The New Coffee Room

Italians brought so much to our world. They really are a notch above any other culture. Bring this back and say bye bye to MMA. I hate MMA. Bunch of heathens.

@Horace said in Department of Education:

@NobodySock said in Department of Education:

has anyone given thought to what is said on the streets as to why Republicans want to abolish the DOE? To keep the American public less educated and more prone to believe the constant propaganda that they receive everyday?

word on the street is that formal education is dominated by purveyors of progressive propaganda and bad educational ideas in general. Word on the street is that the word on the street has more than a grain of truth to it.

Lol! Word!

has anyone given thought to what is said on the streets as to why Republicans want to abolish the DOE? To keep the American public less educated and more prone to believe the constant propaganda that they receive everyday?

It's become a no win situation for the breed. There are an abundance of Pits in my area and personally, the ones I have encountered have been some of the sweetest dogs you could imagine. But then I also have direct accounts of unwarranted attacks on people for no overt reason whatsoever. From pits that do not have a history of bad owners training them to be mean. A girl I dated, a nurse practitioner, has a permanent scar on her lip as she was sitting at the kitchen table with friends who owned one and out of nowhere it jumped on her and bit a big chunk of her lip right off. 4 plastic surgeries later it is still painfully obvious to see she had some sort of trauma to her mouth and the owners , who were good friends of hers, are now persona non grata, as they promised to cover all her medical expenses and they didn't contribute a dime in the end.

I would surmise that this fentanyl issue would be a big incentive for drug addicts to quit. Not knowing if your next toot is going to kill you or not has to make one think before rolling the dice. I realize addiction to amphetimine and opiod type drugs is a very strong force on one's will, but maybe this could be looked at as a good thing for the overall health of our country's citizens. One would think Republicans would actually relish its impact on the subculture of humans who are a drag on society with the homelessness and panhandling that is the usual end result for addicts, but then again, it's become their number one plank to stop illegal immigration. It's the reason Trump wanted to tarrif Canada though very little has been discovered passing to the US from there.

Taiwan is definitely happening on Trump's watch. Of course he will stand by. Russia and China both have that red button to flaunt and are more willing to use it when it's one guy's choice. What are the guardrails preventing our new autocrat from doing the same? But it goes against what they live for, power. Once the missiles start flying, the only power they will have if they survive is over the cockroaches. Do you think of the thousands of missiles both China and Russia possess, that one or two are aimed at Sardinia? If not, we can survive on seafood and 4 million sheep for a long long time.

This one is going to be a weird one. Neither side will budge on this unless we all get down on our knees and pray for a continuing resolution. The shutdown historically, has never been good for GOP polls. Repeating the same mistakes and expecting different outcomes is the Republican way though.

The true test of our Constitution will be when a judge remands one of them into custody for breaking an order and the judge will be forced to call the US Marshals Service for custody handling. That will be the tipping point.

@Doctor-Phibes said in Trumpenomics:

@jon-nyc said in Trumpenomics:

S&P now wiped out all post election gains. 3.4T in value

Maybe Trump will sue Wall Street for being disloyal.

don't think he hasn't already asked that question out loud to the brains surrounding him. The CBS multi billion dollar suit over edited Kamela Harris interview has to take the cake though. Aren't there repercussions for bringing frivolous lawsuits? Oh I forgot, he's immune. Carry on Donald, whip out your crank and pee in public, you want attention? There's so many more creative way and 4 years to do them. Awww, life must be feeling really good for the King. This close to life prison and the people saved him from the jaws of Bubba. Don't think for one minute should he survive these 4 long years, that he won't have rearranged the order of things and commits to his promise to his people, don't worry , after this election, you won't have to vote anymore. He knows it's straight to prison should he ever leave the oval office. Non of that immunity shit washes in these cases, it's allready been determined.

@NobodySock said in Gifts for Putin, Demands for Zelensky:

@89th said in Gifts for Putin, Demands for Zelensky:

@LuFins-Dad said in Gifts for Putin, Demands for Zelensky:

Seriously, though? It is absolutely astounding looking at the satellite maps and realizing just the sheer frigging size of Russia (what is it, 10% of the landmass of the world?) and the population is about 150M? And 80% of that is in an area roughly the size as the Easter Seaboard? I mean, north of Yakutsk, it’s just miles of nothing.

Yeah it’s insane how much land is there. Also, I know almost nothing about Russian history other than it seems intriguingly complex and am always blown away at the sheer number of solder/deaths in each major war. So many.

Russian leaders have always treated their armies as expendable lives, they do not hold to the sanctity of life like western governments. I would imagine China would be the same. To be a Russian soldier in war, ultimately means you are going to be directed to expose your neck more often than the other side. And the very thought of disobeying orders that place one's units in suicidal firing lines is not considered due to the repercussions of such treason. It would be interesting to hear a true body count of these last 3 years. Both sides seem to exaggerate the numbers. That's my take anyways. I've played enough Call of Duty to know!

It's clear that Putin ordered Trump to have this meeting out in the open. He's constantly testing Trump's allegiance. There's got to be something bigger than pee pee tapes that he's holding over his head.

@Klaus said in Piano upgrade time:

@NobodySock I tried every piano known to mankind in 2017 and 2018, including (Shigeru) Kawai.

What I liked most about the SK was the bass. Very rich and powerful. What made me chose the Yamaha CF in the end was that it allowed me to bring out singing melodies better. But it was a close call, and price-wise the SK was clearly better. It's amazing value for the money (I remember that I could easily negotiate 30% down from list price or something).

