trumpy spectacles as the adherents parrot the nonsense o' their beloved leader. as bartimaeus implies, there is a creepy cult quality to trumpism which is driven home by the willingness o' acolytes to adopt a uniform and mindless quote scripture. ritualistic abandoning individuality is swell if you join the usmc, and it makes for great horror film fodder... but in real life, ordinary people is reasonable afraid o' cultists in red hats. admitted equal disconcerting as the maga swag from our pov are the following head coverings: HA! Good Fun!

mauritius? am having a rough understanding that modern pirates is not much like those we learned about from gilbert & sullivan, but that shouldn't prevent @Gorth from living out his secret pirate king fantasy and retiring to mauritius. HA! Good Fun!

given the kinda funds involved, the numbers always go up as long as you take a long enough view. over the course o' a worker's career, assuming +40 years, you got what amounts to a guarantee o' substantial growth... unless the apocalypse happens and then none o' your investment plans matters anyways, right? however, there is gonna be peaks and valleys, and a person retiring can't necessarily wait five years to recover from a major cratering which impacts even the most diversified portfolio and occurs at just the wrong time for a person who don't have time enough remaining to take a long view. HA! Good Fun!

‘Turbulence ahead’: Nearly 4 in 10 Americans lack enough money to cover a $400 emergency expense, Fed survey shows includes emergency medical. mary lou retton is in the news 'cause o' her emergency medical problem and her family were crowd sourcing to raise money for treatment. am not sure what happened to the money she earned over the years, but regardless she did not have med insurance when admitted to the hospital. how many other folks in texas is able to raise hundreds of thousands through crowd sourcing efforts to pay hospital bills? even ignoring medical, try and replace septic tank, water heater, hvac for $400. financial rule #1 is one emergency cost away from impossible for more than 1/3 of americans. HA! Good Fun!

am o' the opinion the contradiction is not all that meaningful, and in any event it isn't quite the contradiction it appears. am suspecting that since 1787, the fed government has been seen by many americans as those bums in washington. sure, we talk about fed stuff on these boards, but the real issues which impact most americans happen at the local and state level, and the fed is ordinarily a source o' bewilderment and consternation. amercian exceptionalism, whatever that is and regardless o' how important you might think it to be, is far less tied to american feelings about our national government than is true elsewhere. in fact, since before 1787 and the ratification o' the Constitution, americans were disappointed with the fed government. also, as with taxes and healthcare and other issues, am gonna caution against oversimplification on american tribalism. working class whites voted reliable democrat until relative recent. post civil war southern blacks voted republican until jfk. catholics were overwhelming democrat until the mid/late 70s. a whole lotta 2023 maga nincompoops voted for obama in 2008 'cause he offered change and hope. americans become more reliable republican voters as they age, though again, be wary o' the generalization 'cause such is less true today than previous. doctors, up through the mid/late 90s, overwhelming voted republican, but is now reversed and a similar if not so dramatic trend has occurred for those with advanced degrees o' any kind save mba. *shrug* (edit) fyi, there wasn't a washington dc until 1791, but we thought it were unnecessary to explain that the capital o' the US fed started in philadelphia, and were also at york, princeton, trenton and... annapolis? HA! Good Fun!

'tween 45% and 50% goes to medicare/medicaid and social security. another 16%-18% goes to "income security" programs such as veteran's benefits, food stamps, unemployment and federal retirement. 8ish% is paying interest on loans. ~12% is national defense. the rest goes to national highways, and fda, and thousands o' other programs so varied it is impossible to list 'em all. the federal government is inefficient and anecdotal there are stories o' mind boggling stoopid spending practices. unfortunate it has been shown time and again that when government programs is privatized they do not become more efficient save as rare exceptions and typical the opposite happens. americans is extreme reluctant to raise taxes. even the tax the rich people balk when they are asked if taxes should be raised so that high income persons is paying 50% or more o' their income on taxes. the thing is, in california, ny and other places that is already the case and most americans just ain't aware.80% (and better than 70% o' democrats) don't want an inheritance increase to represent the highest single tax as is the norm in many other nations. only slight less is people who are opposed to any inheritance tax whatsoever. so... bill gates, warren buffet and a host o' other sooper rich also all agree closing the hedge fund loophole is required. kyrsten sinema singlehanded killed the most recent effort to deal with the hedge fund issue. she were green party at one time? americans, general speaking, got a huge disconnect 'bout taxes and entitlements. is another one o' those situations where the easy solutions... aren't. HA! Good Fun!

