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bolverk

Certifiably Surly
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Everything posted by bolverk

  1. Hard to believe this hasn't already been posted.
  2. I don't know fuck about shit when it comes to the internal workings of the CCP or the PLA, but I do know people well enough that even within an authoritarian state like China, there are bound to be factions, some more hardcore than others. Let's not get too focused on China in this thread, though, as I recall early on, any posts not directly associated with the war in Ukraine were promptly deleted.
  3. I legitimately don't know if responding to you with the below in the DT thread would be considered too political, so apologies for quoting you to reply here. Anyway, Bibi was all too happy to allow Qataris to bring suitcases full of cash and as has been outlined previously, the Israeli far-right has long supported Hamas as its partner in Gaza to undermine the Palestinian Authority. The NYTimes had a much more detailed article about all this in yesterday's paper. No paywall link to the full article: ‘Buying Quiet’: Inside the Israeli Plan That Propped Up Hamas Some excerpts:
  4. Three good reads on the hearing and its implications. Liz Magill’s ouster at Penn will help the worst people take down free speech, higher ed Critics celebrating the scalping of Penn's president won't stop there. Free speech, and college itself, are in grave danger. At a Hearing on Israel, University Presidents Walked Into a Trap The College Presidents Were Right About Campus Antisemitism. Schools should regulate conduct, not speech.
  5. I can tell you right now that Boss Hogg is GRUhorn.
  6. Republicans to meet allies of Hungary’s Viktor Orbán on ending Ukraine aid Hungarian appearance at two-day event part of Orbán’s transatlantic attempt to bolster Russia’s war Allies of Hungary’s far-right prime minister Viktor Orbán will hold a closed-door meeting with Republicans in Washington to push for an end to US military support for Ukraine, the Guardian has learned. Members of the Hungarian Institute of International Affairs and staff from the Hungarian embassy in Washington will on Monday begin a two-day event hosted by the conservative Heritage Foundation thinktank. The first day includes panel speeches about the Ukraine war as well as topics such as Transatlantic Culture Wars. It is expected to feature guests including Magor Ernyei, the international director of the Centre for Fundamental Rights, the institute that organized CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) Hungary. Kelley Currie, a former ambassador under then president Donald Trump, said she was invited “but declined”. According to a Republican source, some of the attendees, including Republican members of Congress, have been invited to join closed-door talks the next day. The meeting will take place against a backdrop of tense debate in Washington over Ukraine’s future. Last week the White House warned that, without congressional action, money to buy more weapons and equipment for Kyiv will run out by the end of the year. On Wednesday Senate Republicans blocked an emergency spending bill to fund the war in Ukraine. A diplomatic source close to the Hungarian embassy said: “Orbán is confident that the Ukraine aid will not pass in Congress. That is why he is trying to block assistance from the EU as well.” Orbán is a frequent critic of aid to help Ukraine against the Russian invasion. Seen as Vladimir Putin’s closest ally inside the EU for the past few years, he was photographed smiling and shaking hands with the Russian president two months ago in Beijing. Orbán recently demanded that Ukraine’s European Union (EU) membership be taken off the European Council’s agenda in December. The Hungarian leader posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter: “It is clear that the proposal of the European Commission on Ukraine’s EU accession is unfounded and poorly prepared.” The Heritage Foundation is leading Project 2025, a coalition preparing for the next conservative presidential administration, and has in recent months hosted speeches by leading British Conservative party members Liz Truss and Iain Duncan Smith. The thinktank has also been a vocal opponent of US assistance to Ukraine. Last year Jessica Anderson, the executive director of its lobbying operation, released a statement under the headline: “Ukraine Aid Package Puts America Last.” In August, Victoria Coates, Heritage’s vice-president, posted on social media: “It’s time to end the blank, undated checks for Ukraine.” When Heritage celebrated its 50th anniversary last April, Orbán’s political director, Balázs Orbán (no relation), was invited as a speaker for the event. Heritage’s president, Kevin Roberts, repeatedly praised the Hungarian leader on X: “One thing is clear from visiting Hungary and from being involved in current policy and cultural debates in America: the world needs a movement that fights for Truth, for tradition, for families, and for the average person.” In recent years Orbán has championed a transatlantic far-right alliance with a hardline stance against immigration and “gender ideology”, staunch Christian nationalism and scorn for those who warn of a slide into authoritarianism. Hungary has been portrayed by conservative media as an anti-“woke” paradise and model for the United States. Some far-right Republicans, such as Kari Lake and Paul Gosar, said they would like to see the “Hungarian model” transplanted to the US, especially when it comes to immigration and family policies. CPAC went to Hungary for the second time this year, and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson shot multiple episodes in Hungary touting Orbán policies. Orbán has returned the favour by lavishing praise on Trump. During this year’s CPAC, where Roberts was also featured as a speaker, he claimed that if Trump were president, “there would be no war in Ukraine and Europe”. The Hungarian prime minister has criticised the multiple federal indictments against the former US president and called the judicial procedure a “very communist methodology” in a recent interview with Carlson. Dalibor Rohac, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute thinktank in Washington, said: “The Hungarian embassy in DC has been very active lately, trying to repair ties with the Republicans and strengthen them where it’s appropriate. “It is also not surprising that Heritage is the venue of these talks because they are different from other thinktanks in DC; they are more partisan, and their funding model heavily overlaps with the Trump base.” But, Rohac said, despite his good relations with some Republicans it was “unlikely” that Orbán would have any leverage over US funding for Ukraine. Supporters of Ukraine have also been making their case to Republicans in Congress. This week David Cameron, the British foreign secretary, held meetings on Capitol Hill. He told a press conference: “I am sure that goodwill will prevail and the money will be voted through, and it will have a huge effect not just on morale in Ukraine but also making sure that European countries keep asking themselves what more can they do.”
