Recent posts

#21

Off the Record / Re: Quo Vadis GOP?

Last post by Valmy - Today at 09:13:27 AM

Are grown men kids now? Infantilizing adults now? Boys will be boys...even "boys" who are 24 years old and older.

Also they are acting like nothing was concerning at all about what was said. Like this is all perfectly normal things for leaders of their party to be saying.

I mean it is what those of us who hate them have suspected for years but it is kind of weird to see them embrace it so thoroughly. Ok actually it is not weird at all.

#22

Off the Record / Re: Israel-Hamas War 2023

Last post by Josquius - Today at 08:22:50 AM

Gaza isn't very rich or urbanized FWIW. It's been reduced to a development level I like to refer to as "Islamist", since such places tend to have swathes of collapsed buildings, minimal economic activity, and sectarian gangs roaming around killing people.

Hence "under normal circumstances". Palestine's HDI ranking dropped 21 places due to the war. And that sounds overly optimistic to me, no doubt bolstered by life broadly going on as usual in parts of the West Bank (the Israeli crimes there not hitting the main economically active areas much).

On the other hand Yemen and Sudan are down in the bottom 20 poorest countries in the world.

You're comparing a nation that usually hovers mid-tableish, solidly middle income, to the poorest of the poor.

And just FYI Iran is pretty solidly in upper mid-table 75, Saudi 37, the UAE 15.... There's a lot to criticise ultra-conservative Muslim regimes for but the idea they instantly mean poverty isn't one of them.


edit- I was curious so I googled. 0.408 for just Gaza according to the UN.
That puts them just ahead of Somalia and South Sudan.

#23

Off the Record / Re: What does a TRUMP presiden...

Last post by Baron von Schtinkenbutt - Today at 08:14:59 AM

I was pretty surprised when NewsMax came out as one of the early outlets to say they would not agree to this bullshit.

#24

Off the Record / Re: Israel-Hamas War 2023

Last post by mongers - Today at 08:06:44 AM

That's the sound of one hand clapping.

#25

Off the Record / Re: Israel-Hamas War 2023

Last post by OttoVonBismarck - Today at 07:59:16 AM

Gaza isn't very rich or urbanized FWIW. It's been reduced to a development level I like to refer to as "Islamist", since such places tend to have swathes of collapsed buildings, minimal economic activity, and sectarian gangs roaming around killing people.

#26

Gaming HQ / Re: The Miscellaneous PC & vid...

Last post by Josquius - Today at 07:53:02 AM

I'm intruiged. Looks like the sort of thing I'd have killed for 20 years ago. Star Control but Trek?

#27

Gaming HQ / Re: Europa Universalis V confi...

Last post by Tamas - Today at 07:47:09 AM

For Tamas

https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/tinto-talks-84-15th-of-october-2025-onboarding-systems.1863138/post-30803167

Hungary getting picked as an economy tutorial feels weird. I mean, it was a rather rich kingdom, don't get me wrong. It's just that the other two picks feel even more fitting, especially in this time period. A dynastic deal about to happen with Poland, dynastic claims *cough* ties to Naples, domineering the Balkans, staking a claim on the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, the anti-Habsburg alliance at Visegrad, a little bit later the first Hungarian-Ottoman War. The most well-known major achievements and developments of Hungary at this specific time just ooze politics, with a dash of expansionism.

Something that is not very well known is that, around these years, Hungary was the third richest country in Europe in tax revenues, just behind France and England. And the reign of Charles Robert was probably the apogee of royal power in the kingdom, leaving behind a wealthy country and a healthy treasury to his son and successor, Louis 'the Great'.

In EUV, it's a really cozy country to learn about the economy, as there's plenty of cash in hand to kick off the economic development, in several fronts: RGOs, buildings, roads, etc.

Noice.

#28

Gaming HQ / Re: The Miscellaneous PC & vid...

Last post by Syt - Today at 07:05:25 AM

Maybe harry kim will finally get promoted

Feedback about the demo on Steam forum seems mostly to be that peformance is really bad, and also that people would very much like voice acting (I don't think this project has the budget for the original crew, though ), original music etc.

#29

Gaming HQ / Re: The Miscellaneous PC & vid...

Last post by Crazy_Ivan80 - Today at 07:00:47 AM

Maybe harry kim will finally get promoted

["By focusing on what kids are saying in a group chat—grow up! I'm sorry," Vance said. "Focus on the real issues. Don't focus on what kids say in group chats."]

#30

Off the Record / Re: Quo Vadis GOP?

