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bolverk

Certifiably Surly
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Everything posted by bolverk

  1. The Florida Tomato Exchange (decent band name) is confident they can make up the difference. With what labor force? The fine folks imprisoned in Alligator Alcatraz? Their attempt at changing child labor laws in Florida failed this year. I guess there's always the next session when growers are all pissed about tomatoes rotting in the fields. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/14/business/economy/trump-tariff-mexican-tomatoes.html The 17 percent duty is calculated to measure the percentage by which Mexican tomatoes have been sold in the United States at unfair prices, the Commerce Department said. The United States imported $2.8 billion of tomatoes from Mexico in 2023, according to data from the World Bank, representing more than 85 percent of American imports. The Fresh Produce Association of the Americas, which represents companies that import and sell produce and flowers, said it was β€œdisappointed” in the decision. It said that its members distributed vine-ripened, greenhouse-grown tomatoes from Mexico that are not replaceable by tomatoes grown in Florida and the Southeast, most of which are grown in an open field, picked green and gassed to induce a color change. β€œAs an industry, we are saddened that American consumers will have to pay a tomato tax, or duty, for a reduced selection of the tomatoes they prefer,” the group said. Robert Guenther, the executive vice president of the Florida Tomato Exchange, said that the previous five agreements with Mexico had failed, and that strong enforcement of U.S. trade laws was needed to protect β€œthe stability of our food supply chain.” β€œThis decision will protect hardworking American tomato growers from unfair Mexican trading practices and send a strong signal that the Trump administration is committed to ensuring fair markets for American agriculture,” he said.
  2. It is absolutely news that the House Rules Committee voted against releasing the files. There's no opinion or editorializing in my post. I'm just puzzled why you guys lost interest. I'm sorry that this news is so upsetting.
  3. The other evening on NPR, one of the reporters mentioned that Newsom is on record as stating that for every district Texas fucks up with more gerrymandering, they'd do the same in California.
  4. Fucking bullshit. Every Nazi collaborator needs to be in the historical record so that their complicity is remembered. The fact that they don’t want their names recorded only goes to show they know this is wrong.
  5. But aren't you upset that those people are being protected? Don't you care about powerful pedophiles getting away with it? You seemed so passionate about this topic before.
  6. I agree with this comment from the second page of this thread, so why are you silent now? For the life of me, I can't understand why--after so much caterwauling for so long--they don't want it released now. @statsman, as the thread's OP, it's kind of odd you haven't posted on the topic lately. Did you lose interest in the case?
  7. Lucky second guess. Wordle 1,487 3/6 πŸŸ¨β¬›β¬›πŸŸ¨β¬› πŸŸ©πŸŸ¨β¬›πŸŸ©πŸŸ© 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Connections Puzzle #765 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟨🟨🟨🟨 πŸŸͺπŸŸͺπŸŸͺπŸŸͺ 🟦🟦🟦🟦 πŸ™‚ Daily Quordle 1268 7️⃣5️⃣ 6️⃣4️⃣ m-w.com/games/quordle/ ⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ 🟨🟩⬜⬜🟨 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ 🟨⬜⬜⬜🟨 ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜🟩⬜⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜🟨⬜🟨🟩 ⬜⬜🟩⬜🟨 ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 🟩⬜⬜🟩🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟨⬜⬜🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
