Recent posts

#51

Computer Affairs / Re: Is it a good time to upgra...

Last post by grumbler - April 18, 2025, 07:15:45 PM

Well. Looks like I don't have a desktop anymore.
First, et everything up, turned it on... But zero display. Not even a bios error.
Did some weird qflash thing without even turning it on and hurray, I have bios.
But now it recognises my hard drives exist but doesnt recognise them as boot devices.

Sounds like the typical post-build frustration phase.

#52

Off the Record / Re: The Off Topic Topic

Last post by grumbler - April 18, 2025, 07:13:42 PM

https://www.ssgreatbritain.org/isambards-go-free/

Isambards Go Free
News

To celebrate our hero engineer, we're letting all Isambards visit Brunel's SS Great Britain for free from today onwards.

I am sure that they are both appropriately grateful. 

[you]

#53

Off the Record / Re: Israel-Hamas War 2023

Last post by grumbler - April 18, 2025, 07:11:25 PM

(snip) The truth is we didn't care.  We felt the cause was good enough so we looked the other way.

The fact that you believe that the ends justify the means doesn't signify anything for anyone but you.

And don't argue that your statement doesn't equal "the ends justify the means," because that argument will just make you look like a cowardly weasel.

Okay, why did you look the other way?  I don't remember one post on this forum about the concern that the Iraqis killed too many civilians taking Mosul.  Nobody said we need to stop bombing of Raqqa, out of concern for civilian casualties.  Every poster here can post why they didn't feel it wasn't important to object to humanitarian catastrophe we were contributing to in the war against ISIS.

I didn't look the other way.  You get to say that you looked away.  You don't get to say that I looked away. What you do or don't remember about what was said is irrelevant. I don't live on this forum and don't talk that much about military affairs here. I've got other fra that focus on those sorts of things.

And, in any case, the civilian losses in Mosul caused by Coalition forces pale compared to those inflicted by the Israelis in Gaza.  Mosul had a population of 1.5 million compared to Gaza's 2.1 million, and suffered a bit less than 10,000 deaths, a thorough AP investigation noted.  Further,

Of the nearly 10,000 deaths the AP found, around a third of the casualties died in bombardments by the U.S.-led coalition or Iraqi forces, the AP analysis found. Another third of the dead were killed in the Islamic State group's final frenzy of violence. And it could not be determined which side was responsible for the deaths of the remainder, who were cowering in neighborhoods battered by airstrikes, IS explosives and mortar rounds from all sides.

Mosul is a graveyard: Final IS battle kills 9,000 civilians

The report gives a number of examples of the concern Coalition forces had for civilian casualties:

Reports of civilian deaths began to dominate military planning meetings in Baghdad in February and early March, according to a senior Western diplomat who was present but not authorized to speak on the record.

After a single coalition strike killed more than 100 civilians in Mosul's al-Jadidah neighborhood on March 17, the entire fight was put on hold for three weeks. Under intense international pressure, the coalition sent a team into the city to investigate.

Iraq's special forces units were instructed that they were no longer allowed to call in strikes on buildings. Instead, the forces were told to call in airstrikes on gardens and roads adjacent to IS group targets.

Not all of those measures were followed by everyone, but the effort to avoid excessive casualties is clear, and the result is clear: less than 10,000 killed as comparted to more than 39,000 killed in Gaza. Roughly 1-1 civilian to enemy military deaths, as opposed to roughly 4-1 in Gaza.

The evidence refutes your entire argument.

#54

Off the Record / Re: [Canada] Canadian Politics...

Last post by crazy canuck - April 18, 2025, 07:07:37 PM

I'm a straw hater. Plastic or paper, I'm not using it.

#55

Off the Record / Re: The Off Topic Topic

Last post by mongers - April 18, 2025, 06:56:56 PM

https://www.ssgreatbritain.org/isambards-go-free/

Isambards Go Free
News

To celebrate our hero engineer, we're letting all Isambards visit Brunel's SS Great Britain for free from today onwards.

#56

Off the Record / Re: Syt's Pictorial Collection...

Last post by mongers - April 18, 2025, 06:46:39 PM

One of my favourite WW2 photos:

Watched by two small boys, a member of the FFI (French Forces of the Interior) poses with his Bren gun at Châteaudun.

US Army signal corps photographer

Details here and on wiki:
https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205206874

#57

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

Last post by viper37 - April 18, 2025, 06:08:43 PM

Trade war: China 'completely' stops buying liquefied gas from the US

China has halted all imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States for more than ten weeks
According to the Financial Times, shipping data revealed that no LNG shipments have taken place between the two nations since a 69,000-tonne tanker from Corpus Christi, Texas, arrived in China's Fujian province on 6 February.


A second vessel destined for China was redirected to Bangladesh after it failed to arrive before Beijing imposed a 15 per cent tariff on US LNG on 10 February.

The tariff has now been raised to 49 per cent, effectively pricing US gas out of the Chinese market.

The current freeze on US LNG mirrors a similar halt during United States President Donald Trump's first term, which lasted over a year.

Imho, that will sting a bit for Texas budget, no?

#58

Off the Record / Re: [Canada] Canadian Politics...

Last post by Grey Fox - April 18, 2025, 06:05:56 PM

I'm a straw hater. Plastic or paper, I'm not using it.

[you]

#59

Off the Record / Re: Israel-Hamas War 2023

Last post by Razgovory - April 18, 2025, 05:38:26 PM

(snip) The truth is we didn't care.  We felt the cause was good enough so we looked the other way.

The fact that you believe that the ends justify the means doesn't signify anything for anyone but you.

And don't argue that your statement doesn't equal "the ends justify the means," because that argument will just make you look like a cowardly weasel.

Okay, why did you look the other way?  I don't remember one post on this forum about the concern that the Iraqis killed too many civilians taking Mosul.  Nobody said we need to stop bombing of Raqqa, out of concern for civilian casualties.  Every poster here can post why they didn't feel it wasn't important to object to humanitarian catastrophe we were contributing to in the war against ISIS.

#60

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

Last post by Admiral Yi - April 18, 2025, 05:33:44 PM

One interesting detail about Abrego Garcia (Maryland man) is that he had been granted a "withholding of removal" by an immigration judge. This means there is exactly one country in the world to which he can not be deported.  In his case the country is El Salvador.