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bolverk

Certifiably Surly
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Everything posted by bolverk

  1. And what about chicken pussy? Is it enticing? I mean, what's the story?
  2. It really was. I'd known him since the 2nd or 3rd grade when his family moved to town. He'd always been a cocky asshole, but we initially became friends because his family had the only in-ground swimming pool in the neighborhood that I knew of. We stayed relatively good friends through college, though, but he had an uncanny knack for always getting into some really stupid shit. I'm pretty sure he had Oppositional Defiance Disorder or something, so no one from our high school clique was at all surprised.
  3. I know of at least a half-dozen from my HS graduating class (1989) of about 225 who died from it, but I was still friends with only a couple of them, though. One of them had some health issues, and it got him quickly in the spring. The other was just a cavalier asshole about it, who a mutual friend of ours later showed me one of his last FB messages to him that read, and I quote, "I ain't skeered." He caught it about a week later and was dead within the month. Then, there was my dad, along with another half-dozen or so from my parents' close social/church group, who died from it that first fall/winter before the vaccine came out. My dad died an absolutely miserable death alone in his hospital bed the day after Christmas 2020. That was especially devasting for my mom because they'd been married 57 years, and there were only a few left in her social circle afterward. She never fully recovered emotionally from it until she passed away a couple of years later. But no big deal, right? Right?!?
  4. You might be using "sentient" too loosely.
  5. Make sure your phone is fully charged for photos and videos.
  6. It'd be a shame if they had an accident. Russia to Hold Drills on Tactical Nuclear Weapons in New Tensions With West Russian officials claimed the order was in response to comments from the West about the possibility of more direct involvement in Ukraine. NATO called Russia’s announcement “irresponsible.” Russia said on Monday that it would hold military exercises with troops based near Ukraine to practice for the possible use of battlefield nuclear weapons, a provocative warning aimed at discouraging the West from deepening its support for Ukraine. These weapons, often referred to as “tactical,” are designed for battlefield use and have smaller warheads than the “strategic” nuclear weapons meant to target cities. Russia’s Defense Ministry said that President Vladimir V. Putin had ordered an exercise for missile, aviation and naval personnel to “increase the readiness of nonstrategic nuclear forces to carry out combat missions.” The announcement of the exercise was Russia’s most explicit warning in its more than two-year invasion of Ukraine that it could use tactical nuclear weapons there. The Kremlin said it came in response to comments by two European leaders that raised the prospect of more direct Western intervention in the war. The exercise, the Defense Ministry said, would involve forces of the Southern Military District, an area that covers Russian-occupied Ukraine and part of Russia’s border region with Ukraine. It said the exercise would take place “in the near future.” cont'd:
  7. You clearly never met my rural Southern Baptist parents or any of their peers. Shit, my mom (RIP) actually suspected Obama was the anti-Christ and thought his election portended the End Times. I even recall something along the lines of "four generations after the re-establishment of Israel" would be when the Rapture was supposed to occur. There are loads of Evangelicals, especially in rural Texas, who believe this stuff.
  8. The average among the four is 65 days, and we're going to hold you to it. Pitchforks if you're wrong, and to be clear, I fucking hope you're right.
  9. Not if the share of those who feel US aid should decrease keeps rising. But, yes, I'll concede it's a mixed bag right now, though opposition could keep growing. We'll have to see how the Rafah invasion is handled and how Americans react to any potential excess carnage. A Redfield & Wilton Strategies survey of 1,500 eligible voters, conducted exclusively for Newsweek on May 1, found that 36 percent believed the U.S. should decrease aid to Israel amid its ongoing war with Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, a rise of 9 points from 27 percent in a previous poll from March. Another 9-point rise (45%) would constitute a clear plurality of opposition.
  10. @Royalfan5 @immamac Seconded since this is turning into the catch-all "Tornado thread."