  8. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/14/world/middleeast/israel-hamas-gaza-cease-fire.html An Israeli proposal to force much of Gaza’s population into a small zone in the territory’s south has threatened to derail the latest effort to achieve a truce between Israel and Hamas. In recent weeks, Israeli officials have briefed journalists and foreign counterparts on a loose plan to force hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians into an area controlled by Israel’s military close to the Gaza-Egypt border. Legal experts have warned that the plan would violate international law because the civilians would be barred from returning to their homes to the north, a restriction that would constitute a form of ethnic cleansing. While the Israeli government has yet to formally announce or comment on the plan, the idea of a new encampment in southern Gaza was first proposed last week by Israel Katz, the Israeli defense minister. He discussed it at a briefing with Israeli correspondents who focus on military affairs, and The New York Times reviewed readouts of the briefing written by its attendees. Several attendees also wrote articles that attracted widespread attention among both Israelis and Palestinians. A spokesman for Mr. Katz declined to comment on the reports, as did the office of Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister. Now, Hamas has cited Mr. Katz’s proposal as one of the latest obstacles to a new truce. During a cease-fire, in exchange for releasing roughly 25 hostages, Hamas wants Israeli troops to withdraw from much of Gaza. The new Israeli plan makes such an outcome far less likely, since it would ensure that Israeli troops remained in charge of a large area over which Hamas seeks to reestablish control. Husam Badran, a senior member of Hamas, described the establishment of the encampment as a β€œdeliberatively obstructive demand” that would complicate the fraught negotiations. β€œThis would be an isolated city that resembles a ghetto,” Mr. Badran said on Monday in a text message. β€œThis is utterly unacceptable, and no Palestinian would agree to this.” Hopes for an imminent truce rose last week after Mr. Netanyahu went to Washington for meetings with President Trump that many expected would result in an Israeli compromise. Instead, Mr. Netanyahu β€” who has previously slow-walked negotiations for personal and political reasons β€” returned to Israel without a breakthrough. The negotiations remain stuck on issues including the permanence of any truce: Israel wants to be able to return to war, while Hamas wants guarantees that any cease-fire would evolve into a full cessation of hostilities. Israel also wants Hamas to commit to disarmament, an idea that the militant group has rejected. There are also disagreements over how aid will be delivered during a truce. According to some of the readouts of the briefing by Mr. Katz, the defense minister described the proposed new encampment as a β€œhumanitarian city” that would, at first, house at least 600,000 Palestinians. Mr. Katz said it would later hold the entire population of Gaza, or roughly 2 million people, according to the readouts and reports. Israeli critics likened it to a modern-day β€œconcentration camp” because its residents would not be allowed to leave the area’s northern perimeter in order to return home. That could constitute β€œforcible transfer,” a crime under international law, according to a group of Israeli international law experts who wrote an open letter on the matter to Mr. Katz and the head of Israel’s military, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir. If implemented,β€œthe plan would constitute a series of war crimes and crimes against humanity, and under certain conditions, could amount to the crime of genocide,” the letter said. Israel’s military declined to comment on whether it had been ordered to implement the plan.
  9. Wordle 1,486 3/6 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ β¬›β¬›πŸŸ¨πŸŸ¨πŸŸ© 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Connections Puzzle #764 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟦🟦🟦🟦 πŸŸͺπŸŸͺπŸŸͺπŸŸͺ πŸ™‚ Daily Quordle 1267 4️⃣9️⃣ 7️⃣8️⃣ m-w.com/games/quordle/ 🟩⬜⬜⬜🟨 ⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟩⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜⬜🟨⬜🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟩🟩 ⬜⬜🟨⬜🟨 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟩🟨⬜ ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩⬜🟩⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
