He is unable to make claims He is just too pathetic Did you watch the news conference yesterday? It is impossible for anyone to watch that and not think he is feeble and demented

@george-k said in Keeps the riff-raff out.: only privately owned aircrafts No s please

So I take it that if Russia limits itself to cross border small arms fire, the odd mortar stonk or a brief artillery barrage, they are good to go without serious repercussions.

To be brutally frank, I care very little if not at all. The author is correct, the West sold itself out to China a long time ago. The focus should be on how to fix the predicament we have put ourselves in rather than the predicament of minorities residing in the PRC.

@klaus said in Got bicycle?: This design allows you to preload the pit with round logs that simply roll into the centre as the previous log burns away, removing the need for you to keep loading the fire. I'd guess that this is not what will happen. Rather, my guess is that all logs would burn simultaneously after a short while. I think so, too, but I'd use it as a firewood stacker, not necessarily a fire pit.

Link to video

The physiology of it is quite interesting as well. Dopamine is released by the nerve ending, and the "high" is the result of dopamine interacting with the post-synaptic site. Dopamine is then removed from the inter synaptic cleft and taken back up into the nerve that released it. What cocaine does is prevent the reuptake, keeping dopamine floating around longer, giving that rush. The problem is that there are other methods (slower) of removing dopamine from the inter synaptic cleft, and eventually the dopamine goes away. But...the nerve that secreted the dopamine is somewhat depleted, so it can't release as much as it did the first time. So, in an attempt to get that really great rush, you want MORE coke to keep that smaller amount of dopamine hanging around longer. But, THAT eventually gets metabolized as well, and the nerve is even more depleted. It's a vicious cycle, and that's why the first hit is always the best. There's more dopamine to be released that first time. [image: 1642686907745-image.jpeg] Link to video

@mik said in German investigation accuses Ratzinger of "wrongdoing.": What could he have done that would have been right? Did Ratzinger set church policy at that time? But advocates saw his steps as insufficient, noting that he was slow to grasp the systemic nature of the clerics’ crimes and their coverup. Most significantly, he did not mete out punishment against bishops who buried cases or transferred known abusers to new parishes. And he enacted few meaningful reforms to safeguard the church before stepping down in 2013, citing what he described as his “advanced age.” Some church watchers note that Benedict, who spent his career defending the church against outside forces like secularism, helped to foster Vatican’s penchant for secrecy on abuse cases. Benedict has perhaps more direct knowledge of the crisis than any modern Catholic figure, because he presided over the Vatican’s powerful doctrinal department — which oversees abuse cases and punishment — before becoming pope.

Been listening to some of their stuff lately, along with Joni, Mamas & the Papas, and the like. Is anybody doing anything similar today?

Try that with your cats.

@george-k hahahaha wow, as a n00b, I would imagine (underwater) volcanos have ZERO link to a warming climate. I stayed at a holiday inn express, so I know what I'm talking about. Also, when I first saw that eruption video from space, my thought was "our planet has been doing this for billions of years"

I loved them (it’s a trilogy). Though it’s been long enough that I just don’t remember too much. I think I did audio for one or two of them. His whole life was fascinating.

@mik said in At-Home COVID-19 Test Kits …: We ordered ours yesterday. Site came up early. Same.

@improviso said in First non-full flight in ages: @jon-nyc said in First non-full flight in ages: By the way, Improv, the woman next to me is ugly. No way I’ll be pushing her face up against the window. Never stopped you before. Didn't you pack a paper bag? He did, but she didn't.

MoCo. I dunno if she can back any of that up. But I hope she succeeds. I'm not against vaccine mandates per se. But in that county? In the way they're proposing it? Ridiculous.

LOL, just saw this on NRO: https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/democrats-on-the-filibuster/ “The nuclear option extinguishes the power of independents and moderates in the Senate. That’s it, they’re done. Moderates are important if you need to get to 60 votes to satisfy cloture; they are much less so if you only need 50 votes. Let’s set the historical record straight. Never has the Senate provided for a certainty that 51 votes could put someone on the bench or pass legislation.” — Joe Biden “60 votes easier to get than 51. Ignoring the other party creates rushed garbage legislation. When you do 60, it’s a compromise.” — Brian Schatz “If you don’t have 60 votes yet, it just means you haven’t done enough advocacy, and you need to work a lot harder.” — Kirsten Gillibrand “I think we should have the filibuster in place. You have to have a consensus. I would’ve liked to see 60 votes. I don’t think we should’ve made that change.” — Amy Klobuchar “I rise today to urge my colleagues to think about the implications the nuclear option would have on this chamber and this country. I urge you to think not just about winning every debate, but about protecting free and democratic debate.” —Barack Obama “[Ending the filibuster] would be the end of the Senate as it was originally devised and created going back to our Founding Fathers.” — Dick Durbin “The ideologues in the Senate want to turn what the Founding Fathers called ‘the cooling saucer of democracy’ into the rubber stamp of dictatorship. We will not let them. They want to make this country into a banana republic, where if you don’t get your way, you change the rules. Are we going to let them? It’ll be a doomsday for democracy if we do.” — Chuck Schumer “[W]e are united in our determination to preserve the ability of Members to engage in extended debate when bills are on the Senate floor.”— among others, Patrick Leahy, Angus King, Mark Warner, Michael Bennet, Amy Klobuchar, Bob Casey, Martin Heinrich, Jeanne Shaheen, Sherrod Brown, Dianne Feinstein, Kristen Gillibrand, Brian Schatz, Cory Booker, Maria Cantwell, Mazie Hirono, Joe Donnelly, Jon Tester, Kamala Harris, Maggie Hassan, Tammy Duckworth, Tim Kaine, Jack Reed, Ed Markey, Debbie Stabenow, Sheldon Whitehouse, and Bob Menendez. I'm somewhat ambivalent on the Senate filibuster. I sort of understand the "majority" argument, and that's not a long step from the "tyranny of the majority," however. But, that's a philosophical argument, and that has nothing to do with politics of the moment, because, as was said, what goes around...

@george-k said in 28%: How does that time away from DC compare to Trump, Obama and GW? I know there was a lot of criticism of 43 and 45 about that. If you look closely you'll notice that most people who complain about this stuff have nothing good whatsoever to say about the President in question. They also lack any sense of shame whatsoever.