Jump to content

bolverk

Certifiably Surly
  • Posts

    15090
  • Joined

  • Days Won

    8

Everything posted by bolverk

  1. Yeah, keep us in the loop on that one.
  2. It turns out that De Gaulle was right about the inherent dangers of being overly reliant on the US. He was a dick about it, but ultimately, correct.
  3. I know it's not funny, but I can't help but picture some countrified German+Spanish-speaking Mennonites hanging out at a breastaurant with the IPIHB San Marcos crew with all sorts of ensuing zany antics. It'd be like The Hangover movie, but this time with measles!
  4. Check out this weekend's latest This American Life when y'all get a chance. In a rarity, they devoted the entire hour to a single story about a man going down what basically sounds like a Qanon hole and the effects that it has on the family. Basically, the conspiracy theorist dad makes a $10,000 bet with his adult son that his 10 far-out ideas will come to pass by the end of 2025, which they reveal the results of at the end of the episode. The son takes his father up on it to see if his dad can come back to normalcy after being proven all his predictions are wrong. You can guess the results, but I think it's still worth a listen--especially for those of you who feel like you're losing (or have lost) your parents or other family members to the cult. It looks like it'll be available to stream after 7pm this evening. https://www.thisamericanlife.org/854/ten-things-i-dont-want-to-hate-about-you
  5. One observation I've had is that these people tend just not to think things through. It's like they're unable to do second-order (and beyond) thinking, so they're always shocked by unexpected consequences.
  6. I dunno. We'll see if this is a "come to Jesus" moment to work together for liberal democracy in Germany and Europe. I've got a few German friends from college and high school days (mix of fmr foreign exchange students and time I spent in Europe), and they've been pretty active on FB discussing mobilizing for protests against the Rechts.
  7. I guess another option would be something like a "unity government" or whatever a Left/Right coalition that excludes the fascists like that would be called. Really, from my perspective, that would be the only hope.
  8. So, I guess the million-dollar question is: Will the Christian Democrats hook up with the fascists for a majority?
  9. Not sure what you expect from him. Even if he did/does read it, do you think he'll recoil in horror over the damage done? No, that motherfucker is giddy with joy over all of this. He's a true believer as a member of the New Right and dreams of the US becoming akin to a monarchy with a national leader also being the head of the church. That guy has gone so far down the rabbit hole, you might as well just consider him clinically insane because his political philosphy is rooted in an entirely different universe where any civilizing notions of equality, rights, or democracy aren't seen as virtues.
  10. Wordle 1,345 4/6 β¬›β¬›β¬›πŸŸ¨πŸŸ¨ πŸŸ©β¬›πŸŸ¨πŸŸ¨πŸŸ¨ πŸŸ©πŸŸ©β¬›πŸŸ©πŸŸ© 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Connections Puzzle #623 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟦🟦🟦🟦 πŸŸͺπŸŸͺπŸŸͺπŸŸͺ πŸ™‚ Daily Quordle 1126 6️⃣4️⃣ 7️⃣8️⃣ m-w.com/games/quordle/ ⬜⬜🟨🟩🟨 ⬜⬜⬜🟩🟨 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟨🟨⬜⬜🟨 🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟩⬜⬜🟩⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩⬜🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩⬜🟨⬜🟨 🟨⬜🟨🟩⬜ 🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟨⬜⬜⬜🟨 ⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜ 🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟩⬜🟩⬜ 🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟩🟨🟩⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟨⬜⬜🟨⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
  11. That is so incredibly apt and something I'd completely forgotten. https://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/international/215000-if-only-stalin-knew/
  12. To the Bitter End if We Must; Anonymous Statement from an American Medic Serving in Ukraine’s Military This is a statement from an American currently serving as a medic in an assault brigade in Ukraine’s military. He has requested to remain anonymous. The statement is unedited and contains his thoughts on recent actions by the USA’s government regarding support for Ukraine. If you are serving in Ukraine and would like to make an anonymous submission, reach out to protectavolunteer@gmail.com with your Signal number or ask another volunteer with my contact information to share it with you. ***** I love America, my country, my home, but I cannot love what it is becoming. I cannot love what the world is becoming. And I refuse to accept it. We should