Jump to content

Leaderboard

  1. South Austin

    South Austin

    Certifiably Surly


    • Points

      80

    • Posts

      20000


  2. LTtxfan

    LTtxfan

    Legacy Members


    • Points

      47

    • Posts

      60244


  3. texifornia

    texifornia

    Burnt Ends


    • Points

      47

    • Posts

      36662


  4. brakeman

    brakeman

    Legacy Members


    • Points

      43

    • Posts

      9285


Popular Content

Showing content with the highest reputation on 01/24/22 in all areas

  1. liucci putting out his final top 44 with perkins #1 literally seconds before he decommits is . . . incredible.
    34 points
  2. Unfortunately the NFL blocks this video from embedding but you can follow the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufKojy1du6g Both Dick and Priest should be in the HoF
    17 points
  3. 17 points
  4. It’s so fucking weird to me when I see well-educated, comfortable Americans gleefully hoping that the international order we built and that benefits us disproportionately collapses. It’s like some Roman landowner sitting in Adrianople saying “what the hell, why not give the Goths a shot.” If you don’t like American hegemony, just wait for what comes next. Literally everything you don’t like will be worse and there will be new and worse problems too.
    14 points
  5. After watching the unmitigated train wreck that was Donald Trump's administration and knowing all of the damage he has caused this country, if you gave Slorch a 2016 do-over, he would vote for Trump today over Hillary. He can't even articulate what she would have done in 4 years to rival the colossal damage managed by Trump, he just knows she's evil. He's just another GOP rube whose fucking brain broke after Obama was elected. Why you guys bother arguing with him is beyond me. This dumb motherfucker will reliably vote GOP in every race that doesn't feature the name Trump, effectively supporting the power structure that enables that orange fuck. Trump = GOP today. You can't separate the two. If you support the latter, you support the former. Slorch knows that, and will keep voting for the GOP. And he sleeps just fine at night, because he didn't vote for fat donnie (allegedly).
    13 points
  6. he’s in favor of investigating 1/6. he believes in ease of voting. he wants to keep the deficit under control. slorch isn’t trolling, he’s just slowly figuring out that he’s a democrat.
    13 points
  7. It was even longer than that. The perpetual character assassination waged against the Clintons from the right has been going on since the early 90’s. My brother was hearing it from Rush Limbaugh on the radio. He was certain the Clintons had Vince Foster killed in 1993 (he probably still believes that). My uncle brought a video tape of this hatchet job collection of conspiracy theories distributed by Jerry Falwell for the whole family to watch on Christmas in 1994: In all those years, through all their investigations, they never produced any evidence of any crime that they could charge. The best they could do was the Starr Commission that was formed to investigate the Clintons’ business interests (something of his own which, incidentally, Trump was adamant that Mueller shouldn’t be allowed to investigate). The Starr Commission couldn’t turn up any crime in the Whitewater investigation so it turned into a dragnet, an actual witch hunt that kept digging and digging and keeping Clinton “scandals” in the news until they finally hit pay dirt and caught Bill lying under oath about getting a blowjob. (As if Trump would ever allow himself to be questioned under oath.) One of the lawyers on the Starr Commission now actually sits on the Supreme Court. During his confirmation hearing, under credible accusations of sexual assault he committed as a young man, he whined and raved that it was all just the Clintons trying to get revenge. Clinton derangement syndrome has become part of Republican Party dogma. Despite the fact that they can’t point to any actual crimes, they chant “Lock her up!” They continued to chant it even after she lost the election as if it had become liturgy. And yet Trump commits his crimes right out in the open and asks what are you going to do about it. And none of his supporters care. It’s insanity.
    11 points
  8. It won't be our business until it is, just like in WWI and WWII.
    11 points
  9. Neo-Nazi Singer says bold my beer bottle:
    11 points
  10. Biden got out of Afghanistan and passed an infrastructure bill. Two things Trump and Republicans were were wildly in favor of before Biden was elected. Now he’s a failure for it. The Aristocrats
    10 points
