Gromnir

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!

your post made us reflect on what a good thing it is we ain't a parent. first solution which popped into our head: immediately recognized that as fun as it seems, keeping on a toddlers head would remain difficult and would be distracting to the other kids. were just a moment o' whimsy as posed to serious reflection. 'course we then considered a creative application o' duct tape would be effective in keeping a mask affixed to an unruly toddler's head. again, weren't serious and were only a passing moment, but it dawned on us that we should never be left alone with small children... again. HA! Good Fun!

wish we could say this is surprising. ok, the "nose job" crack were kinda amusing. HA! Good Fun!

the number is probable 616. that said, we personal woulda' gone with a play on delta blues 'course the best delta blues is actual chicago blues. regardless, am content to leave the naming nomenclature to whichever mod decides to make themselves a target for criticism by choosing anything other than numbers (roman or arabic) or the uninspired but inoffensive "(cont.)" HA! Good Fun!

https://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2021/08/16/amanpour-tugendhat-afghanistan.cnn HA! Good Fun!

hope am wrong, but am expecting the most shocking thing 'bout the taliban returning to power is how quick the "unthinkable" is gonna be normalized. HA! Good Fun!

as much as am disgusted by what is happening in afghanistan, and as much heat as biden is taking today, his decision were political correct. President Ford, when he pulled troops outta vietnam, had a terrible approval rating, but afterwards his approval rating actual ticked upwards. by the time ford left office, the withdrawal were one o' the few actions 'bout which he were consistent lauded. vietnam aint the same as afghanistan and am thinking is unfair to conflate, but if biden were looking for a worst case scenario as he reflected on an afghanistan withdrawal, President Ford's experience had to have come up in discussions. am hopeful am wrong, but am expecting a and this too shall pass reality is gonna settle in quicker than anybody wants to admit. yup, there will be horror stories daring reporters is gonna manage to capture and smuggle outta the new afghanistan, but is that new? for all the anger there were regarding the betrayal o' the kurds, how long did the anger last? for those persons on this board who so animated sympathize with the people in gaza, how many posts do we see each week reminding the rest o' us that the situation has not improved for the folks living in gaza? no matter what your position is on this, the anger is gonna dissipate faster than is warranted... with one exception: veterans. last reputable poll we saw suggested better than 90% o' veterans were supporting biden's withdrawal choice and the poll were recent, after the collapse were occurring in real time... though 'course gd is always a curious take. biden resisted the advice o' his generals and numerous foreign affairs experts on both sides o' the aisle when he announced the withdrawal, but somehow gd sees this as another example o' biden being "feckless?" is another inigo montoya moment for Gromnir. whatever. point is that veterans as a whole is not gonna hold the tragedies yet to come in afghanistan against the President, and by the midterms am expecting the only identifiable voting group who will have a strong enough opinion on the matter to sway their votes is gonna be those veterans. we see tragedy in what is happening in afghanistan, but am having a hard time ignoring the recognition the political fallout is gonna be meh. HA! Good Fun!

one reason (just one) why the trump administration efforts in negotiating with the taliban were flawed and self defeating is he didn't enlist international support. cutting the afghanistan government out of negotiations was unwise and arguable immoral, but international pressure were gonna need be put on pakistan for any peace with the taliban to have a chance o' success. international input and cooperation were kinda the obvious precursor to getting some kinda international agreement regarding pakistan. essential and obvious step ignored. HA! Good Fun!

this outcome was avoidable. as much as people complain 'bout the costs o' twenty years, what is happening now was indeed avoided for two decades and coulda' been avoided much longer with an extreme limited counter-insurgency presence. leave 'cause twenty year costs were too high is not reasonable anymore than is stay 'cause so much had been invested and lost in twenty years. lord knows Gromnir ain't suggesting the past twenty years were handled well. am not suggesting if choice had to be made again that invasion and occupation were warranted-- keep in mind we has repeated many times now how the initial costs o' invasion and nation building were criminal undersold to the american people. am also knowing is impossible for those who fought in afghanistan to ignore the past, but am thinking the situational calculus for a withdrawal necessarily required a more dispassionate appraisal: as of 2021, did the costs o' leaving outweigh the cost o' staying? at the time trump maneuvered to let mullah baradar outta prison and negotiated with the freaking taliban and when biden made his choice to withdraw complete while announcing an actual deadline for such withdrawal, status quo were believed to be sustainable with as few as 3000 total troops and it were believed, in large part 'cause o' years o' decreasing lethality faced by US troops in afghanistan, that combat losses would continue to be extreme limited. perhaps those america soldiers and marines who would indeed die thousands of miles from home were too great a cost to bear when measured against the current and future chaos in afghanistan, but particularly if you genuine believed This would be the outcome, such requires cold blooded indifference to the plight o' the afghanistan people am unable to muster. were admitted difficult, but the right choice were to ignore twenty years past. ignore the equal inappropriate twenty more years arguments. biden had to decide costs and benefits in 2021. perhaps you will continue to believe biden made the correct choice but just got the logistics o' withdrawal wrong, but regardless, this outcome were very much in doubt and coulda' been avoided. 'course maybe those people clinging desperate to planes didn't realize just how "decent" is the taliban when dealing with prisoners and any who had aided the americans these past twenty years. ... am also kinda annoyed every time we hear media refer to the dramatic increase in "forced marriages" already taking place. am gonna need assume gd is with us on this point 'cause if he thinks taxes is theft, then is no question he sees forced marriages as slavery, yes? call it what it is even if it makes it tougher to bear.

well, the picture is from the ohio statehouse. am not thinking anybody would look for brains in ohio. HA! Good Fun!

and as soon as you show we are anywhere close to the fight 'bout slavery and other issues dividing north and south antebellum, then am gonna admit you got a point. can't even get folks like gd, the hardcore 2nd amendment folks and so-called libertarians, to agree that throwing protesters in unmarked vans and whisking away in the dead o' night in portland was an offense worth fighting 'bout. heck, can't get enough people concerned 'bout january 6 to even have a real investigation. is indeed a group o' extreme angry americans who want to burn it all down, at least if they don't get their way. we do indeed have insurrectionists, as we did in the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s. you aren't gonna have a revolution unless you get enough americans to agree situation is bad enough to start another freaking civil war. apathy is our biggest problem and you see civil war as just 'round the corner. maybe you think the cold war only took place in the mid to late 80s? were a whole lotta post ww2 conflict o' ideology in the US. you didn't think those decades o' strife were meaningful, but now you see revolution? HA! so again, if the strategy is waiting for america to implode, then gonna once again observe how you are spouting the same bs as did the soviets post ww2 w/o any self awareness o' what you are doing. not only were their strategy proven to be an obvious fail, but where are they now? you are not learning from history. HA! Good Fun!

*chuckle* the whole unstoppable october revolution bs were predicated on just such a belief. regardless, you don't recognize you is just parroting the soviet propaganda o' the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s. race riots, gas crisis, inflation, not to mention korea, vietnam and nicaragua. is always something. is the next crisis in the US will be the deciding blow. no widespread hunger in the us. poverty, while far too high, is hardly at civil war inducing levels. sure, americans appear more willing than ever to give up on the democratic experiment than at any time since the early 1900s, but if you think that is good news for the folks in pottsylvania, you ain't learned much from your clear limited reading o' history. HA! Good Fun!

one thing we find amusing 'bout the fears o' the zombifying vaccine which beyond all reason continue to spread is that a bit over a year ago we saw the zombified trump base attacking government buildings in places such as ohio and michigan, and that were more than eight months before the vaccine were available. “These People Aren’t Zombies. They’re People.” HA! Good Fun!