Oh , it's been some time since your piano trials. after poring over every youtube video comparing pianos Shigeru is definitely still raved about, but his cheaper brother Kawai RX has come along a ways to offer what I believe may be something close enough but for much less, but will see for sure in my piano visit at a store that is going to have lined up for me RX6 RX7 SK6 SK7 Mason BB, Estonia l215 l225, and a Bluthner model 4 just cuz. lol. The dealer knows my situation and the likelihood of my waiting to purchase in mainland Italy to avoid shipping and duty charges if purchased here. He went on about how they take care of the shipping themselves and it goes straight to a container in Long Beach for its long voyage. It will be interesting to see his offers made for any of the models I get serious about. I have my Italian friend (we both belong to a FB Roland Ax Edge Keytar group) and he is a tuner by trade, who plans to get price quotes for me from the big piano store in Naples to see what price differences I may be dealing with. They have Kawai including Shigeru but no Estonias. Our piano man from Virginia has given me some solid advice as well as incredibly gracious offers if I chose to go with a rolls royce. I wish I was a little more loaded! Nothing is decided at this point but we are getting closer.

what year of Kawai and what sizes did you try?

@LuFins-Dad said in DOJ friend resigns:

@NobodySock said in DOJ friend resigns:

@LuFins-Dad said in DOJ friend resigns:

I’d just like to point out that with 10 years of military service and 13 years of Federal, he’s entitled to a full retirement at 50. So with another 6 months of paid time off, and easy private sector opportunities, it’s a pretty easy decision, one that wouldn’t be available generally in the private sector.

Being that he is only 44, his minimum retirement age for eligibility for immediate retirement is age 57 with at least 30 years service. Age 60 with 20 years, or age 62 with 5 years service. He is pretty far away from 57. There is no retirement at 50. He also has to pay a military deposit to have his military time added to his federal service count. Sorry to hear his decision 89th. How did he get hurt in the military?

Didn’t know his age until @89th posted it, but you can take VERA at 50 with 20 years service (including military). You can also get early retirement with 25 years total service even under 50. A good friend took VERA from WH Comms in 2017. He was 47 at the time. Had another friend take VERA at 52. Both took lucrative jobs after…

When VERA is available. Not always the case.

I just received the latest Larry Fine 2024 addendum for Piano Buyer. Hannah Beckett is now the editor. I share with you all the SMP prices Larry came up with for all the 7' models that are out there. SMP is suggested maximum price that he created based on profit margins that have been applied to published wholesale prices. Where wholesale prices are unavailable, Larry (hannah) has made a reasonable attempt to estimate a piano's SMP from other sources. I am only listing pianos in the size range I am looking for and their basic polished ebony or satin model prices.

Although I have yet to try most of these brands, I will be able to knock out Mason Hamlin, Kawai, Shigeru, Bluthner, and Estonia in about 10 days on a trip to Orange County, walking distance from Disneyland. After preliminary research on the internet, I am kind of excited to get my hands on the Kawais. They look to be one of the best if not the best bang for buck piano out there.

C. Bechstein
academy series
A208 6'10" 89,900
concert series
b212 6'11" 180,000

Bluthner
model 4 6'10" 149,293

Bosendorfer
214vc 7'0" 182,998
225 7'0" 214,998

Boston
gp-215 7'1" 64,900

Brodmann
pe212 7'0' 44,380

Cunningham
grandchamber7'0" 46,290
grandconcert7'0" 44,790

Estonia
L210 6'10" 70,025
l225 7' 4" 83,027

Fandrich & Sons
212-e 7'0" 32,650

Fazioli
f212 7'0" 181,700

August Forster
215 7'2" 96,500

Grotian
ConcertoG208 6'10" 96,000

Haessler
h210 6'10" 100,712

Kawai
GX6 BLK 7'0 73,194
GX7 BLK 7'6" 84,623

Kawai Shigeru
SK6L 7'0" 105,730
SK7L 7'6" 117420

Mason Hamlin
BB 7'0" 117,888

Petrof
P210 Pasat 6'10" 154,738

Pramberger
jp-208b 6'10" 41,289

Ritmuller
gh212r 7'0" 66,961

Ronish
210k 6'10.5" 105,673

Sauter
220 7'3" 153,000

Schimmel
classic
c213 trad 7'0" 78,366
konzert
k219 7'2" 108,358

Seiler
se-214 7'0" 148,293

Steingraeber & Son
c-212 7'0" 235,565

Steinway & Son
B 6'10.5" 138,800
Hamburg
B-211 6'11" 136,714

Yamaha
C6X 7'0" 69,423
S6X 7'0" 100,391
CF6 7'0" 133,358

@LuFins-Dad said in DOJ friend resigns:

I’d just like to point out that with 10 years of military service and 13 years of Federal, he’s entitled to a full retirement at 50. So with another 6 months of paid time off, and easy private sector opportunities, it’s a pretty easy decision, one that wouldn’t be available generally in the private sector.

Being that he is only 44, his minimum retirement age for eligibility for immediate retirement is age 57 with at least 30 years service. Age 60 with 20 years, or age 62 with 5 years service. He is pretty far away from 57. There is no retirement at 50. He also has to pay a military deposit to have his military time added to his federal service count. Sorry to hear his decision 89th. How did he get hurt in the military?

it's an OPM email address called HQ@opm.gov Please feel free to use this and correspond with Musk the younger.

one wonders how many federal employees it will take to decipher 2 million plus emails of tasks performed.