Saturday Open Thread - 11/30/24: Odds and Ends

Good morning, good people!

I am back home, sounds of loud trucks rattling the walls, and hungry birds at the feeder that was put away for 3 days. The birds can't blame us. They must blame the squirrels.

I watched a Due Dissidence video about the military being used to deport illegals. They talked about the bad look of dragging away kids and grannies on TV. Obviously, it would be traumatizing to decent Americans.

What they didn't really touch upon is normalizing Military presence in our communities, conditioning us to accept it. Nothing to see here.

Anyways, see what you think.

Just under 13 minutes.

The "truce" between Lebanon and Israel is to me, some cover for a great, big, pack of lies and subterfuge. If it looks like bulls shit, smells like bull shit, it is bullshit. What doesn't lie? No fighting, no fighting! (If I make it back to Columbia one day, I will die happy!)

What happened to our kids in the 60s is maybe gonna happen to kids again, since history repeats itself. I remember like it was yesterday when Bo, a guy who graduated a year ahead of me, known as borderline "retarded", as it was called then. No doubt his IQ was not more than 80. Drafted, basic training, sent to Nam, killed on Day 1. We must not continue the madness. We must learn, must improve, must survive. I can't listen this song without crying, but listen I must.

Travel tip: When you are in an asshole-ish hotel that doesn't allow ice coolers, try this: put your beer (or food that needs to stay cold) in the bathroom sink. Place beer (or food) in first, cover with free ice from the hotel ice maker. Now, this is a caveat: I have heard it works with food, have only used it with beer.

Lots of stuff going on, particularly with Erdogan and Turkey. Turkey was recently secular, awesome, then in he came. He fights a bit here, but not enough to piss off a "friend", and so on and so on.

Not sure why I am shocked that a Muslim would be as underhanded as a Christian or Jew. Deceit is across the board, friends.

Except with us. We have integrity.

I will turn over the comments to you, friends. Say what is on your minds, in your hearts, as it is an open thread.

Let 'er rip!

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Sometimes kids who are sort of physically misshapen and mentally challenged are the butt of jokes and the object of harassment and bullying. My classmates, hell, my entire school, was just not that way. We liked Bo. We all went out of our way to help him, and his ability to make passing grades and graduate was done by teachers looking the other way. When he was drafted, we were horrified. When his body was returned for burial, the turnout for the funeral was massive.
He was the first casualty of the Viet Nam War in the county.
We need a peacenik President! ASAP!
Your turn folks.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Socialprogressive's picture

@on the cusp
any time soon. The last one we had caught a bullet to the head. There's to much money to be made from endless war for TPTB to allow a peacenik President. Ain't capitalism grand.

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I'm great at multi-tasking. I can waste time, be unproductive, and procrastinate all at the same time.

@Socialprogressive I see these young kids getting involved in high school ROTC, marking time until they get to speak with a military recruiter. Conditioned by public education, The Girl and Boy Scouts, getting them ready to go kill someone in a foreign country they can't pronounce nor locate on a map.
They have no grasp of why we fight, much less for whom.
I was 15 when Bo was buried. We were such a small community, there were no Scouts, no ROTC. Only 1 high school teacher had fought in a war. War was a shocker, peace protests were a positive community action.
Those days are gone. Mass murder to enrich people we can't name is the game.
Enjoy your weekend, Sp. Take some photos of the clear skies while they still are, friend.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

QMS's picture

glad you made it back in one peace
sure the birdies are happy too

moved a 1600 pound cherry tree trunk
which was a cut-off from the tree service
yesterday using a gantry into a 13 foot trailer

the guy is bringing it to a sawmill, eventually
the basis for the furniture he makes

traded for the use of his log splitter later

sounds like Putin has put Ze on notice with
a major infrastructure raid with another to
follow. Hell to pay. Will the west back-off?

Anyway, thanks for the OT and welcome back!

PS. maybe misheard, but a rift on "my country 'tis of thee" sounded like 'my country
Tel Aviv' (who are we fighting for?) Axeing for a frienenemy.

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@QMS 1600 lbs? Pretty damn manly man work project, sir!
I have considered buying a wood splitter. One might come in handy.
One project we are planning this week is to install a 3-car car port. It will save both time and money to buy a package, have it erected by the dealer, than to do it ourselves. Building projects might interfere with some concert somewhere, since we spend our spare time looking for them.
I get the biggest kick out of that video/song you posted! Thanks!
I haven't read any war news, still drinking coffee, watching the birds at the feeder. After lunch, I will check out the latest on the 2 war fronts, see if Russia has had enough of the bs.
Enjoy your outdoor projects, dear friend!

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

TheOtherMaven's picture

or Estrella or one of the other major SCA "wars". Those are definitely SCA-type fighters, duct-taped rattan weapons and all.

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There is no justice. There can be no peace.

Assad, Putin, Iran, all not doing so well of late.

There used to be an IQ floor for being accepted in the armed forces, they get killed a lot quicker. Dangerous stuff wars.