  11. The problem with helping Russia feel secure is that Russia can’t find a way to feel secure that doesn’t involve invading countries next door. When your borders keep getting pushed outward, you do the math for what that means. When all of Ukraine, Moldova and the Baltics belonged to the USSR and the Russians had only socialist or officially neutral states on its borders, the Russians invaded Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and installed martial law in Poland under threat of invasion. None of those countries were invaded because of anything the West did or promised, they were invaded because Russia didn’t like what they did internally. We need to dismiss from our discourse that Russia is actually doing any of this because of a threat from the West and also dismiss from our discourse the idea that Russia will ever feel secure from the West even if we gave them back all of the Warsaw Pact.
    10 points
  12. Ok someone tell me how the portal hasn’t got out of hand?? Guy who scored the go ahead TD in the championship game is transferring to the opposing team? I get going for a better position or if you aren’t playing but wtf is this bullshit like this? Sorry I appreciate a little team pride, especially if you just won a national title. Yea it’s Bama and you have a better qb but have some pride man. This is pathetic
    10 points
  13. can't get more American than that. anyhoo, smoked feral hog naoch.
    10 points
  14. We were making weekly shuttle runs from Ramstein down to Niamey (Niger) with occasional stops along the way. One of our planes broke in Ouagadougou and needed an engine and prop change. Just the week prior, the local sect of Al Qaeda or ISIS or some other fun loving group attacked the French embassy, killing a few people. The good news is the attackers were never caught, and the group was threatening more attacks. So if you're like me, you're probably thinking this is the perfect opportunity to spend a few days downtown while your plane gets fixed. So my crew and I, along with a group of maintainers, flew down to Ouagadougou on a C-17. We were told when we landed to walk to a certain checkpoint on the airfield, and that a car would be waiting to take us to the hotel. We walked through the checkpoint, which was manned by armed guards who insisted on going through all of our bags. After they had confiscated all of our knives and fleshlights, they allowed us to proceed through to a parking lot, where a man in all black with dark sunglasses on was waiting for us. He was standing next to an idling Land Cruiser that looked like it had recently taken gold at the Burkina Faso demolition derby. I look at my crew, back at this guy, back at the crew, shrug my shoulders, and throw my shit in the back. I figured there was a 50/50 shot I ended up in some hostage video on CNN, but I was going to trust my gut on this one. The next 30 minutes were some of the most nerve racking of my life. The driver, whom I still wasn't completely convinced was the guy we were supposed to meet, was weaving in and out of traffic like Dale Jr. I was almost sure he was taking us straight to Bin Laden himself. Here we were, 4 white guys in a Land Cruiser with untinted windows, amongst nothing but shit box cabs, mopeds, and bikes, speeding through city streets like we were in a 1-party police pursuit. At one point I was so convinced this guy was taking us to the eventual spot of our beheading that I started coming up with a plan to kill him. But alas, before I had to practice my Rex Kwon Do, we pull up to a building surrounded by a 10' iron fence, surrounded by guards holding AK-47s. This was either the presidential palace or our hotel. It ended up being the latter. I spent the next 3 days drinking cold African beers by the pool while the maintainers fixed our plane. Life of aircrew.
    9 points
  15. So I was out helping the MIL pack up her house last weekend. A year after her husband's death, she's sold the ranch (the only asset they had; inherited of course) and is going to move into town with a nice chunk of money in the bank and peace of mind for the family. The FIL quit working (sales) in his mid 40s because he wasn't going to take directions from anyone since they were obviously not as smart as him. And learn how to use a "computer?" Balderdash! So the MIL was the sole bread earner by the late '80s. That didn't stop the FIL from blaming every ill in the world and his life on useless, lazy people who didn't work because self awareness was never his strong point. Anyway, going out to MAGA land and helping throw away decades worth of his prepper supplies and stupid GQP paraphernalia was rewarding and therapeutic for Mrs. GOTJ and me. I'm not exaggerating when I say that we threw out hundreds DVDs of the most asinine, GQP conspiracy bullshit, including shit from John Hagee, the four "Blood Moons", a 13 (!!) DVD set about the end times that were imminent due to the election of Obama, etc. At first we were laughing when we started tossing them into the dumpster, but after 20 minutes or so Mrs. GOTJ was burning red with rage. She always knew her dad was off his rocker a bit, but when she saw the thousands of dollars he'd spent on conspiracy shit like that while we and others were sending them money to help them cover expenses on the regular she lost it. She ended up going into a bedroom and crying her eyes out. Her mom asked her what was wrong after she'd composed herself and came back out to continue packing. She just said "Daddy loved Fox news and bullshit conspiracies more than anything; more than any of US." I watched the MIL try to compose herself like she was going to reply and offer an assurance that that was not the case, but instead she just put her head down dejectedly and went back to packing. She knew what her daughter had said was true.