all refuse to accept it. For years, democracy has been eroding in the world. With truth being buried beneath waves of propaganda, misinformation dulling outrage into apathy. Apathy is the lifeblood of fascism. Action is the only way to push it back. I never thought my country would fall so far, so fast. Yet here I sit, dug into the earth, my phone buzzing with more bad news by the hour. America is turning its back on democracy. It is turning its back on Ukraine. I fear that soon it will embrace russian imperialism and through that be complicit in the genocide of the Ukrainian people. My job in this war is small but simple. We retrieve the wounded and the dead from the line, doing what we can to keep them breathing until we can reach MEDEVAC. In doing this, we see the true cost of this war. I have lost count of the men and women I have carried, of the wounds they will bear for the rest of their lives, on their bodies and in their souls. But this is not about my story, only my perspective. I have seen bravery here with my own eyes that defies belief. Ukrainians and foreign volunteers alike standing firm, fighting not just for their brothers and sisters, but for all who refuse to kneel to fascism. It is the duty of all free people to spit in the face of tyrants, and the people of Ukraine as well as the many foreign volunteers, perform this duty with a vigor that is nothing short of inspiring. My country should be proud of them. My country should be standing beside them. Instead, I feel shame for the choices it has made and the claims made by our president. I will always be proud to be an American. But my country is failing Ukraine. It is failing itself. The people here fight for a better tomorrow, a tomorrow that too many will never see. A tomorrow that, god willing, can exist for the people who live after us. We must fight for that reality, because the alternative is a life in chains, under someone’s boot. We must fight, and we will continue to fight, to the bitter end if we must. Π‘Π»Π°Π²Π° ΡƒΠΊΡ€Π°Ρ—Π½Ρ–, ГСроям слава, And God bless America.
  13. Feeling compelled to repost this clip. And then he journeyed to Pennsylvania, where he spent like a month and a half campaigning for me in Pennsylvania. And he's a popular guy. And he was very effective. And he knows those computers better than anybody. All those computers. Those vote-counting computers. And we ended up winning Pennsylvania like in a landslide, so it was pretty good. It was pretty good. So thank you to Elon!
  14. Happy someone already translated this so that I didn't have to: I mean, we must not buy into the arguments I keep hearing everywhere. The Ukrainian president was elected through free elections in Ukraine. He was not the favorite at all; I remember it like it was yesterday. And so, he is a president elected in a free system, which is not the case for Vladimir Putinβ€”who kills his political opponents and has been manipulating his elections for a long time. Unfortunately, this is also the case in other countries around the world. Later, because war broke out in his country, he had to impose martial law. Do you think he can organize presidential or legislative elections in a country where many Ukrainians have fled for their safety? In a country where millions more have been mobilized at the front? Where there are thousands of casualties every day? And where entire regions of his territory are occupied by Russia? **What are we talking about?!?** Do you think that, in the same situation, we would be holding elections? He cannot hold elections. So, if we want free elections in Ukraine, we need lasting peace in Ukraine. Anyone calling for elections before that is manipulating the situation. And what is the goal of some? We know it very well: a ceasefire that will not be respected. QUICK, QUICKβ€”elections, just to manipulate them. That is not a good idea. So yes, President Zelensky is legitimate, and we want more democracy in Ukraine over time, thanks to lasting peace. And President Zelensky also wants democracy in Ukraineβ€”because he himself is the product of it. If the system had been manipulated, he would never have been elected president.
  15. The "deal" would put the US in violation of the Budapest Memorandum (1994), which specifically prohibits economic coercion against Ukraine. https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume 3007/Part/volume-3007-I-52241.pdf