Last post by Syt - Today at 06:06:43 AM

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/10/republican-hitler-group-chat-nazi-politico/

Follow up:

[...]

"By focusing on what kids are saying in a group chat—grow up! I'm sorry," Vance said. "Focus on the real issues. Don't focus on what kids say in group chats."

One problem with this defense? The people in the group chat aren't "kids." By scanning public records and media reports, Mother Jones determined the ages of eight of the 11 participants in the chat: They appear to range from 24 to 35. Ages for three other participants—Bobby Walker, Michael Bartels, and Rachel Hope—were not publicly available. Bartels declined to comment to Politico, and the outlet could not reach Hope for comment. Walker told Politico parts of the chat "may have been altered, taken out of context, or otherwise manipulated," adding, "The language is wrong and hurtful, and I sincerely apologize."

Hendrix, the Kansas Young Republicans vice chair, and Luke Mosiman, chair of the Arizona Young Republicans, were, at 24, the youngest participants in the chat whose ages Mother Jones could determine through public reporting and records. Politico reported Hendrix used variations of a racial slur more than a dozen times in the chat.

According to Kansas NPR affiliate KCUR, Hendrix lost his job as communications assistant for Kansas' Republican Attorney General Kris Kobach after Politico reporters asked his boss, who is also the state GOP chair, about the texts. Hendrix did not respond to Politico's requests for comment. The Kansas GOP said it was "disgusted" by the comments and that they do not reflect the views of Kansas Republicans, who, it emphasized, "elected a black chair a few months ago." The Kansas Young Republicans reportedly became "inactive" after the messages were published.

In the chat, Mosiman called for the rape of a rival young Republican leader, and at another point said, "The Spanish came to America and had sex with every single woman." He declined to comment to Politico.

The oldest appears to be Joe Maligno, who public records suggest is 35. In the chat, he spoke about gas chambers and used a racial slur toward Chinese people. Maligno previously identified himself as general counsel for the New York State Young Republicans. Maligno did not respond to requests for comment from Politico. According to a Wednesday follow-up report from the outlet, he lost his job as an employee of the New York State Unified Court System.

A handful of other participants seem to fall in the middle of that age range. According to public records, Annie Kaykaty, New York's national committee member who, in response to Maligno's comment about gas chambers, said, "I'm ready to watch people burn now," is 28. Alex Dwyer, chair of the Kansas Young Republicans, who wrote a series of numbers used by white supremacists and wrote, "Sex is gay," is 29; Peter Giunta, former chair of the New York State Young Republicans, who referred to Black people as "watermelon people" and "monkeys" and said, at another point, "I love Hitler," is 31.

Chat member and supposed "kid" Samuel Douglass is a 27-year-old state senator in Vermont, according to reports. In the group chat, he claimed a woman a mutual friend was dating, who some presumed was Indian, "didn't bathe often." Vermont Republican Gov. Phil Scott has called on Douglass to resign; Douglass has apologized but has not yet said whether he would resign.

Kaykaty and Dwyer declined to comment to Politico. Giunta apologized for the messages in a statement but claimed they were part of a "highly-coordinated year-long character assassination" effort by fellow New York politicos. According to Politico's follow-up story, Giunta lost his job working for New York Assemblymember Mike Reilly. Politico characterized Giunta as "the most prominent voice in the chat spreading racist messages—often encouraged or "liked" by other members.

Vance's defense did not stop at suggesting the participants were too young to take responsibility for their actions. He also implied they should not have to, casting members of the chat as unfairly victimized. Instead of saying he planned to warn his children not to use such vile language, for example, Vance said he would tell his three kids—"especially my boys"—"don't put things on the internet. Be careful with what you post. If you put something in a group chat, assume that some scumbag is going to leak it in an effort to try to cause you harm or cause your family harm."

"But the reality is that kids do stupid things, especially young boys—they tell edgy, offensive jokes," Vance continued. "That's what kids do. And I really don't want us to grow up in a country where a kid telling a stupid joke—telling a very offensive stupid joke—is cause to ruin their lives. And at some point we're all going to have to say, 'Enough of this BS. We're not going to allow the worst moment in a 21-year-old's group chat to ruin a kid's life for the rest of time.'"

This is particularly rich coming from one of the top officials representing a party that just mounted a mass cancellation campaign to push for the firing and punishment of anyone who its devotees felt insufficiently mourned assassinated MAGA influencer Charlie Kirk.

Tl;dr: Hitlergate wasn't about kids, and JD Vance knows it—or should now.