Gromnir

haven't been able to use our bike for morning rides in over a week 'cause the air quality here is so bad, and the stationary bike we got just ain't the same. not surprising, late afternoon is ordinarily the worstest time o' day for air quality. current aqi is in the 200 range and it is only a little better in the am when we would be on the bike. the thing is, if is like last year and the year before, then am probable need waiting for the end o' september or mid october before we will be able to do regular outdoor exercise w/o needing to chew our air given all the particulates it contains. our place up in idaho is looking like an increasingly attractive alternative. HA! Good Fun!

am gonna admit that as much as am liking trickster abilities and the general concept, the problem is the story implementation. if you wanna be a conman who is willing to exploit friends and foe alike, then the trickster is a good option, but while beer elementals and fish missiles might sound funny, we found the trickster story elements increasing less humorous as we got deeper into the game. shame too. HA! Good Fun!

am o' the opinion that tell somebody they is privileged is self defeating. call somebody racist or privileged immediate makes the situation adversarial. am a minority and we grew up poor by any standard, even by standards in the poor nations o' the middle east. nevertheless, the people who raised us made sure we knew we were loved and they stressed the value o' learning if not formal education. we also were a gifted athlete who were offered full-ride scholarships in multiple sports. oh, and we had a pony when we were a kid. compared to more than a few poor white trash kids who grew up with an alcoholic/addicted parent and took regular beatings or suffered debilitating indifference during their formative years, am having a hard time complaining 'bout their privilege. after gifting half our accumulated wealth to charities the remainder is nevertheless substantial and we retired comfortably at fifty. so is our fortune earned but the white person who grew up in the burbs and is maybe able to send both of her kids to college and possibly retire before she is too old to enjoy twilight years needing to ask forgiveness from minorities everywhere? US institutions since the inception o' the nation has been active promoting racist policies which disadvantage minorities. true statement. now what? tell somebody their opinion is less worthy and their accomplishments is tainted 'cause they is white and refuse to admit their privilege bothers us on a fundamental level in addition to the fact am realizing such condemnations and recriminations is self defeating. 'ccording to most any poll we has seen, the overwhelming majority o' americans, even republicans, believe there is endemic racism in this country, but almost nobody is believing they personal is racist. perhaps such a recognition is evidence o' a disconnect but it should also been seen as an opportunity. is a whole lotta not minorities in this country and they largely believe that minorities is treated unfair-- is not like the 1920s or 50s. is objective better. tell those not minorities, many o' whom has been suffering decades o' financial hardship that they is lucky to be so privileged and you is transforming potential allies into enemies. what a waste. and am gonna note the comments made in the article 'bout the community in colorado is less the kinda stuff rich people says so much as the kinda thing douchey people would believe. me and mine attitude is less 'bout wealth than is 'bout being an a-hole. during a pandemic a community particular hard hit by a disease which has killed hundreds o' thousands o' americans took efforts to slow spread o' covid-19. mass quarantines woulda' been impractical solution, so at least prevent the non-resident population from accelerating the spread were seen as a reasonable option. the fact some people cannot look past their own selfish interests is not so much a wealth problem as is recognition some people is gonna be selfish regardless o' the circumstances. HA! Good Fun!

tony todd has a ridiculous number o' screen credits and yet in spite o' the fact Gromnir is not anywhere near the trek fan as is more than a few on these boards, whenever we think o' mr. todd is always first and foremost as old jake sisko and then second as kurn. HA! Good Fun!

such an observation has no relevance in deciding what were the right choice in 2020 and 2021. withdrawal were not gonna resurrect the dead, but you were certain withdrawal were gonna result in the suffering o' thousands (millions?) in afghanistan and you had to be aware at least a few americans could suffer during a withdrawal. am indeed questioning your indignation. am suspecting that no matter the reality, you were gonna complain in spite of having had your prayers granted. biden indulges in a bit o' snark with a reporter and you see as proof he is an, "absolute f——-g a———e?" unfair. have personal not been a biden supporter regarding afghanistan, but your misdirected attacks compel us to defend a guy with whom we disagree. HA! Good Fun!