Interesting data coming out of the election, of course the data is far from being definitive or complete.

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snoopydawg's picture

@ban nock

Iran just showed that Israel can’t defend against its missile attacks. Plus it derailed Israel’s attack on them. Russia is gobbling up territory in the Donbas and it just shot a rocket that America has no defense against. Syria just killed 400 terrorists in Aleppo….you were saying?

ETA: Oh yeah….Zelensky is setting out terms for a ceasefire.

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Was Humpty Dumpty pushed?

@ban nock Different sources give very different news about the ongoing wars in Ukraine and the ME. I always check several before coming to any conclusions about who is kicking who's ass.
I have lost interest in the election details, as the matter amongst TPTB is settled, over, done, move on to the next distraction.
The Democrat party has moved further to the right than the traditional righties. As an individual with fairly leftist inclinations, I am out in the cold either way. Hence, I get away from it all whenever I can. Music doth soothe the soul.
Have a nice day, ban nock.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

snoopydawg's picture

I could never be an engineer…my brain just isn’t cut out to be one. I can barely goggle the facts here. Gotta admit though that the guys who figured out how to build the dam were very smart.

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Was Humpty Dumpty pushed?

QMS's picture

@snoopydawg
.
interesting, but containing many
errors (as is the way of AI)

happy Saturday!

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snoopydawg's picture

@QMS

It still looks like an amazing piece of work. And way over my head.

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Was Humpty Dumpty pushed?

QMS's picture

@snoopydawg
said over and over
also, the use of terms
like blowing up the cliffs

It really was an engineering marvel
but the presentation started with the
concept of 'most dangerous dam ever'
which is silly - all dams are dangerous
in the battle between man and nature
nature eventually wins

PS. happy birthday Jimi Hendrix

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@snoopydawg flew over it in a helicopter once, and while I am the antithesis of an engineer, it does look dangerous as all get out.
Just once in a while, folks in the US do something right. Hoover damn, Hoover vacuum cleaner...
Hope you and my client are having a fun day, chica!

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

enhydra lutris's picture

Since I am inclined to use the bathroom sink for its intended purpose, I used to ice my beer in the trashcan provided. They usually even have a plastic bag inside, waterproofing them.

Muslims, like Christers and Jews are "people of the book", same damn book, more or less with different editors, and hence it should be no surprise that they act just like the rest.

Integrity must be absolutely valueless if we have some and haven't sold it. Just sayin'.

be well and have a good one

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

@enhydra lutris we filled up the bath tub. Heathens, we were and still are.
It was at Baylor Univ. when taking the required course in The Old Testament, now called Old Bible, I first got educated on transliteration and translation. Native tribe speak, call it slang, spoken not written, into another similar slang, also not written, becomes a transliteration of the best guess of what was meant, then translated into another actual written language. Lots of ways to see that what we read in English bears no resemblance to the origin of the first Bible, and the slang long since gone. Moreover, what chapters and verses were left out, and who made the decision on what to include? I daresay, the New Testament has the same iteration. We have no idea what the Books were about, yet they are the sacred tomes of the majority of the world.
I was 16 when I took that course. The professor held a Doctorate, was an ordained minister, and he stressed one must just have faith that it is a Good Book, as there is no proof.
Two more days of escape form the office! Hope you have an escape from the chores, dear friend!

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Lookout's picture

Running a bit late here. It was 30F this AM, but warming to about 50F later.
I skipped trade day, but took the recycling, picked up some wheat straw, and ran by the grocery.

I hope everyone had a nice holiday that is continuing to be so. Thanks for the OT!

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

@Lookout here. Given the forecast for the upcoming week, winter may have arrived. A quick mail box check, a quick trip to the local grocery store, the rest of the day will be waiting for dinner time cooking, tacos on the horizon.
I haven't done my usual surfing for news since arriving home yesterday afternoon. I am always curious to see the latest news from the ME.
I must say, Erdogan causes me severe head scratching. Sucking up to Putin and BRICS, except for funding a war with Putin on the other side. Way more complicated than I can comprehend.
I know the solution! Tomorrow's WW! Ok, dear friend?

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

snoopydawg's picture

Putin is blackmailing and threatening Trump.

Also too shitlibs are not only supporting the terrorist violence in Syria, but they are cheering our attempted color revolution in Georgia. Any bets that they would have supported the Nazi Maiden coup?

This is what 8 years of Russia Russia Russia has wrought. Brain dead, brainwashed fools.

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Was Humpty Dumpty pushed?

@snoopydawg to get shitlibs to understand that they are a democratic country with a capitalist economy. Communists are elsewhere.
Russia big, has natural resources, a population capable of producing a growing and continuing population. It trades fairly. For Russia, war is simply not the first resort, but the last resort until the last Russian.
Russia today is what Americans think America is.
The CIA must be congratulated on their extraordinary propagandizing. Nobody does it better than those murderous bastards. That is our most successful government policy.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

This is how bullies act but I doubt that the Global South is impressed.

I think that his inflated ego is about to receive a rude awakening.

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