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bolverk

Certifiably Surly
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Everything posted by bolverk

  1. Was that a one-time, lump-sum payment, or is that the annual bill? Either way, that's quite the "deal" Trump made with the technofascist running that country, but I'm sure Bukele's ties to international gangs, including MS-13, have to play a role in the whole thing. It's funny how their partnership materialized overnight as soon as Trump was elected. Anyway, El Salvador just changed their Constitution by eliminating term limits, which undoubtedly Trump finds both inspirational and aspirational. Oh, and Bukele's got a really punchable face. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/01/world/americas/el-salvador-bukele-term-limits.html El Salvador’s National Assembly on Thursday approved sweeping changes to the nation’s Constitution, paving the way for President Nayib Bukele, who is in his second term in office, to run for re-election indefinitely. The legislature, in which Mr. Bukele’s party holds a supermajority, voted to end presidential term limits and extend a president’s term in office from five years to six, according to the National Assembly's X account. Mr. Bukele was first elected in 2019 and successfully ran in 2024 for a second term, even though legal scholars said at the time that El Salvador’s Constitution barred a president from serving consecutive terms. After Mr. Bukele’s legislative allies installed new judges on the Supreme Court, the court reinterpreted the Constitution and cleared the way for the president to run again. The 44-year-old president has consolidated power while in office, leading his Nuevas Ideas party to its supermajority in the legislature and cracking down on gangs through mass arrests. Killings and extortion by gangs have gone down dramatically under Mr. Bukele, but civil liberties have also deteriorated, Salvadoran human rights defenders say. In June, Mr. Bukele said he would rather be called a dictator than let criminals operate with impunity. He has also positioned himself as President Trump’s closest ally in Latin America, playing a role in Mr. Trump’s deportation plans by imprisoning immigrants expelled from the United States, in exchange for the return to El Salvador of members of the MS-13 gang who had been in U.S. custody. The amendments to five articles of the Constitution quickly passed on Thursday, with 57 votes in favor and three opposed, the National Assembly said on X. The changes will ensure that presidential elections coincide with legislative and municipal elections, Ana Figueroa, the Nuevas Ideas lawmaker who proposed the amendments, wrote on social media after the vote. She also noted that legislators and local officials, like mayors, do not have term limits. Mr. Bukele’s current term ends in 2029, but Ms. Figueroa said that it should end in 2027 to coincide with legislative elections, at which point he could run for a six-year term.
  2. Wordle 1,504 3/6 ⬛⬛🟨⬛⬛ ⬛🟩🟩🟨⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Connections Puzzle #782 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟨🟨🟪🟨 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🙂 Daily Quordle 1285 4️⃣5️⃣ 6️⃣8️⃣ m-w.com/games/quordle/ ⬜🟨🟨⬜🟩 ⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜ 🟨⬜🟨⬜⬜ ⬜🟨⬜⬜🟨 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟨⬜🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜ ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟩⬜🟩 🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ 🟩⬜⬜🟨⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟨🟩🟨🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
  3. That episode made me so damn happy.
  4. TX-13 The distance between these two points is exactly 400 miles. Texline Denton
  5. TX-23 490 miles between these two points. Shavano Park City Hall Shavano Park
  6. TX-11: Same same.
  7. No way that gets built within the next 3 1/2 years. He has no plans on leaving.
  8. Copperas Cove cop just flat-out lies about a woman not making a full stop.
  9. Again, I'd start with a single, simple act by Congress to increase the number of representatives for everyone, including smaller states: a) making them more "in touch" and accountable to their *local* constituents because that was what was intended initially at the country’s founding, b) softening the effect of gerrymandered districts, and c) increasing the chance of other electoral reforms through constitutional means.