the quip were decide not about those left behind. you are reaching to make this story fit into your larger narrative o' they are all bad. the feckless charge is inappropriate given the context, and surely the "absolute f——-g a———e," is at best (am giving you the benefit o' the doubt) unwarranted. the withdrawal, haphazard or otherwise, were gonna result in the unnecessary deaths and suffering o' many thousands in afghanistan and the possibility o' at least a few american casualties, given your recognition o' the savagery o' the taliban, were hardly unthinkable. you were ok with such a reality and your previous complaint were it didn't happen sooner. even so, we can see an argument for incompetence, but obviously we will never be certain who made pivotal errors 'cause investigations are a waste. prayers granted.

based on the newsweek article, the worst accusation we may level at biden is that he were condescending to a reporter. POTUS took the opportunity to deliver a less than mature parting shot w/o giving the reporter a chance to respond. *gasp* whatever is the mistake biden made, is not as gd and the washington times clickbait headline described. HA! Good Fun!

and just so is clear, recall it were Gromnir who criticized biden for following through with the trump negotiation including the brobdingnagian stoopid hard deadline. we saw calamity in the making and unnecessary suffering, but we understood there would be a few people, particular veterans, who genuine believe no more american deaths, no matter how few, is worth an additional day in afghanistan, much less years. am not a biden supporter regarding the handling o' afghanistan. am understanding why some support his decision even if am more conflicted. however, am recognizing just how unfair is much o' the venom being directed at biden. sure, we disagreed with biden implementation o' withdrawal, but as a young Congressman biden also reported to President Ford that vietnam were hopeless and that a withdrawal were the best course o' action. consistant. am recognizing biden in 2021 made a hard choice which were not supported by his military advisors and that he had to know that american deaths were possible during the withdrawl and that he would be blamed for those deaths as well as the suffering o' millions in afghanistan. biden made a hard choice and am thinking people are stretching themselves in impossible directions to make him a different villain than he is. given the fact biden's son served honorable in the US military and the POTUS is obvious proud o' his son's, service, suggesting biden is lacking respect for americans serving abroad is bordering on the unbelievable. incompetent? possible. we get the incompetent argument given how bungled has been the withdrawal even though as already noted multiple other nations were clear caught similar unawares. feckless? please. HA! Good Fun!

whatever helps you sleep at night. you knew many thousands were gonna suffer and die. you were ok with those deaths and the predictable suffering o' the multitudes which coulda' been avoided for the foreseeable future. you advocated for the mass suffering and widespread murders to happen sooner as 'posed to later. one american dies in what were predictable gonna be a botched withdrawal (though admitted the scale o' just how botched has been the withdrawal is demanding an investigation no less than an attack on the US Capitol in which more than 140 cops were injured and sever beaten) and you see inevitable and deserved political death... in spite o' the fact the botched vietnam withdrawal would suggest otherwise. am not sure if we would suggest newsweek is better. "when the Gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers." HA! Good Fun! ps based on newsweek context, there appears to be a mischaracterization o' the biden comments as he ain't joking 'bout or minimizing the deaths o' americans. appears he is taking a shot at a journalist, no? is some mental gymnastics required, but you wanna get to the point where biden is proved feckless so your earlier ridiculous labeling is functional redeemed.

gd knew they were savages. gd had to know that it were possible americans would be killed during the withdrawal 'cause no plan of operations extends with any certainty beyond the first encounter with the main enemy forces. only the layman believes that in the course of a campaign he sees the consistent implementation of an original thought that has been considered in advance in every detail and retained to the end. you knew many thousands o' afghanistan women would be facing functional slavery once the taliban regained power. you knew many afghanistan citizens would be murdered 'cause they supported americans these past two decades. you knew. nevertheless, you draw the line at a single us fatality? gotta be careful using that feckless label 'cause it could have much broader application than you want. US intelligence (and numerous foreign intelligence services as well given how similar unprepared were germany and the uk and others) underestimated the extent to which individual afghanistan political leaders and military commanders would cut deals with the taliban. were a whole lotta mistakes starting with the trump administration negotiation/surrender and biden's similar embrace o' a hard deadline. mistakes were gonna happen. this too were known, but somebody is gonna need explain the multiple failures o' the withdrawal... though we assume gd doesn't want an investigation o' any kind 'cause what would be the point, yes? regardless, this post hoc handwringing and finger pointing would be more convincing if it weren't looking like just another excuse to advance your favorite narrative. and again, washington times is not the most reliable source. am gonna need context. HA! Good Fun!