    9 points
  16. Blacklab: "Sorry Prepuce, Ben says it's a POS" PoD: "Damn. Thanks for saving me from buying a money pit. Venmo sent." Blacklab: "Any time man." 2 weeks later - Blacklab: Hey guys....
    9 points
  17. NFL football was not this exciting during the Trump administration. Thanks President Biden!
    9 points
  18. jaegerschnitzel report... served with warm german potato salad and freshmade sauerkraut from Central Market... 😊
    9 points
  19. Maybe he should have just come out and owned not being vaccinated instead of pussyfooting around it with the entire "I've been immunized" bullshit. If you believe in your actions then own them and explain it, instead of trying to come up with excuses once you get caught in your lie.
    9 points
  20. aggy didn’t lose the recruitment, they just ran out of cap space.
    8 points
  21. This is about exposure risk. The Russian Roulette analogy is valid. While Omicron can infect and be spread by vaxxed persons, it's significantly more likely to infect and be spread by unvaxxed persons. That's why this particular argument is so inane. It's rooted in stupid anti-vaxxer talking points that people read, memorize, and then repeat ad nauseam.
    8 points
  22. Meh. Fuck all that. Trump and the republicans have changed the game. No apologies. More hangings.
    8 points
  23. Lucky for me the Deposed Presidente has contacted me via email that I just need to send him $10,000 so that he can free up funds that are frozen in an international bank…
    8 points
  24. 8 points
  25. There are definitely different positions depending on country. Germany obviously is the most dependent on Russian fuel, while many of the others have existing coal/nuclear capabilities which of course results in different outlooks. From the German perspective, it is much more layered than simply viewing it as a gun to the head and is actually really complicated, but I am stuck in a four hour call that I have nothing whatsoever to do with, so I will give it a shot. The Germans have been buying fuel from Russia since the first half of the Brezhnev era, with a huge increase in the percentage of total energy supply starting in the early 80s and continuing to date, so this is simply part of economic life here. And not only has the fuel been reliably supplied, the transactional relationship between the two countries is highly functioning and could even be classified as “excellent”. The Russians know how to sell gas, and the Germans know how to buy gas, and most importantly, the Russians and Germans know how get deals done with each other (and that is not just in the energy sector). So, regardless of what has been going on in the larger geopolitical world, for 50 years, this bilateral trading relationship has not suffered, and, in fact, has only become more streamlined and workable. So in that light, there is comfort in past performance and there is not a widespread fear that Russia would be predatory to us…and that remains the view of most Germans even in light of current events. WRT the immediate circumstance, the entire “gun to the head” calculus depends on how you view Putin’s objectives here. The US foreign policy establishment/media seems to wholeheartedly believe that Ukraine would simply be the first domino to fall on Russia’s path to reconstituting the USSR. In Germany, very few people believe this…in the government or in the citizenry. And I would say this is the case elsewhere in Western Europe. In fact, the idea that Russia is going to even try to occupy Ukraine is widely seen as absurd. That’s the real reason why Admiral Schönbach’s video and subsequent dismissal was so significant…it wasn’t that he was presenting a viewpoint contrary to the German political class, it was that he was saying the actual viewpoint of the political class out loud, for all the world to see. And everyone here knows that he was. And the headlines from the big national papers here today have been very, very supportive of him for speaking what the Germans believe to be the truth. The German people understand completely that the media class and the political class do a song and dance for the international stage that is not an actual representation of how they will act in the form of public policy. So as long as the actions of the government remain neutral or positive towards maintaining the status quo, which in this case is reliable supply from Russia, the talking heads and politicians can do what they want to keep Brussels or DC off their backs. And of course, all political power flows from the electorate, and so that is what ultimately matters. For all the stereotypes of Germans being matter-of-fact, plain spoken and orderly, they are a very sophisticated electorate and there are