  10. Portugal is getting set to recognize Palestine. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/portugal-makes-cautious-move-towards-recognising-palestinian-state-2025-07-31/ Even Germany is setting the stage to move forward with recognition. https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-862848 Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said on Thursday the recognition of a Palestinian state comes more at the end of the negotiations for a two-state solution, but that process must begin now, warning Berlin would respond to "unilateral steps". Johann Wadephul issued the statement before heading off to Israel and the Palestinian territories on a trip Berlin has billed as a fact-finding mission amid heightened alarm over starvation in Gaza. His remarks marked Germany’s strongest warning yet to Israel as Western nations intensify efforts to exert pressure. In recent weeks, Britain, Canada and France have all signaled their readiness to recognise a Palestinian state in Israeli-occupied territory at the United Nations General Assembly this September. However, critics argue that Germany’s response remains overly cautious, shaped by an enduring sense of historical guilt for the Holocaust and reinforced by pro-Israel sentiment in influential media circles, weakening the West’s collective ability to apply meaningful pressure on Israel. "In light of open annexation threats from parts of the Israeli government, a growing number of countries - including many in Europe - are now prepared to recognise a Palestinian state even without a prior negotiation process. The region and the Middle East peace process are therefore at a crossroads," Wadephul said. "That process must begin now. Should unilateral steps be taken, Germany too will be compelled to respond."
  11. It's been a month. Are we allowed to talk about how all of this was so unbelievably fucked up now, who's accountable, and what should be done? County Emergency Official Says He Was Ill and Sleeping as Texas Floods Hit At a hearing in hard-hit Kerr County, an emergency management coordinator for the first time explained his whereabouts when the Guadalupe River burst its banks. The emergency management coordinator of Kerr County, which bore the brunt of the deadly July 4 floods in the Texas Hill Country, testified on Thursday that he was sick and asleep when the floodwaters rose in the middle of the night, eventually killing 108 people in the county. The admission by the official, William B. Thomas IV, came at the start of an extraordinary hearing held by state lawmakers in a packed convention center in the city of Kerrville, a short walk from the banks of the Guadalupe River, which surged to record levels in the predawn darkness of July 4. Hundreds of residents attended the hearing, and many of them hoped to testify in what was expected to be an emotional session lasting for more than 12 hours. The hearing began with three-and-a-half hours of testimony from county officials, including Mr. Thomas, the county’s emergency management coordinator since 2015. Mr. Thomas had not spoken publicly since the flood, as questions were raised about his whereabouts and why neither he nor anyone else in the county had issued more warnings about the rapidly worsening situation along the river. “I want to directly address questions about my whereabouts,” Mr. Thomas said. He explained that he had always planned to be off work on July 3 “to fulfill a commitment to my elderly father,” and that because of a “progressing illness,” he had stayed home. “I stayed in bed throughout July 3 and did not participate in the regularly scheduled 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Texas Emergency Management Coordination Center coordination calls,” he said. Those calls included hundreds of participants, according to state officials, and went over the impending severe weather for the holiday weekend. At that time, it was not clear where the strongest rains would fall in the Texas Hill Country and Central Texas. Mr. Thomas said his supervisors were aware that he was off that day. He testified that he slept through most of July 3; awoke briefly around 2 p.m., when he said there was no indication of local rainfall; and then went back to sleep again until his wife woke him up at 5:30 a.m. on July 4. By that point, the worst of the flooding had already surged through low-lying communities in the county, including the unincorporated town of Hunt and the summer camps and recreational vehicle parks that sit near the river’s banks. cont'd