is it quote time, cause we got one. “when the Gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers.”--oscar wilde, an ideal husband seeing as how the biden thing is wasington times, we would want more context before passing judgement. that said, for those who demanded for years we abandon afghanistan asap, even when recognizing the savagery o' the taliban, to so quick turn on the guy who finally gave 'em what they asked for is at least deserving the feckless label, though we will stop short o' "absolute f——-g a———e." no sooner were prayers answered than the wailing began, eh? HA! Good Fun!

am seeming to recall that were for leprosery specific. it may not be our job to ruin every meme, but it probable seems that way at times. (no longer responding to raithe in particular) am s'posing this is exact what the bible thumpers is angry 'bout: indulging in hyperbole, they equate mask wearing mandates, which has been de rigueur since at least the time o' the black death, to be being treated like a leper. anybody who isn't wearing a mask, says the religious folks, second amendment honks and @Guard Dog, is being treated as if they actual have leprosery in ye olde times. of course is bs, but there is a whole lotta bs no? claim: early in the pandemic, the cdc offered conflicting guidance? reality: the cdc offered guidance based on what were reasonable and supported by science at the time. recognizing how at the start o' the pandemic, given the extreme limited supply o' n95 masks, and before it were understood that an individual infected with covid-19 were most contagious prior to being symptomatic, the wearing o' mask were discouraged 'cause at the time mask wearing were seen as a largely ineffectual measure for preventing an individual from catching the disease and we only later understood how important were masks in preventing the asymptomatic carriers who were already widespread in the community from spreading the disease. IF there is a complaint 'bout cdc guidance it shouldn't be at the not genuine confusing or conflicting guidance regarding a NOVEL virus at the beginning o' a pandemic, but rather their willingness to lift social distancing guidelines and mask restrictions more recent... which ironic is the opposite o' what the Liberty and Personal Responsibility folks is complaining 'bout. have said it more than once that all liberties have a body count. spread disinformation 'bout a disease which has already killed hundreds o' thousands o' americans in a relative brief period o' time is a rather extreme example o' how painful may be the costs o' protecting speech rights o' the malicious and stoopid. the fact that in the US we ere on the side o' freedom o' speech as 'posed to public safety is telling and is indeed a strong argument (but in our mind insufficient) for a finding that the First Amendment is too protective. however, personal responsibility and law all too often has little in common and we wish people would stop conflating. Legal is so not a synonym for Right or even Justice. the recognition that covid-19 makes it difficult if not impossible to identify which liberty loving american who refused to wear a mask in a hardware store managed to nevertheless infect multiple people asymptomatically with the delta variant, should makes the personal responsibility folks more willing to don masks and social distance, but all too frequent it don't. similar, we will never legal prove which alt-right radio personality convinced an individual white and male conservative to forego getting vaccinated or to resist wearing masks. yeah, such irresponsible behaviors led to innocent third persons dying, but prove the causal link is extreme difficult. however, given that a high percentage o' folks being hospitalized and dying is unvaccinated, pretending as if the alt-right radio guys and self-interested republican and libertarian politicians ain't at least partial responsible requires a three wise monkeys approach bordering on the willful obtuse. am thinking the fundamental error o' the current group o' death cult hypocrites is that they confuse a lack o' personal liability with an absence o' personal responsibility. lack o' a provable causal link 'tween stoopid behaviours and deaths or a recognition that the First Amendment prevents prosecution even when such a link is found does not in any way diminish personal responsibility. the government won't be locking up alt-right radio personalities and "conservative" politicians for spreading disinformation 'bout covid-19. God help us, but am ok with not making the radio hosts and politicians personal liable for so many unnecessary deaths. however, americans should should be able to recognize the personal responsibility 'o those same radio personalities and politicians for spreading disinformation which led to harm. there should be a personal reckoning... but there won't be. heck, as weird as it may sound, trump is the only politician am able to name who suffered some kinda political setback 'cause they spread disinformation regarding the pandemic. there may be other such politicians who were voted outta office in large part 'cause o' covid-19, but we cannot name a single such individual. go figure. HA! Good Fun! ps funny aside 'bout the mask wearing and social distancing guidelines during previous pandemics, but for many christian nations, social distancing guidelines and mask wearing mandates which were ordinarily enforced with draconian severity for centuries were lifted w/i the confines o' churches and during mass... 'cause 'course God would not allow disease to spread in a church. spanish flu were actual kinda a turning point in the US regarding special rules for churches. more than a few cities in the US, for firstest time evar, refused to make religious exceptions to social distancing mandates. not surprising, those cities which ignored exceptions and were quick to act fared better... relative speaking. *chuckle* in 2020, SCOTUS actual scroll back the calendar regarding religious exceptions by a century.