god bless america? HA! Good Fun!

am recalling southerners proudly proclaiming they had stopped giving a $#@% about mask recommendations and covid in general long before the rest o' the country. DeSantis administration settles lawsuit, will disclose COVID data and pay attorneys fees At the time, a third wave of cases was ballooning in Florida and hospitalizations were rising dramatically, but the Department of Health was changing the way it reported death data to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, giving the appearance of a pandemic in decline, a Miami Herald analysis found. The agency also had started launching a series of criticisms on Twitter, accusing the CDC of publishing incorrect COVID numbers, but offering little explanation. In June 2021, the health department discontinued its COVID-19 dashboard and changed to a weekly report. Lawmaker says DeSantis only settled lawsuit over hiding COVID data because he was ‘caught red-handed’ lying to the court During a similar contest over the discovery of documents relating to COVID-19 data, the health department indicated to the courts that the records sought by plaintiffs did not exist. However, the appellate court again ruled against the department and ordered the disclosure of the documents. In March 2023, the documents requested by plaintiffs were produced by the health department. ... “They were hiding this information from the public,” said FLCGA Director of Public Access Initiatives Michael Barfield in the same on-air appearance. “So taxpayers lost $300,000 and didn’t get the information that they are constitutionally entitled to.” ‘That decision cost lives’: Covid data case further deflates Ron DeSantis’s campaign The department will pay the plaintiffs’ $152,000 legal bill and resume regular posting of the data that DeSantis’s communications team insisted at the time was no longer necessary because cases had “significantly decreased” and that Florida was “returning to normal”. In reality, as DeSantis dismissed reporting on the pandemic as “media hysteria”, the Delta variant of the virus was just taking hold, and cases and fatalities spiked, to a record 385 a day in Florida by September 2021. Simultaneously, Florida led the nation in pediatric Covid hospitalizations. ... tens o' thousands o' floridians died o' covid during the delta surge alone and yet they were being told that there were no need for mask mandates and that florida should remain "open for business." desantis and other southern governors were telling citizens that the coronavirus pandemic were fading away when the opposite were true. unsurprising, a reason southerners and anybody subscribing to alt-right media/news sources were so indifferent to covid were in part 'cause they were being lied to for political reasons. HA! Good Fun!

the first four peter gabriel albums were self titled: 77 (car), 78 (scratch), 80 (melt), 82 (security). am s'posing melt is our fave if we gotta choose. HA! Good Fun!

is not strict speaking youtube, but two o' our all-time favorite pbs series is available via youtube and other sources... if you look hard enough. at least the first four episodes o' james buke connections is youtbe accessible is ten total and we find six thru ten via various internet archives. also, ethics in america (1989.) https://www.learner.org/series/ethics-in-america/do-unto-others/ HA! Good Fun!

the real question is did you try turtle soup? HA! Good Fun!