certain blurred social constructs between the politicians, media and electorate that are just baked into the culture. We are seeing this play out now in the "wink and nod" that accompany every political statement…”We absolutely respect Ukrainian sovereignty and NATO, while also understanding that diplomacy and our economic ties with Russia are blah blah blah…”. That “while also” is what the Germans pay attention to. They don’t give a shit about what Scholz has to say publicly to keep the country from being called Nazis in the UK tabloids. Now, at the risk delving too much into the dry world of German political analysis, I think understanding the situation here will be important in following the developments in Europe over the next two weeks, because the whole "Germany is scared and caught in the headlights" narrative that the US talk shows like to claim is completely and totally regarded. Germany knows EXACTLY what it is doing here. It just happens to be opposing the US stronger than it has in recent memory. In my professional capacity which involves a lot of tea leaf reading in Brussels and Berlin, we are deeply plugged into tracking the unique machinations of the German political/media apparatus and how it works. Our industry is very regulated and susceptible to domestic and EU political trends, which are constantly monitored, as those trends determine a lot of things internally for the company. Given the infinitely more complex political calculus of a multi-party parliamentary system, opposition political parties here do not just instinctively oppose every position of the other side, which is noticeably the case in the US. However, in Germany, you will frequently see opposition parties actively supporting the government position in efforts to stay aligned with the expectations of their respective constituencies, and, just as importantly for the mainline parties, to prevent the fringe party from their respective right/left flank from stealing support on a particularly popular issue (AfD on the far-right, die Linke from the left as successors to the old DDR communists). So in formulating our own govt relations strategy in a certain situation, “we use this one simple trick that all our reptilian overlords hate”: the single best way to determine the political mood of the country is to follow the behavior of whichever centrist/mainline opposition party is out-of-power. That’s all you need to do to determine which direction the debate is trending. And over the last two days here, it is undeniable that the main opposition, the Center-Right Christian Democrats/Social Union, are not only supporting their rival Social Democratic Party of Germany government in word and deed on the Ukraine issue, but they are providing their rivals with political cover to continue down this path of being “non-aligned” as long as he needs it in order to keep this from negatively impacting Germany. This isn’t because they are nice, cooperative guys…it is because the position of the German people in the privacy of their own homes are absolutely opposed to upsetting this particular status quo. And if the status quo is going to change, it will be due to Germany's efforts and Germany's timeline, not by an external force like the US or Ukraine. And in the German eye, this is not an EU issue. This is not a NATO issue. This is a Russian and Ukrainian issue and so long as it stays there, there really could not be fewer fucks given. And that brings me to a really important issue that stays out of the media due to the hesitancy of the German political/media class to risk being castigated in the international press: The German people do not see Ukraine as a friend, ally or “partner” in any way. And certainly not in any way more than Russia. Russia may not be a friend or an ally, but they are absolutely a “partner” in the German mind. Ukraine is none of those three things. The Germans NEVER wanted Ukraine in NATO, and even pushed publicly that the 2008 Bucharest announcement never occur, but they allowed themselves to be overruled by the Americans and Brits at the time. They are NEVER going to allow them into the EU. They absolutely didn’t support weapons systems in the east, and so the US did it outside of the alliance. And at each step of the way they said, “You are going to create a situation for war over there”…and every time it was done anyway. So now, here we are, and in the German mind, correctly or not, they were right and that what they absolutely predicted in continuing to expand towards Russia has come true, and yet the Americans now expect Germany to escalate even more. That simply is not going to happen, and I estimate that if the US continues to push the Germans in the public sphere you are going to see the Germans become much, much bolder in voicing this position, risking the perception of a unified West even more. Plus, Ukraine has an abhorrent PR strategy with respect to Germany...I cannot count how many times they have brought up National Socialism in response to being declined German weapons. It has happened regularly for years, and