a few times. is worth recalling that judges, within the confines o' the courtroom, is the closest thing we got to stereotypical royalty in the united states. judges who claim to not be arrogant is presumptive liars and a few ( a ridiculous small %) forget or is unconcerned with maintaining an appearance o' humility. also, judges is people, with all the flaws which go along with being people. try and handpick a group o' flawless saints with unimpeachable intellects and am guaranteeing if the size o' your group o' people gets large enough, you is gonna end up with a few villains and at least a couple fools in your collection o' ideal humanity. HA! Good Fun!

Can More Information, FDA Approval Sway Prominent Vikings Towards COVID Vaccine? Mike Zimmer and the Vikings aren't giving up in their efforts to improve the team's poor vaccination rate. They brought in Dr. Michael Osterholm, a "renowned epidemiologist and infectious disease expert," to speak to the team on Monday morning, as first reported by NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. Dr. Osterholm is the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota and a member of President Joe Biden's COVID-19 Advisory Board. He's "one of the top specialists in the world," to use Zimmer's words. ... fast forward to today so, am thinking kirk cousins is a fan o' mr. rogers. HA! Good Fun!

stubborn intransigence undermines the possibility o' meaningful discourse, so in the spirit o' advancing dialectic we propose a compromise position. am admitted ambivalent and have been unable to reach a satisfactory conclusion regarding whether to embrace your best or worst case. however, for the time being we have decided a willful ignorance middle ground suffices as a foundational proposition. Gromnir is always willing to consider a reasonable compromise position. that said, we will leave to the reader to add whatever emoji they deem appropriate to convey the appropriate level o' sarcasm implied by our observations, though we feel compelled to mention as am suspecting at least a few will miss our intent. moving on... from page 101. "In sum, each of the six matters discussed above individually evince bad faith and improper purpose. But when viewed collectively, they reveal an even more powerful truth: Once it appeared that their preferred political candidate’s grasp on the presidency was slipping away, Plaintiffs’ counsel helped mold the predetermined narrative about election fraud by lodging this federal lawsuit based on evidence that they actively refused to investigate or question with the requisite level of professional skepticism—and this refusal was to ensure that the evidence conformed with the predetermined narrative (a narrative that has had dangerous and violent consequences). Plaintiffs’ counsel’s politically motivated accusations, allegations, and gamesmanship may be protected by the First Amendment when posted on Twitter, shared on Telegram, or repeated on television. The nation’s courts, however, are reserved for hearing legitimate causes of action." ‘This Case Was Never About Fraud’: Federal Judge Refers ‘Kraken’ Attorneys, Including Lin Wood and Sidney Powell, for ‘Possible Suspension or Disbarment’ the judge didn't pull punches, though she did work hard to avoid explicit identifying the kraken lawyers as liars. HA! Good Fun!