  12. Reminder: In 2005, he was arrested in Israel while in possession of almost 200 gallons of gasoline on suspicion of participating in an attempt to blow up a highway. In a 2015 interview, he said, "The Palestinian Authority is a burden, and Hamas is an asset", explaining that, while the it was harming Israel in international forums, Hamas' status as a terrorist organization meant that "no one will recognize it, no one will give it status at the ICC, no one will let it put forth a resolution at the U.N. Security Council". Also in 2015, he said, "Anyone who wants to protect the Jewish People and opposes mixed marriages is not a racist. Whoever wants to let Jews live a Jewish life without non-Jews is not a racist." In 2019, he campaigned on restoring the Torah justice system (Shariah Law, anyone?). In 2021 he said to Arab lawmakers that, "You're here by mistake, it's a mistake that Ben-Gurion didn't finish the job and didn't throw you out in 1948." In 20023 (before the Hamas attack), he called for "striking the cities of terror and its instigators without mercy, with tanks and helicopters". He also said that Israel should act "in a way that conveys that the master of the house has gone crazy". Last year, he said, "There are no half measures ... Rafah, Deir al-Balah, Nuseirat – total annihiliation. 'Thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.' There is no place for them under heaven." This year, he said, "They will be totally despairing, understanding that there is no hope and nothing to look for in Gaza, and will be looking for relocation to begin a new life in other places." https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/29/world/middleeast/israel-gaza-jewish-resettlement.html Bezalel Smotrich, the far-right finance minister of Israel, said Tuesday that the country was “closer than ever” to rebuilding Jewish settlements in Gaza that were evacuated 20 years ago, adding that the war there had created the opportunity to expand them even further. Mr. Smotrich’s remarks came soon after the Netherlands announced it was barring him and another far-right government minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, from entering the country in an effort to pressure Israel into stopping the 21-month war that has devastated Gaza. The Palestinian enclave is now in the grips of a dire hunger crisis that has brought international outrage. Both Mr. Smotrich and Mr. Ben-Gvir have called for the war to continue. They want “voluntary” migration of Gaza’s population of two million Palestinians, a measure that international legal experts have said would amount to ethnic cleansing. The pair have already been sanctioned by other countries, including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway and Britain, for inciting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. They have also been barred from entering Slovenia. Speaking at a conference for the anniversary of Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from Gaza in the summer of 2005, Mr. Smotrich described the territory as “an inseparable part of the land of Israel.” “It’s real,” he said of the idea of Israeli settlers’ returning to Gaza. “For 20 years we called it wishful thinking. It seems to me it is now a real working plan.” Mr. Smotrich, who also is the minister for settlement affairs in the Ministry of Defense, made his remarks as the humanitarian crisis reached new depths in Gaza. About 60,000 Palestinians, including thousands of children, have been killed in the war, according to Gaza health officials, whose data does not distinguish between combatants and civilians. Much of the coastal enclave of Gaza has been reduced to rubble, and most of the population has been displaced. A United Nations-backed food-security group said Tuesday that famine was unfolding across most of the territory, citing months of severe aid restrictions imposed by Israel. The war was set off by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and about 250 more people were abducted to Gaza. Negotiations for a 60-day cease-fire that would bring the release of some of the 50 remaining hostages, about half of whom are believed to still be alive, have stalled. Asked by an interviewer at the conference if the Israeli government was discussing an actual plan to reestablish settlements in Gaza, Mr. Smotrich did not give a direct answer but said, “Where there is no settlement there is no army; where there is no army there is no security.” “I don’t want to return to Gush Katif,” he said, referring to the group of Jewish settlements in southern Gaza that were abandoned in 2005 as part of the Israeli government’s so-called disengagement plan from Gaza. “It’s too small and crowded,” he said of the original area of the group. “It has to be much larger,” he said, adding that the situation in Gaza today “allows for bigger thinking.” Mr. Smotrich has opposed Israel’s efforts, made under international pressure, to facilitate the entry of more aid into Gaza in recent days, and he has threatened in the past to leave the government under such circumstances. But he told the audience Tuesday that he was staying in office because he has “a reasonable basis to assume that good things are going to happen.” In a separate statement responding to the travel ban, Mr. Smotrich said what was more important to him than being able to enter the Netherlands or other European countries was “that my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and all Jews around the world, be able to live in the state of Israel safely for decades and centuries to come.” In the withdrawal of 2005, Israel pulled its troops and about 8,000 settlers out of Gaza, which it had captured from Egypt in the 1967 war, and demolished the 21 settlements it had built there. Right-wing supporters of the settlement movement decried what they called an “expulsion” and vowed to return and rebuild. The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not immediately respond to a request for comment about possible plans to reestablish Israeli settlements in Gaza.