it is a terrible strategy. "No guns from you, Germans? ok then, you children of nazis!" is not a good strategic angle. Their Ambassador to Germany threw it out publicly twice last week, and their Foreign Minister did the same. Every time they do it, the response amongst Germans is one of complete disgust and deeper commitment to letting them fend for themselves on other items like foreign direct aid, which they COMPLETELY depend on. You cannot bulldoze a German...they are relentlessly stubborn and self-deferential people. So the question that actually came up here yesterday on some of the political talk shows reflects this: "If we all know that they aren't anywhere close to meeting minimum requirements of joining NATO anytime soon, and if they have continued their corruption and wholesale theft of our gas and the infrastructure funds we have provided them year after year, and if agreeing to our already existing position of not allowing them to join will prevent a potential land war a few hours away, then why aren't we open to formalizing this?" The “worst case scenario” that is discussed here is what I personally believe to be a highly likely outcome if it ever actually goes hot: Russia will use such a situation to demonstrate overwhelming full-spectrum dominance on its southwestern flank as a message to the West, and it will then impose neutrality upon Ukraine as a condition for Russia not continuing to completely destroy the infrastructure and the remaining functionality of the Ukrainian state and Russian withdrawal from hostilities. Russia will impose neutrality, formalized federalized autonomy for the Donbass (but NOT independence), and an updated understanding with the West relating to Black Sea drills…all in exchange for Kiev’s understanding and the American acknowledgment that this is the price for peace in Ukraine. And the dirty little secret here is that this is a result that Berlin and Paris and many of the smaller EU entities in their orbit like Austria and the Netherlands would absolutely support if hostilities actually kicked off. So, in light of my earlier point re opposition behavior, here is the translation of yesterday’s statement "on the record"of Markus Söder in the widely-ready Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Söder is the very powerful Minister President (governor/resident king) of Bavaria. For context, if not for the fact that Söder is a Bavarian, he would be the current Chancellor. There is a semi-formal agreement between the Bavarian Christian Social Union and the larger, federal Christian Democratic Union, that Bavarians have their own independent Christian Democratic Party in exchange for not running for the Federal Chancellery. But that said, he is extremely, extremely popular nationally and is one of the top 2 power-brokers in the overall infrastructure of the German Center-Right and is certainly an atlanticist to some degree. As you can see, he's now moving towards a Russian position on Ukrainian membership in NATO...the Germans will never openly support an open-ended ban on Ukrainian accession, but with Söder saying this, I would guess that they are signaling the overall openness of the Germans to a loooong term, formalized pause on NATO expansion. The significance of this is that now Söder, along with the head of the larger Germany-wide Christian Democrats, Freidrich Merz, have now formally come out telling the government that they will not face any organized political fall-out in continuing to dig their heels in. And, in the alternative, if they bow to American pressure here, they'll have nowhere to run for PR cover domestically. This is hugely important support to a new coalition that is far from stable.
    8 points
  26. I quit watching the NFL about 10 years ago. Looks like I missed some good games yesterday, but I had a great afternoon going on a long run and doing projects around the house. The reasons I quit watching are: 1) the in-person experience is really bad. Commercial, staged atmosphere. I hosted our company’s suite for years, and also sat in the stands a fair amount with other industry colleagues. Really stale and boring. CFB is rapidly approaching this too, but the atmosphere of a CFB rivalry game is so much better than NFL. 2) all the rule changes and reviews make the game almost unwatchable. I know I’m way in the minority here, but keeping the flow of the game going is more important to me than whether the receiver’s foot was 1 mm on or inside the line. Similarly, the QB and other offensive players’ halos have significantly decreased the capacity for chaos, while of course being necessary for the health of the players. 3) NFL fans are the worst. Well, probably on par with aggy, arky, or many SECX3 fans. Especially in person, on game day, in and around the stadiums. With some stadiums, you really feel like mob violence is about to break out any minute (and it often does). 4) the phenomenon of the super stadiums and itinerant teams. The NFL used to feel a lot like CFB, with civic pride on the line. You still get that with small market teams like GB, KC, and Buffalo. But the Rams, Raiders, and Chargers’ moves from city to city and back again, getting taxpayers to subsidize billionaires’ businesses with boondoggle stadiums, is ridiculous. The Colts and Oilers’ moves started my feelings about this. 5) the rise of fantasy football has taken many fans away from following teams to following players, and allegiances shift as rapidly as South Austin’s mom’s affections. It’s a game about individual statistics, not teams or fan bases. So I missed some good football yesterday. Yawn. I also probably missed some awesome sporting contests in the EPL, in Rugby, in Cricket, and Australian Rules Football in the last decade since I stopped watching the NFL. Well, I wouldn’t say I missed it.