  7. You should thank me for helping you avoid sounding like a blithering idiot on at least one topic the next next time you're in the office blathering on about something for which you clearly don't have the requisite expertise. You're welcome. And I hope you have a pleasant evening.
  8. Let's hope we get some tension there. Maybe Ed will sabotage fetching the iridium asteroid too. I don't know. So much that's going on just seems to be people being petty. I guess reaching Mars has stifled the writers' ability to come up with more epic scenarios. Now that the alternative timeline has kind of been played out (even though the present in the show is still 20 years in our past, they seem to lack a vision of where things should go, or they'd decided to really slow things down to squeeze out another couple of seasons.
  9. The show is falling apart, and I'm seriously losing interest. Each episode just drags.
  10. I haven't been to this particular site, but it came into the possession of the Hogg family and was eventually donated to the state as a historical site by Ima Hogg. So, I'm sure there's information about that family and that governor. Here's a brief video on the plantation, and you can see how the THC likely portrays its history at the site.
  11. It's official. https://www.espn.com.au/college-football/story/_/id/39075575/former-sooners-qb-dillon-gabriel-announces-transfer-oregon
  12. Some of the dates have already been released. https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/38993837/alabama-vs-georgia-sept-28-highlights-2024-sec-schedule
  13. I know quite a number of folks who work at the THC, one of whom texted me this article Thursday night. She's not directly involved in this mess, but she's definitely "in the know," so to speak. One of the advantages that the agency has traditionally been able to rely upon is strong support from political leadership and lively engagement from community volunteers from across the state who are all passionate about Texas history. Unfortunately, many are really interested in Texas hagiography and not Texas history. At the top, you have the governor and the legislature. The governor appoints his buddies to the commission, which acts like a corporation's board of directors, keeping its thumb on the agency's executive director (CEO). Then, you have all the state reps and senators who typically support the various historical sites and other operations within their districts. Meanwhile, local volunteers do a bunch of heavy lifting to support these sites, including fundraising for their upkeep and whatnot. In practice, this kind of structure is really great, but the educated, pointy-headed liberal experts who staff the agency often get hamstrung by it when the governor, the lege, and the volunteers only want the good side of Texas or their local history told. Leading up to and immediately following the George Floyd murder, the agency had been pushing hard to diversify the voices telling the state's history. They actually had a great deal of success AND actual support from all the aforementioned groups. However, starting in 2021, those efforts began to receive notable pushback from the commissioners. I think this aligns with a lot of efforts we've seen around the state (and nation) with conservatives, in general, getting their footing back and organizing efforts to push against progress and turn back the clock on civil rights and educational curricula. This is all part of the wider culture wars. On this particular front, I'd advise getting involved in, or at least becoming aware of, what your local county historical commission is up to. This is a lot like the whole school board stuff. For more info: https://www.thc.texas.gov/preserve/projects-and-programs/county-historical-commission-outreach/what-are-chcs https://www.thcfriends.org/
  14. Do you realize who you're responding to? I don't know why he disappeared from the site for so long, but he had a well-earned reputation before leaving.
  15. Long coattails hang off the ass, drag on the floor, and carry lessers behind a lead candidate to continue on. So, I'd imagine the opposite of that would be those who'd crawl up his ass and die as politicians. Maybe we call them Trump's gerbils? ETTD
  16. From KUT: AG Ken Paxton has bought several properties worth millions. He’s yet to publicly disclose them.
  17. Thanks for taking the time to pull those quotes, @Pancho.
  18. Yep. The military marching style is the absolute easiest kind there is. And, moreover, the aggy band plays the exact same show every week, year in and year out.
  19. Perplexed by the poor quality of posts from Udub visitors in this thread, I decided to check out that Hardcore Husky site. At first glance, it looks like it's populated by about a couple of hundred regulars who are a bunch of try-hard internet keyboard warriors. Digging a little further, I came across their podcast and better understood the hubris displayed by their visitors here. And I admit they've got a lot to be proud of after an incredible undefeated season, so kudos and congratulations to them on that feat. But skimming through their latest podcast breaking down their season, I finally got to the point where they began to look forward to the Sugar Bowl against Texas, and it became clear where the attitude of our visitors comes from: they don't know this season's Texas team, only comparing it to the one they beat in last year's Alamo Bowl. The guy doing most of the talking is all like, "How is Texas so much better than last year? I just don't see it. The only difference is that the Big 12 sucked so much this year. Yeah, they were missing their running back, Bijan Mustardson, but they're missing Brooks this year. And their best receiver just drops a bunch of passes (not knowing or not acknowledging Whittington's broken hand in last year's match up). I just don't get it. They're basically the same team as last year, and we've improved so much." It sounds like the guy hasn't watched any of our games this year. Start at 1:00:45 (they talk about Texas for about 11 minutes, so not too outrageously long): https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/hardcorehusky/episodes/Pac-12-Championship-Postgame-Pod-e2cn2pl Edit: No acknowledgment that last year was Ewer's first as a starter. No acknowledgment that Sagarin ranks our SOS just above theirs. Nothing of the sort. The guy talking thinks they should win this game going away.
  20. I'm aware of all those details but lack your confidence for reasons I won't go into here. I hope you're right, though.
  21. The Senate blocked the emergency funding bill for $50 billion in US assistance today. The Pentagon says they have the authority to send $4.8 billion from stockpiles left to get Ukraine through the winter. No idea where we go from here.
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