I hope we look back on this in the future and collectively wonder what the hell were we thinking?

He's a hoot, because it's not an act. Try working with him. He's a politician, of course, but he's sharp as a tack (or at least he was 6 or 7 years ago) and he excels at budgeting and money matters.

@Doctor-Phibes said in US Federal Budget - Record Reduction in Deficit: @Jolly said in US Federal Budget - Record Reduction in Deficit: At a certain point, the numbers mean nothing. So why not increase the deficit? It wouldn’t make any difference, right? Just like Karl Rove claimed. It only hastens our day of reckoning.

@taiwan_girl said in Reagan Reacts: @Mik said in Reagan Reacts: @Axtremus said in Reagan Reacts: @Mik said in Reagan Reacts: Very. Some of his successors just look like midgets by comparison. Just the Republican ones. Reagan will not be able to get through the Republican primary today. Partisan hack. Mik, how do you think President Reagan transplanted with his thoughts and policies to modern Republican Party would do? I kind of think that Ax is correct. He would have trouble in primary, but maybe do well in the general election if he made it there. I don’t often agree with Ax, and I certainly don’t here. Reagan’s message was not so different at its core. But he was also president at a time when communications and journalism was very, very different.

Ah, many have probably not flown first class when it really was first class. It was great.

Yeah, I’m not liking it. Posted about it earlier today. Xi is consolidating his power.

Another one: https://twitter.com/OGdukeneurosurg/status/1583419077741096960?s=20&t=NFyQtQ6PiFb3LEklPXS1Uw

My guess is that the US is probably providing funding a the "Ecuadorean Ministry of Culture", who will then distribute the funds. My experience is that when receiving funds from a different country (for example, the US), the receiving country receives USD$XX amount, of which a certain % or $ amount going to the cultural ministry, who then distributes. With the US giving USD$ billions of dollars in foreign aid a year (which is a good thing), I am doubtful that the US foreign service has the time or manpower to monitor the aid to the level of USD$20K. (Of course, I have been wrong quite a few times in the past, so you many not want to accept my answer. LOL) Or, an alternative is that the US foreign ministry puts out an ad that they are awarding X number of cultural grants. Countries/groups applying for those will try and be as non-specific as possible, using words like "cultural enrichment", etc to maximize their chance to get the grant. Increasing how specific they are decreases the chance of getting a grant like that.

I thought this thread was going to go a completely different direction. RIP, sisters Simon.

@Jolly said in 80% Mortality: Are we talking about the Daily Mail or the New York Times? Which one of those is right up your alley?

Damn right we do.

Ain't it the truth. . . That's what I can't stand, the flops and then the acting like they're in extreme pain. It's almost as embarrassing as celebrating after every play in (American) football.

@George-K said in Video games are incredible: What kind of horsepower do you need to run that? Is that a console or a desktop computer? I can run it no problem on 2 PCs here. AMD 5950X AMD 6900XT GPU with 16GB 64GB RAM AMD 5950X RTX 3090 GPU with 24GB 64GB RAM

@Axtremus said in The ultimate "pride" flag: @Jolly said in The ultimate "pride" flag: Homosexuals and lesbians exhibit abnormal behavior. We used to consider it mental illness. We still should. Now we know better. Don’t back slide. Religious objections aside, it's a dead end biologically and in some cases can cause physical harm, ranging from anal tearing, forced UTI's, etc. The “biological dead end” is no longer an issue with artificial insemination technologies. As for “anal tearing” and forced UTI, that’s an objection to anal penetration and maybe an objection to “scissoring”, not necessarily an objection to homosexuality. (Don’t forget that heterosexuals can and do engage in “anal sex” too.) The risks for “anal tearing” and forced UTI are no higher for the homosexuals once anal penetration and “scissoring” are taken off the table. Dude, they're fucked up in the head, to put it bluntly. Just because you want to label them normal, does not make it so. Leftists have learned you have to do two things to destroy society: First, own the language. Words mean whatever the Red Queen says they mean. Define deviance downward. Lesbianism? Check. Homosexuality? Check. Polygamy? Check. Polyandry? Check. Pedophilia? Check. Incest? Check. Homosexual Incest? Check. Shucks, if two guys could adopt at regular intervals, maybe they could have a chain of virgin assholes at predetermined waypoints. If two people love each other, what's the problem with it? Now, if the Left can succeed in getting society to wallow in its own filth and to elevate the deviants to oracle status, they are assured the rapid destruction of that society. It's classic, but so very effective.