  11. Come on. I assume you're a Christian, so you should know this. Where's the loophole for non-believing Jews in scripture? Jesus and his disciples themselves were Jewish and said you had to 1) believe Jesus was the son of god and 2) you had to do good works: John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 4:16 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Romans 10:9 Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Matthew 7:21-27 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. John 3:3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Do you just not believe in hell or the Rapture? Because, from my experience, most Evangelicals do, and most White Nationalists also happen to be Evangelicals.
  12. @TKthunder2 Take the results from this recent poll (note the date and time of its release) for whatever it's worth, but the status quo of US support isn't too popular. Yeah, some of the protesters' antics have been ridiculous/unacceptable, but that doesn't mean the core message is necessarily unpopular. Note for full transparency: 538 rates them a little above the middle of the pack, ranked 110 out of 277. https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/pollster-ratings/
  13. Rain bomb has been part of the Shaggy/Surly lexicon for at least five years.
  14. And the grift goes on. The grift goes on. Right-Wing Nonprofit Paid Millions to Companies With Ties to Insiders The Conservative Partnership Institute’s three highest-paid contractors had connections to the group’s leaders or their relatives, raising concerns about self-dealing. The Conservative Partnership Institute, a nonprofit whose funding skyrocketed after it became a nerve center for President Donald J. Trump’s allies in Washington, has paid at least $3.2 million since the start of 2021 to corporations led by its own leaders or their relatives, records show. In its most recent tax filings, the nonprofit’s three highest-paid contractors were all connected to insiders. One was led by the institute’s president, Edward Corrigan, and another by its chief operating officer. At a third contractor, the board members included the group’s senior legal fellow Cleta Mitchell, a lawyer who supported Mr. Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Last year, the Conservative Partnership Institute hired a fourth company connected to an insider: a fund-raising firm run by Mr. Corrigan’s brother, Patrick Corrigan. Public filings show the company received a contract three weeks before the firm was legally formed. The Conservative Partnership Institute applied to the Internal Revenue Service as a tax-exempt nonprofit, and the agency approved. That means donations to the group are tax deductible, like gifts to a food bank or the American Red Cross. It also means that, by law, its money must serve the public good rather than private interests. The nonprofit has pushed those limits by entwining itself with only one faction of American politics. It pays high salaries to some of Mr. Trump’s former officials, hosts retreats for Republican lawmakers at a rural compound and funds efforts to vet people and ideas for a second Trump term. Legal experts say these insider transactions also raise concerns about self-dealing. While hiring insiders is permitted when certain safeguards are in place, the payments moved money out of daylight and into opaque entities that the nonprofit’s leaders helped control. “There’s no checks and balances,” said Michael West, a lawyer at the New York Council of Nonprofits. Because there is no real third party to determine whether the insider-led companies were charging the nonprofit a fair price, Mr. West said, “the potential for overpayment here is epic.” Mr. Corrigan, the institute’s president, did not respond to questions about what steps the group took to assure that it was not overpaying the insiders’ companies. The companies did not say what rates they charged. cont'd:
  15. Netanyahu has already said it wouldn't matter if they were going to sign onto the deal and said they were going to invade anyway. Palestinian civilians are going to get fucked. Hamas said in a statement its top leader, Ismail Haniyeh, had delivered the news in a phone call with Qatar’s prime minister and Egypt’s intelligence minister. After the release of the statement, Palestinians erupted in cheers in the sprawling tent camps around Rafah, hoping the deal meant an Israeli attack had been averted. ***** In a fiery speech Sunday evening marking Israel’s Holocaust memorial day, Netanyahu rejected international pressure to halt the war, saying that “if Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone.” On Monday, Netanyahu accused Hamas of “torpedoing” a deal by not budging from its demand for an end to the war and a complete Israeli troop withdrawal in return for the hostages’ release, which he called “extreme.” https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-gaza-hamas-war-humanitarian-aid-8659eae6e0a7362504f0aa4aa4be53e0
  16. Yep, he's already pretty much stated it doesn't matter. They're going in, ceasefire or no ceasefire. Didn't even bother to show up for talks in Cairo over the weekend.