  16. Ukrainians react to the "deal" for them to cede $500 billion worth of their minerals. β€œmafia imperialism” β€œIt’s as if we lost the war to America. This looks to me like reparations.” β€œHe wants to take resources from a country in a time of war. How are we supposed to live? We have children. It’s as if the US seeks to deprive us of our economic potential. It would finish us off, the same as America did with Red Indians [Native Americans].” β€œI said a few bad words. The rockets were flying very low. We are tired. Our emotions are understandably strong.” β€œWhat Trump suggests is blackmail. He knows we can’t push the Russians out on our own. We need joint production, not a takeover.” https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/22/its-blackmail-ukrainians-react-to-trump-demand-for-500bn-share-of-minerals
  17. Wordle 1,344 3/6 β¬›β¬›πŸŸ¨β¬›πŸŸ¨ β¬›πŸŸ©πŸŸ©πŸŸ©πŸŸ© 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Connections Puzzle #622 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟩🟩🟩🟩 πŸŸͺπŸŸͺπŸŸͺπŸŸͺ πŸ™‚ Daily Quordle 1125 9️⃣4️⃣ πŸŸ₯5️⃣ m-w.com/games/quordle/ ⬜🟩⬜⬜🟩 🟩⬜⬜🟩⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 🟨⬜🟨🟨⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟨⬜⬜⬜🟨 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟨⬜⬜⬜🟨 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜ 🟨⬜⬜⬜🟨 ⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜ ⬜⬜🟨⬜🟩 ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ 🟨🟩⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
  18. My guess is about triple that, but I lost count a couple of years ago. There have been several to only last 3-4 posts before mods could quickly ban new accounts. Think of all those one-offs that fast disappeared in the first year of the Russian Genocidal War thread.
  19. Ninety measles cases (almost a third under age 5) are now being reported in West Texas, 32 new cases since Tuesday. Hopefully, we'll get lucky, and none of those kids will die. But we should also be mindful that young children and the elderly are the most vulnerable. It's now spread across seven counties, with one case each in Lubbock and Odessa, but it remains mostly concentrated around Seminole and Brownfield. I think I've heard it's spilled over across the state line now into New Mexico around Hobbs. Don't be dumbass or listen to insane people like the jackoff who's now in charge of our entire healthcare system, who played a role in causing 80 children in Samoa to die from this disease. Get your kids vaccinated NOW if you haven't already done so (it's 97% effective). The crazy Mennonites aren't the only fucking yahoos in this state who are vaccine deniers, so this outbreak might have legs.
  20. Condolences. I had to bury a father who died of Covid in the hospital the morning after Christmas 2020. None of our family got to see him before he died, either. My sister, a PA who was treating hundreds of Covid patients, and I tried to combat all the misinformation directed toward our small-town, Fox News-addicted parents from afar about the severity of the disease, but they'd been inundated by a firehose of lies and succumbed to the absolute insane stupidity. After they saw a famous old fat man recover from it (after receiving the very best medical care in the entire world), they determined it must be no big deal. They believed the lie that it was really pretty much like the flu. Dad went out to play cards with some buddies. One of them had it; everyone at the table caught it; and all but one was dead within a month while the vaccine was being rolled out. I can see why you'd be bitter about not seeing loved ones before they passed away. That's understandable. What doesn't make sense is the motivation to lie to gullible old people and cause their deaths for political advantage. That's what makes me bitter. Mom eventually recovered, but cancer got her a couple of years later. Fuck cancer, and fuck anyone who discourages vulnerable groups from bolstering their immune systems. As far as I'm concerned, anyone who does that is basically a terrorist and deserves to be beaten within an inch of their life, and I'd happily volunteer to relentlessly pummel that piece of shit.
  21. The story of him getting recruited (or compromised) by the KGB in the 1980s has been around forever. I guess the only new thing is this dude posting about it. Given his peculiar pro-Putin proclivities, I have no reason to doubt it, though.
  22. Wordle 1,343 3/6 ⬜🟩⬜⬜🟩 ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Brick wall Connections Puzzle #621 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟨🟨🟨🟨 πŸŸͺ🟦πŸŸͺ🟦 🟦πŸŸͺπŸŸͺπŸŸͺ πŸŸͺ🟦πŸŸͺπŸŸͺ 🟦🟦πŸŸͺπŸŸͺ πŸ™‚ Daily Quordle 1124 6️⃣5️⃣ 7️⃣4️⃣ m-w.com/games/quordle/ 🟩🟩⬜🟨⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟨🟨 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ 🟨🟨🟩⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
  23. It's pretty great. After running into it, I posted it in the Protest Song thread a few days ago. Apparently, the internet did it's thing and there a bunch of mixes out there where folks are doing their thing and having fun with the song.
  24. A few thoughts/questions while they're fresh:
Γ—
Γ—
  • Create New...