  10. Epstein's death occured in 2019.
  11. Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face. American Allies Want to Redraw the World’s Trade Map, Minus the U.S. Facing growing chaos, the European Union and numerous other countries are seeking to forge a global trading nexus that is less vulnerable to American tariffs. Trade chaos is forcing America’s allies closer together, and further from the United States. And as that happens, the European Union is trying to position itself at the center of a new global trade map. The bloc learned this weekend that Washington would subject it to 30 percent tariffs starting Aug. 1. Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the E.U. executive branch, responded with a pledge to keep negotiating. She also made it clear that, while the European Union would delay any retaliation until early August, it would continue to draw up plans to hit back with force. But that was not the entire strategy. Europe, like many of the United States’ trading partners, is also looking for more reliable friends. β€œWe’re living in turbulent times, and when economic uncertainty meets geopolitical volatility, partners like us must come closer together,” Ms. von der Leyen said on Sunday in Brussels at a news conference alongside the Indonesian president, Prabowo Subianto. Just as Mr. Trump threatens to put hefty tariffs on many countries, including Indonesia, the European Union is working to relax trade barriers and deepen economic relations. β€œIn hard times, some turn inward, toward isolation and fragmentation,” Ms. von der Leyen said. Then, in a message implicitly extended to world leaders who have been jolted by Mr. Trump’s tariffs, she added, β€œYou are always welcome here, and you can count on Europe.” It is a split screen that is becoming typical. On one side, the United States sows uncertainty as it blows up weeks of painstaking negotiations and escalates tariff threats. On the other, the 27-nation European Union and other American trading partners are forging closer ties, laying the groundwork for a global trading system that revolves less and less around an increasingly fickle United States. β€œWe in Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia, we really consider Europe to be very, very important in providing global stability,” Mr. Prabowo said on Sunday. It will be hard to move away from the United States, and Mr. Prabowo predicted that America would always be a world leader. It is home to the world’s largest economy, a bustling consumer market and cutting-edge technologies and services. But many American trading partners feel that they are left with little choice but to diversify. And while trade relationships are difficult to alter, they are also difficult to change back once they have been totally reorganized. That is what is happening right now. cont'd: https://archive.is/un9rE Under Attack by Trump’s Tariffs, Asian Countries Seek Out Better Friends Most nations are still negotiating in hopes of avoiding punitive import taxes. At the same time, they’re looking for trading partners as a way around the United States. For most countries that received President Trump’s letters last week threatening steep tariffs, especially the Asian nations with economies focused on supplying the United States, there are no obvious substitutes as a destination for their goods. But they are doing their best to find them. Business and political leaders around the world have been roundly baffled by the White House’s imposition of new duties, even as governments shuttled envoys back and forth to Washington offering new purchases and pledges of reform. Mr. Trump is erecting new trade barriers and demanding deep concessions by Aug. 1, claiming years of grievance because America buys more than it sells. β€œAcross the world, tools once used to generate growth are now wielded to pressure, isolate and contain,” Anwar Ibrahim, the prime minister of Malaysia, said at a gathering of Southeast Asian leaders on Wednesday. β€œAs we navigate external pressures, we need to fortify our foundations. Trade among ourselves. Invest more in one another.” There are already a few signs of such efforts. South Korea’s new president, Lee Jae Myung, sent special envoys to Australia and Germany to discuss defense and trade issues, and plans on dispatching delegations to several others. Brazil and India announced plans to increase their bilateral trade by 70 percent, to $20 billion. Indonesia says it is nearing a treaty with the European Union that would drop most tariffs on both sides to zero. And in Vietnam, which Mr. Trump said had accepted 20 percent tariffs on its goods headed to the United States before last week’s letters, the deputy trade minister emphasized efforts to reduce her country’s reliance on American consumers by leveraging other trade agreements. β€œAs more and more countries are feeling that it’s more difficult to satisfy U.S. demands, then their interest in working with others is going to intensify,” said Wendy Cutler, vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute. cont'd: https://archive.is/ziHGW
  12. I don't know why Daily Beast does that sometimes. To get around most anything, just copy/paste the URL into Archive.org. Re: the article. This guy, at 18 years of age as a HS senior, tried to cyberbully a 16-year-old boy over a 16-year-old girl, and their dads had to get involved. That was a mere four years ago. https://archive.is/gYxHc
  13. Wordle 1,485 3/6 β¬›β¬›β¬›β¬›πŸŸ© β¬›β¬›πŸŸ©πŸŸ¨πŸŸ© 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Connections Puzzle #763 πŸŸͺπŸŸͺπŸŸͺπŸŸͺ 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩 Has anyone noticed that Quordle has suddenly become more difficult over the last week or so? Or is it just me? πŸ™‚ Daily Quordle 1266 8️⃣4️⃣ 5️⃣πŸŸ₯ m-w.com/games/quordle/ ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟨⬜⬜⬜🟨 ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 🟩⬜⬜⬜🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜🟩⬜⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 ⬜🟨🟨⬜🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 🟨🟩⬜⬜🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟨⬜⬜🟨🟩 ⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟨⬜🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜🟩⬜⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
  14. bolverk

    LBGTQ

    Miss Thang, the Aztecan goddess, leading the parade was fun. Good for you, Troph. So glad y'all had a nice escape.