  17. Adding this article for good measure: Rare, Highest-Level Tornado Risk Issued for Oklahoma and Kansas Severe thunderstorms could bring large hail, damaging winds and powerful tornadoes to the Southern and Central Plains on Monday, forecasters said. NOTE TO BIG COUNTRY & EDWARDS PLATEAU SURLYITES: Yellow area extends down to Brownwood, Brady, Junction, Sonora, San Angelo, Ballinger, Coleman, and Sweetwater. Forecasters have issued a rare, high-level risk warning for tornadoes this afternoon and evening across central Oklahoma, including Oklahoma City and portions of Kansas. Multiple strong, long-tracked tornadoes, as well as very large and destructive hail, are expected, according to the Storm Prediction Center. “The biggest area of concern is definitely Oklahoma and portions of south-central Kansas,” Kelly Butler, a meteorologist in the Wichita office of the National Weather Service, said on Sunday. The Storm Prediction Center, which is part of the Weather Service, predicted its highest risk level for the first time since March 31, 2023. On that day, 131 tornadoes formed across 11 states from the Midwest to the South. The last high-risk level for Oklahoma was May 20, 2019, when 35 tornadoes spawned across five states, mainly in the Plains. Here’s what to know about the storms: There is a chance for “strong to potentially long-track tornadoes, including large to giant hail, baseball-and softball-size,” according to Ms. Butler. Storms should begin to form in Kansas from early to midafternoon. Later in the day, storms will begin in Western Oklahoma and push east well into the evening and overnight. There is some possibility of tornadoes, although less than in the high-risk area, in Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota and Texas. Forecasters in Oklahoma City warned that any storm that forms could produce a dangerous tornado. Forecasters raised the risk level Monday morning as the conditions across the Plains evolved, increasing their confidence that multiple significant tornadoes along potentially long paths will occur. “Anybody in the affected areas should have a safety plan,” Ms. Butler said. The Weather Service described the environment in southern Kansas and into Oklahoma as being “similar to some past higher-end, and even historic, severe weather and tornado events.” A possible flood risk could also occur, as heavy rain increases over parts of eastern Kansas and Nebraska, as well as western Iowa and Missouri as a front moves out of the Rockies, according to the Weather Prediction Center. The Weather Prediction Center warned of a slight risk of excessive rainfall over parts of the Central Plains and Middle Mississippi Valley from Monday into Tuesday morning. The heavy rain could produce flash flooding in urban areas, roads, small streams and low-lying areas. The severe weather risk comes a week after more than two dozen tornadoes were reported and at least five people were killed in Oklahoma and Iowa, including an infant, the authorities said. The current threat will not end Monday. More storms are forecast for the next couple of days, primarily on Wednesday, from Texas to Ohio.
  18. For sure. And it can be a hard sale as it's not a new water supply but just firms up existing supplies. The best thing about it, not considering all the logistics, is the prevention of evaporation. Isn't there some crazy stat that something like 50% of the water is lost due to that?