  13. Blowback of world opinion: This is from early June, so it likely doesn't include the full impact of the ongoing forced starvation of Palestinian civilians. Only two of the 24 nations surveyed still have a positive opinion of Israel. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/06/03/most-people-across-24-surveyed-countries-have-negative-views-of-israel-and-netanyahu/
  14. Canada to Recognize Palestinian State at the U.N. General Assembly Canada joins France and Britain in taking similar steps, after months of increasing criticism of Israel by Prime Minister Mark Carney. Canada said on Wednesday that it would recognize Palestine as a state, if the Palestinian Authority commits to making certain changes including holding elections. Prime Minister Mark Carney said he had received assurances that such changes would be carried out in a call with the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, and plans to formally recognize Palestine during the United Nations General Assembly in September. “The deepening suffering of civilians leaves no room for delaying coordinated international action to support peace, security and the dignity of human life,” Mr. Carney said following a cabinet meeting largely focused on Gaza. In recent days, Mr. Carney and others in his government — as well as leaders in France and Britain — have condemned the growing humanitarian crisis and rising starvation in Gaza, which Mr. Carney blamed on Israel’s refusal to cede control of aid to international organizations. Gaza health officials say dozens of people, including children, have died of starvation in recent weeks. The dramatic policy reversal by Canada follows similar ones by France and Britain, increasing the pressure on Israel to end the nearly two-year-old war in the Gaza Strip. Israel swiftly condemned the announcement.
  15. A lot of big talk in this OpEd appearing in today's NYTimes about Texas Dems being fed up with this redistricting push and ready to fight. We'll see. Gift link: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/31/opinion/texas-redistricting-democrats.html?unlocked_article_code=1.ak8.u5o2.cYpSX-B798Xd&smid=url-share
  16. One pet idea that I've held for the past 20 years and think could get the ball rolling on some reforms would be to increase the number of representatives, which used to happen regularly with each Census as the nation's population grew. Congress capped the number of House seats at 435 in the 1920s. So, when the nation was founded, the typical rep served 35,000 people. By 1910, that had grown to 1 rep per 210,000, while in 1950 it was 345,000. In 2000, it had risen to 650,000, and today, it stands at over 760,000. Adding a bunch of seats would break up these massive districts that allow our unrepresentative State legislature (which has the same population growth problem) to manipulate these massive districts that span from Denton to Dalhart or San Antonio to El Paso, that emphatically do not represent "communities of interest" while also increasing the cost of elections and almost guaranteeing that your representive does not have you and your neighbor's best interests in mind. I don't know if the Texas Constitution allows for an expansion of the State Lege, but the US Congress absolutely could pass a law allowing expansion to happen.
  17. Gerrymandering is just another form of disenfranchising voters. It's a one-two punch. I'm sure you probably know a bunch of folks who don't bother to vote because they think know their votes won't matter. And they're right if they live in a part of a city that's appended to a largely rural district. So, people get tired and turned off from voting and having to wait in long lines, while the rural folks can just pop in and vote in a matter of a couple of minutes. All of this then affects statewide and national elections, and that's partially why Texas has such a shitty voter turnout rate that's kept the state red the last 30 years.
  18. They'll have drones.
  19. It's an interactive map, so you can zoom in to find your place: https://dvr.capitol.texas.gov/Congress/0/PLANC2308
  20. Cedar Park/Leander won't even be an afterthought for dear ol' Pete.
  21. I'm not down with the "autistic" angle when "weird asshole" or something else would suffice.
  22. One way to think about it is that the Electoral College system, itself, is one big gerrymander. The elections ARE rigged.
  23. I think they did this as a sick joke, but downtown Austin and the Capitol Complex are included in TX-10, the same district that will include College Station.
  24. There’s a decent shot the next Democratic Presidential Primary election will involve Senators from the above list or the following, and the decision to keep giving arms to Israel will absolutely influence my vote, just as the vote to support Bush's invasion of Iraq did. Right now, I'm becoming a big fan of Chris Murphy. VOTED TO NOT GIVE ARMS TO THE IDF: Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE) Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) Dick Durbin (D-IL) Martin Heinrich (D-NM) Mazie Hirono (D-HI) Tim Kaine (D-VA) Andy Kim (D-NJ) Angus King (I-ME) Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) Ben Luján (D-NM) Ed Markey (D-MA) Jeff Merkley (D-OR) Chris Murphy (D-CT) Patty Murray (D-WA) Bernie Sanders (I-VT) Brian Schatz (D-HI) Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) Tina Smith (D-MN) Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) Raphael Warnock (D-GA) Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) Peter Welch (D-VT)
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