  15. It looks like that greaseball just got back from smuggling Bolivian marching powder in an old two-seater Cessna, which would explain his prolonged absence.
  16. Oooh, it didn't register with me that it was Rosie O’Donnell and not Roseanne Barr. I always get their names confused; hence, my calling her crazy in another thread. It also explains so much more.
  17. Big find in Belize by U of H archaeologists. The archaeologists worked in the shadow of towering Maya ruins, piercing the floor of a structure they had searched years before. Below, they found an even more ancient chamber, still holding a body and the treasures it was buried with: a rare mosaic death mask and jadeite jewelry, shells from the Pacific and elaborate designs on pottery and bone. It was the 1,700-year-old tomb of a Maya ruler β€” the first ever found at Caracol, the largest Maya site in Belize β€” and it held clues to a Mesoamerican world where cities contended with one another from hundreds of miles apart. β€œThey’ve found a very early ruler, so that’s very important, and he’s claimed to be the founder of a dynasty,” said Gary Feinman, an archaeologist at Field Museum of Chicago who was not involved in the excavation. β€œThat’s a major find.” Arlen Chase, one of the archaeologists working at Caracol, was among the first to enter the tomb. β€œAs soon as we saw the chamber, we knew we had something,” he said. From the style of ceramic vessels, he knew the tomb was exceptionally old. From the red cinnabar all around, he knew it was for someone of very high status. But it was the mosaic mask, in pieces of jadeite off to the side, that made him realize just how unusual the tomb was. β€œOh my God, this is much more important than I thought it was,” he remembers thinking. cont'd: https://archive.is/gsIrN
  18. Kid's got talent and is quick in churning these clever little ditties out. @mchookem's a big fan and has been posting his clips elsewhere.
  19. Rex, known bibliophobe, just dropped the charade with this comment: https://www.surlyhorns.com/board/topic/44774-july-4th-hill-country-flooding-tragedy/page/18/#comment-7198801
  20. Confirmation this guy is Rex.
  21. Then, shut the fuck up. What you may or may not have heard directly from the affected families becomes a rumor when you spread it second-hand on the internet to the rest of us. And, as we should all have learned by now, internet rumors can take a life of their own and cause material damage in the real world. Read this again: Stacy married into Eastland family, y’all need to look into her and why she left Mystic. I’ve heard stories why... "We" need to look into her and why she left. What do you expect a bunch of keyboard warriors, or even others who knew some of the families or kids, to do with this information?
  22. You, yourself, are rumor-mongering right here. Either have the guts to say what you want to say behind an anonymous account, or shut the fuck up.
  23. Bozo's vocal critique against strong mayoral systems has been going on for a while. He's posted about it in the "WTF is wrong with you, Austin?" thread. I happen to agree with him on that point. There's a reason that most Texas cities over a certain size have switched over to a more professionalized city manager/council system. Apparently, NYC has stuck with the strong mayoral system, which is a shame, because it's a ripe situation for ineptitude, corruption, and political favors. That said, I don't have a strong stance on whether Mamdani or Cuomo would be more suited to NYC's approach to self-government. I suspect that Cuomo probably would be more amenable to the corruption and political favors stuff, which probably translates to some degree of effectiveness in terms of "getting shit done," but that wouldn't necessarily make him a better mayor because there remains the question of what shit he would get done. I don't know what their proposals are, because I don't follow NYC politics, so I can't speak to that part.
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