  19. You're never going to believe this, but UC-Berkely BERKELY!!! BERKELY!!! seems like they're handling it the best by respecting speech and not calling in the cops to "crack skulls" and inflaming the protesters. Berkeley takes light touch on Gaza protests. Columbia called the police May 2 (Reuters) - At Columbia University, tensions between the administration and students protesting over Israel's war in Gaza have reached the point that scores of New York City police marched onto campus to clear an encampment and arrest demonstrators who had commandeered a classroom building. It was the second time in as many weeks that the administration has called on police to control the protests. Students have been suspended, and threatened with expulsion. Police are now stationed around-the-clock on campus. Nearly three thousand miles away at the University of California, Berkeley, the scene has been far different. Student demonstrations have so far taken place without arrests or disruption of campus operations. The contrast in how protests have played out at the two prestigious institutions - both with long histories of student activism - illustrates the range of factors at play in how school administrations, students and the police navigate what can quickly turn into a full-blown crisis. South of Berkeley at UCLA, part of the same university system, police on Thursday morning flattened a pro-Palestinian camp, a day after it was attacked by pro-Israel counter protesters. Authorities at the Los Angeles school had declared the encampment an unlawful assembly. Similar crackdowns have occurred at colleges across the country, from Arizona State to Virginia Tech and Ohio State to Yale. Police have arrested around 2,000 campus protesters to date. Still, some universities - including Berkeley, Northwestern and Brown - have managed to avoid confrontations between the police and students. Education experts say these cases offer lessons in keeping tensions from boiling over, a key one being a university's experience with balancing student activism against pressure from donors, interest groups and politicians. Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ has allowed students to maintain a protest space on campus since they began erecting tents April 22 on the steps of Sproul Hall, where Martin Luther King gave a 1967 civil rights speech. Dan Mogulof, a spokesman for the university, said that remained the case Thursday, despite a scuffle Wednesday evening between the co-founder of a Zionist activist group and a pro-Palestinian protester. It was the first violence after days of peaceful assembly. "We are urging everyone to avoid engaging in pointless provocation and physical conflict," Mogulof said, adding that Christ was in talks with encampment leaders after the Wednesday incident led to three minor injuries. He said the school would respond to violence in line with University of California policy. That guidance tells administrators to avoid police involvement unless it's absolutely necessary and the physical safety of students, faculty and staff is threatened. That policy is rare, with most universities having some kind of regulation that prohibits permanent encampments or outlaws overnight student activities on campus. The University of California system has seen in the past where police involvement can lead. In a 2011 Berkeley protest during the Occupy movement against economic inequalities, campus police clubbed and jabbed students with batons. Then-Chancellor Robert J. Birgeneau later apologized, and the UC system shifted to the policy of restraint Berkeley spokesman Mogulof described.
  20. As I said in my first post on this topic: Edit: There might be some loophole for racial harassment since he targeted his speech toward a specific individual. I don't know, however, if his speech crossed that threshold because I don't know where that line lies. There may have been a discrimination loophole for free speech in the OU frat case, too, since it was a fraternity-sponsored event where an African American student could reasonably assume they'd be discriminated against on racial grounds from joining that fraternity. Maybe that would be sufficient grounds for getting around First Amendment concerns. I don't know. What I do know is that I'm generally against government curtailment of constitutionally guaranteed free speech. There's a line you've got to cross first, and I'm not sure the Ole Miss fuckhead crossed it. I would, however, like to see him face non-governmental consequences.
  21. I am serious, but I didn't realize that a couple of them were expelled from school. A very quick search led me to a wiki entry on it, where their expulsion is called into question on constitutional grounds, and several experts agree with my layman's opinion. I may or may not be right, but my initial thoughts about the Ole Miss frat rat are not as ridiculous as you make it out to be. University of Oklahoma president David Boren ordered the expulsion of the two students who led the chant, Michael Levi Pettit[12] and Parker Rice.[12] Through two letters addressed to them, Boren justified their expulsions on the grounds that they "played a leadership role" in creating "an extremely hostile learning environment".[13][14][7] The action taken by the university was based on school's Student Rights & Responsibilities Code.[15][16][17] Rice and Pettit, both Dallas natives, enrolled in the Austin and Dallas branches of the University of Texas, respectively. The LA Times reported that Boren appeared to be alluding to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which bans racial discrimination at universities receiving federal money.[17] However, the expulsions may have been a violation of the students' first amendment rights.[17] First Amendment law specialist and UCLA Law professor Eugene Volokh asserted that President Boren's actions were unconstitutional.[18] Oklahoma State University media law associate professor Joey Senat stated that the chant was offensive but is still protected free speech.[19] Glenn Reynolds, a professor of law at the University of Tennessee, expressed the opinion that as a former U.S. senator, Boren should have known that the university was breaking the law in expelling the two students.[20] A Washington Post article reported that a Sigma Chi fraternity successfully challenged similar action taken against them by George Mason University in 1992.[21]
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