‎Honestly with Bari Weiss: How We Failed Afghanistan (And Ourselves) with HR McMaster on Apple Podcasts doubt most/any will listen in the entirety. nevertheless, many concerns discussed on these boards related to afghanistan is addressed in the podcast. got a US army general and former US national security advisor discussing issues o' the day. HA! Good Fun!

sorta a ps keep in mind biden's choices were actual worse than many is presenting. given the turd sandwich trump left behind with afghanistan, the immediate options were all kinda unpalatable. recall that the trump administration had arrived at a may 2021 deadline for withdrawal, a deadline established w/o the input o' the afghanistan government. trump had negotiated the release o' various taliban leaders from prison as a initial step in his "peace" process and no doubt if biden had chosen to ignore the trump deal, those terrorists woulda' simple shrugged and looked for other work. (<- sarcasm) as such, biden's choice were not simple to take the trump deal or to keep things as is in afghanistan. short-term, biden were gonna need send some significant number o' troops back to afghanistan if he did not honor trump's deal. @Amentep thanks. is what we get for not double-checking. we could fix, but you already have so... HA! Good Fun!

ok, so some o' that weren't fair (especial from when he were a kid,) but it were kinda funny. HA! Good Fun!

having watched fox coverage o' january 6, we wouldn't be shocked if at least a couple o' the talking heads were suggesting that floyd ray rosberry could be/might be antifa and trying to make trump look bad. as an aside, this is not getting enough coverage. “Imagining a judge enjoining a police department from a policy of using their resources to target bank robbers,” Colorado-based immigration attorney Aaron Hall mused via Twitter. “Imagine a judge wanted to review all paperwork from every decision in [the] U.S. not to prosecute the maximum chargeable crime, and to have the names and addresses of every person not currently in jail awaiting trial,” tweeted Pa.-based immigration attorney Joe Gordon. “Now imagine that this person is in favor of limited government.” “magine being a biglaw [Federalist Society] guy that Trump made a judge one year ago, waking up one morning and deciding to make yourself the emperor of United States immigration policy,” added Third Circuit-focused appellate attorney Matthew Stiegler. HA! Good Fun!

mr. tugendhat is indeed worth listening to regarding afghanistan, but cherry picking is a mistake. https://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2021/08/16/amanpour-tugendhat-afghanistan.cnn we already posted and you didn't cheer tugendhat at the time. ignore what you dislike and instead see rest as nothing but fuel for they are all bad bonfire? not convincing. travel back in time silliness is exact what tugendhat has been criticizing. solutions had to be worked out based on 2020 and 2021 situation, not as a way to end a perceived twenty year mistake. if as has been stated by so many that this situation was inevitable and that the taliban is the savages they has always been, then such admissions makes those who chose to sacrifice the afghanistan people to end a twenty year mistake are complicit in what is happening, yes? again, perhaps you thinks this were the cost. perhaps you think this inevitability coulda' been delayed. perhaps you think no amount o' chaos in afhghanistan were worth another american's life fighting to preserve continued investments o' billions o' dollars just so we could keep perpetuating a situation nobody actual considered good much less ideal. fine. just keep in mind that you and mr. tugendhat is gonna be most assured disagreeing. you wanna focus on biden words he said or didn't say fast enough regarding afghanistan or cuba 'cause you feel like such legitimizes your they are all bad pov. we can review the posts. you were in favor o' getting out o' afghanistan and getting out now. US intelligence worst case scenario envisioned weeks before afghanistan collapsed, not days. *shrug* yeah, no doubt as soon as trump negotiated for a may 2021 withdrawal, local afghanistan military commanders were similar negotiating with the taliban and planning their exit strategies just as were the afghanistan political leaders. this too were nothing new and shoulda' been known... and likely were known but vast underappreciated. regardless, given the charlie fox situation am thinking is safe to say folks in charge didn't know or weren't made aware until too late... and watching in real time in june what were happening were indeed too late. you foresaw august 2021, or claim to, and nevertheless supported when the last two Presidents gave hard deadlines for a US withdrawal. as such, pretend like the great tragedy is US military equipment left behind and biden's disrespect o' afghanistan military is less than convincing. your cheering o' mr. turgedhat is also not convincing. got what you wanted and now are using to fuel your they are all bad ? truth is it were folks like turgenhadt and not gd who were predicting that a return to taliban rule following trump's misguided and shotgun negotiations were gonna lead to tragedy. forseeing just this tragedy is exact why they saw continued investment in afghanistan were worth the cost. fact biden didn't put a stop to trump's plan but only delayed don't make him better than trump, but am gonna suggest gd is just playing his familiar role as the scorpion in yet another tragedy. HA! Good Fun!