    8 points
  27. They play their home games at the Estadio Olympico, just down the street from the Celinto Catayente Towers.
    8 points
  28. Ive got strong feelings about this. My daughter is finishing her last semester at Mizzou, she has worked in bars her whole 4 years there, mainly to cover food and partying as I had tuition and housing covered. Her whole sorority worked there (Kappa) so it was also a place for them to bond and politic with other houses and frats. When her mother found out she was going to be working at campus bar and grill (formerly and colloquially known as Big12) she was mortified and ashamed, how dare her daughter go from being Miss Tennessee to working in a bar like some. . .barfly! I told her I was over the moon extatic, because it was going to give her the best education about human nature in quick order. She's graduating from the honors program in the J school Magna Cum Laude in May, and will be highly sought after in strategic communications circles like creative agencies, but her real education is knowing how to connect with people and stay away from train wrecks. A new place she works at had whole fraternities come in for brunch and drink specials and under tip while staying all day watching football. 2 weekends ago when they arrived she met them on the sidewalk outside and told them to scram, that they were costing her and the staff money and weren't welcome anymore unless they started acting like adults and tipped 25% and everybody had to order an entre. She really bitched them up and down and her fellow waitresses actually clapped for her at closing. They formally apologized for their shitty behavior, begged to be allowed their usual corner of the place, and tipped her $400 and have subsequently been better about tips. They've thanked her for being assertive. She's told them they're lucky that they didn't get blacklisted all over Greek town as cheapskates and fucktards. Because her current bar is more adult oriented she's gotten to know loyal clientele in Mizzou administration, the football head coaching staff, and even SEC commissioners and executives. Shes interning with Fox Sports this year and mixes that work into conversations with AD staff and picks their brains about sports. When I toast her on graduation night I'm going to thank Mizzou Journalism for the cutting edge strat comm education and thank Big12/The Quarry for helping her spot trouble and for giving her a finely tuned bullshit detector. I've taken calls from her about how to deal with coworkers strung out on blow, ODing on Xanax, projectile vomiting drunks, all kinds of unsavory situations, and I'm happy as hell she learned a lot of street psychology and human behavior. Her rationale is "My dad is a clean and sober drunk, he's seen this before and will give no shit judgment free realistic advice." She had an internship at HLK in St Louis last summer and was working with a creative team on a F100 company campaign (Kitchmaid? Bayer?) and when she saw the client wasn't being forthright she called her out on it, telling her "maybe you shouldn't waste your money on this engagement if you're not going to share accurate datasets which will maximize our work product" and the firm associate, whole account team, even the managing partner were shocked that she would challenge a client so directly. The client agreed with her and shared the data and complimented her for her directness. She could had easily been fired instead but told her team that the corporate world is nothing compared to managing a bar. Other academically strong kids that has never had real world interactions were resigning from the internship, saying they couldn't take the pressure. My mother is a wannabe stepford wife who always tells my daughter that she is too brash and outspoken and needs to temper her personality. I tell her no, don't change a thing, the world doesn't remember wallflowers, you get in there and make noise and ignore your grandmother, who spent most of her life in risk avoidance and fear. Tl;dr service industry work gave my daughter big dick energy, shes going places.
    8 points
  29. Fuck that dude for doing that to the driver of that car. I have zero sympathy for him.
    8 points
  30. “Dindy almost have it allllll?”
    8 points
This leaderboard is set to Chicago/GMT-05:00


×
×
  • Create New...