one o' our aged aunts is coming for a visit and am contractual obligated to make her wasna. the dish is... ambiguous. every family has a different recipe for wasna (which if you know what is pemican, then you kinda know wasna) and to add to the confusion, wasna also applies to any number o' derivative dishes using wasna as the key ingredient. am making a not-stew with wasna and we call it wasna. *insert eye roll* our family makes wasna by combining dried bison or deer meat, dried chokecherries and kidney fat/suet from either bison or deer... but our grandmother also used beef suet. our aunt is gonna bring the wasna so am able to make wasna (stew.) for storage and travel purposes, our family forms little round disks or cakes outta the dried meat mixture. kinda greasy and bland, but the choke cherries, which is a bit like cranberries, has an astringent bite even when dried. when cooking with wasna, we break the wasna disks into caper-sized granules there is a fair amount o' kidney fat in wasna, so am always shocked at how long the stuff remains viable. chances are high that year-old wasna is still edible. we call the wasna stew a stew 'cause is not particular wet, not soupy, but it doesn't require a long braise to release collagen, so "stew" is less than accurate. however, this is a recipe which benefits much from our powdered gelatin. the kidney fat/suet in wasna makes it seem greasy and the last thing we want is those little pools o' fat you see in the pictures o' gołąbki included 'bove. if you think it is tough to keep the fat from ground pork emulsified, am assuring you it is even more difficult with suet. also, 'cause our older aunt is all 'bout tradition, am s'posed to avoid too much o' the colonial ingredients. *groan* potatoes, wild mushrooms and onion is ok, and we sneak in a bit o' tomato paste (and maybe red wine.) we got a large quantity o' chanterelles gathered this summer, so that will be the primary mushroom. wild thyme is the main herbal, but we throw in other stuff depending on the wasna which is always a bit different. we add a bit o' salt and pepper to the rendering wasna and then the onion goes in and is cooked 'til translucent and just starting to brown. potato starch is almost always superior to corn starch as a thickener, but both corn and potato starch is fails on reheat. once the dish cools, the thickening quality o' those ingredients disappears. so, as with most stews, even faux stews, flour is the ideal addition and the amount needed depends on how much fat were rendered from the wasna. add water, and if our aunt ain't around, we will include a dollop o' better than bullion beef base. 'cause o' the choke cherries, some kinda sugar is advisable, so we include a tiny bit o' maple syrup. all the remaining veggies go in as well as herbals, as well as our gelatin and then we bring to a boil and then simmer for a mere twenty-to-thirty minutes... again, not really a stew, but is thick like a stew, so... am always surprised at how good the stew turns out 'cause wasna is not great. serious. is greasy and bland with a bit o' tang from the choke cherries. the benefit o' wasna is it is remains shelf stable w/o refrigeration for at least six months and even longer. again, am having "good" wasna which were at leas a year old. anyways, am making wasna, so our house is gonna smell like wasna for days. *sigh* well, as long as it makes our aunt happy, right? HA! Good Fun!

for the gop base, a political stunt don't need be reasonable or produce results. 'ccording to conservative media, desantis and abbott showed america they owned the libs. desantis and abbott took the fight to dem controlled towns and cities north o' the mason-dixon line. the southern republican governors forced liberal elites to confront the living and breathing faces of illegal immigration... or something. that's a gop win. it doesn't need to make sense. HA! Good Fun!

freebie protip: if you are gonna commit an extreme public crime, it is best to not use an alias which suggests you view the circumstances as a practical joke. HA! Good Fun!

am annoyingly blasé about our own health issues, or so we is told. converse, when family and close friends have health problems we cannot help but worry. ... is this one o' those situations when it is bad luck to wish good luck? dunno. regardless, am hopeful your wife's procedure is mind-numbing uneventful. HA! Good Fun!

were a few years past, but @Leferd mentioned he got one o' their smart ovens for christmas... and socks? am recalling socks and headphones.... something else too. oh well. with a breville joule oven air fryer pro and a couple control freaks, we could functional replace our viking if need be. am knowing breville also makes hand/stand mixers, blenders, food processors and other gadgets, but am not having heard much about those or other products in the breville catalog. edit: not that anybody cares, but if you don't need smart features and you want a countertop convection oven, our choice is the following: https://www.cuisinart.com/shopping/appliances/toaster_ovens/tob-260n1/ is half as expensive as the breville with the same capacity and power. fewer smart features so less stuff to go wrong. the device is simple and am mighty impressed with how it performs, particular at the price point. so, we would need maybe change to a cuisinart tob-260n1 toaster oven and two control freaks... throw in a cosori pro iii basket air fryer as well if am trying to replace our viking with appliances, although there is no way to replace the infrared broiler on the viking. HA! Good Fun! ps am gonna also mention our rice cooker, 'cause it cost us less than $20 when we bought original, and then three years ago when we needed a replacement 'cause we knocked it off the countertop and broke it... the purchase set us back $25. the thing is flawless when making white rice or oatmeal. we loathe wild rice and almost never make brown rice, so we can't speak to the appliance's efficacy for those grains/seeds.