is also noteworthy how everybody forgets vampirism is a curse. is only implied in bram stoker stuff, but traditional western/christian vampires mythology holds that during the day, while body is sleeping, your soul is being tormented in hell (edit: technical your soul is constant being tormented in hell, but the vampire is only aware o' this during the day.) then again, pretty much all the oldie versions o' eternal life or eternal youth granting includes some horrible punishment or side effects. safe bet: if somebody offers you magical powhaz, but especial youth, turn and walk away... alternatively am supposing you could punch the jumped up spiritual used car salesman in the face. regardless, we earned our advancing decrepitude. made more than a few sacrifices to get to this point. HA! Good Fun!

HA! am not feeling guilty 'bout vol. don't actual miss him that much either. we woulda' missed vol ~2000-2018 or so, but not the more recent vol. still, it would be unfortunate if something unpleasant in rl prevents him from posting. nevertheless, and we don't feel guilty admitting, we don't actual miss the recent vol. as for this board, is a hairsplitting question. is still more than a few folks here who joined the obsidian boards day 1... winter o' 2004? however, this board were kinda the natural descendent o' the bis boards, and there were a couple interplay iterations which existed previous to the bis boards. neverwinter were released 2002 and were not developed by bis and it weren't particular relevant to the obsidian boards, so unless the earlier poster were actual referencing nwn2, then am needing assume he were talking pre obsidian boards and pre winter o' 2004... am suspecting if you want the exact date, then look for joined date for amentep or vol... is possible fionavar had a join date a few days earlier than the day 1 for ordinary posters, but we ain't bothered to look and am not genuine curious enough to check. HA! Good Fun!

as neverwinter nights were referenced, we had assumed an inclusion o' the older interplay boards... spring 2000 or thereabouts were the announcement? josh don't post anymore, and he were the web guy for ps:t when we first began frequenting albeit not as Gromnir. other than yourself, am having a difficult time identifying another individual who posts with any frequency from those days. HA! Good Fun!

now that vol is no longer posting, @Amentep may be the last o' the genuine old guard. "Come on. Stop talking nonsense and lock up." "I am of those who like to stay late at the cafe," the older waiter said. "With all those who do not want to go to bed. With all those who need a light for the night." "I want to go home and into bed." "We are of two different kinds." the older waiter said. He was now dressed to go home. "It is not only a question of youth and confidence although those things are very beautiful. Each night I am reluctant to close up because there may be some one who needs the cafe." "Hombre, there are bodegas open all night long." "You do not understand. This is a clean and pleasant cafe. It is well lighted. The light is very good and also, now, there are shadows of the leaves." "Good night," said the younger waiter. "Good night," the other said. HA! Good Fun!

social distancing is the obvious mitigation response. social distance were presumptive dismissed as an option seeing as you got the crumb snatchers going to daycare. so, what are the alternatives? do nothing is often a perfect valid response, but as soon as something goes wrong, people rage at the cold hearted indifference o' those who stood by and watched as a problem unfolded. am suspecting masks for toddlers is a security blanket move. is regular testing gonna be done? testing is more expensive. if something goes wrong at the daycare and there is a cluster o' outbreaks, folks in charge will be able to point to masks and other mitigation efforts they attempted to implement. practical effectiveness o' the mitigation efforts is sadly gonna be secondary to the recognition such efforts will insulate those with authority from responsibility. HA! Good Fun!