Recent posts

#11

Off the Record / Re: Israel-Hamas War 2023

Last post by viper37 - Today at 03:31:11 PM

Canadians did, but no one else. Hell sheilbh even said it's a sign India is at the big boy table now lol. Let's just say I'm not overly impressed with your Stalin-isc view on tragedy. 10 of thousands of civilians killed? Meh it's war. But you seem much more concerned by the deaths of these two.

There is a big difference.  This was not a targeted assassination. This couple was killed because they were Jewish.

He wrote a manifesto
https://www.kenklippenstein.com/p/the-israel-embassy-shooter-manifesto

Guy is associated with the Party of Socialist Liberation.  This is what a real Stalinist looks like.

How many shootings per year in the US?

How should your government retaliate against those responsible?  Gays? Trans? Democrats? Republicans? Gun owners? Libertarians? White Supremacists? Goth kids? Gamers? Loners? Depressed individuals? Psychotic individuals? Schizophrenics?

You're gonna need a bigger gaz chamber.

#12

Off the Record / Re: Israel-Hamas War 2023

Last post by viper37 - Today at 03:28:17 PM

Do you have a link for Netanyahu saying he wants to relocate the population?

They've announced their plans to take over control of Gaza.

They control the West Bank. Did they announce a plan to relocate the population of the West Bank?  What is happening there?

What has the US announced for Gaza, repeatedly?

With the US backed plan to move Palestinians out of their homes to "secured sites for aid distribution", do you sincerely believe the IDF will rebuild their homes, or let sufficient aid to allow rebuilding and allow Palestinians to go back where they lived?  Using their past behavior as a model for future actions, as well as past discourse since Oct 7th 2023 to make it simpler?

#13

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

Last post by viper37 - Today at 03:15:39 PM

To quote my Mom (RIP): "How are you tired and exhausted when you sit in a chair all day? "

dad was like that.

He never shown much respect for his brothers and sisters, or anybody who had white collar jobs, except for those that also shared the same interests as him and a side job or a serious hobby as manual worker.

#14

Off the Record / Re: The China Thread

Last post by viper37 - Today at 03:07:45 PM

https://www.newyorker.com/news/american-chronicles/the-chinese-adoptees-who-were-stolen?utm_medium=social&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=bluesky&mbid=social_bluesky&utm_brand=tny


A pretty interesting long read on Chinese adoption.
Not something I have ever really known much about. Apparently it was often a scam with the kids being kidnapped and sold, with the story of baby girls being abandoned on the street being a lie.

It's more common than we think.

Guatemela had such a scam running too.  A then 30 year old Guatemalan from Quebec discovered in 2023 that she had been stolen as a baby while trying to find her birth mother.  Apparently, there were hundreds like here during the civil war (1980-1990).  Her adoptive parents had no idea, they met a local notary who presented them with all the legal papers signed by Guatemala authorities.  They paid what they thought were legal fees for the adoption.

#15

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

Last post by HVC - Today at 03:05:11 PM

Let's see if that stops anything.

#16

Off the Record / Re: NHL Hockey thread

Last post by viper37 - Today at 02:49:21 PM

In Canada, this whole thing has very much a "for you it was the greatest day in your life, for me it was Tuesday" kind of vibe. Canada is like "you win some you lose some. We should have won, but oh well - back to the NHL playoffs."

Hockey World Championship are never closely followed because of the timing during the NHL playoffs.  Nearly everyone is glued to the playoffs until their team is out.

It's very good hockey, but it's not the Olympics, meaning that not all of the best players for all teams are there, only those that choose to join (after an invite) when their team does not make the playoffs or is eliminated early.

It's not like that winter tournament either, US vs Canada where US played dirty and Canadian players were innocent angels as usual.

It's good, clean hockey, often no serious rivalry, with some good players, some average players, but overall, not a lot of chemistry between them because they don't have much time to practice together as a team.  It's like a bunch of conscripts rushed to the front to plug holes.

Which kinda gives an advantage to teams who have less NHL players.  Less overall talent, but better team playing skills.

#17

Off the Record / Re: Grand unified books thread

Last post by crazy canuck - Today at 02:47:37 PM

I read "Freedom's Forge" by Arthur Herman, a popular history account of the United States conversion to a wartime economy during the Second World War.  It focuses on Bill Knudsen (Chevrolet's Whiz Kid, turned Director of Production for the Army) and ship building magnate Henry Kaiser.  (Kaiser had started his career in construction in British Columbia, but returned to the United States in 1914 when "Kaiser" wasn't such a great last name to have.)

A lot of the book focuses on Detroit, and especially the travails of the Ford's bomber plant at Willow Run.  My grandfather had been a draftsman at Ford when the war broke out and worked on various wartime projects.  He was told to report to Willow Run.  At the time Willow Run was a small town far outside the city with no paved roads (today it's a suburb with the highway directly passing through).  He asked for a raise, his manager went to the director and he said the entire floor of the shop could hear the director thundering "Who does that S.O.B. think he is to get a raise out of the Ford Motor Company."  So he got another job with a supplier; only he didn't tell the draft board.  About three jobs later the draft board caught up with him and made him report for his physical, but (as he already knew) he was 4F since he had had tuberculosis.  When he got there the man ahead of him had only one arm.  The doctor said, "Haven't I see you before?"  The man said, "Yes, this is the fourth time they've sent me here."  The doctor said "Do those S.O.B.s think you're going to grow a new arm?"

The book also covers the 1943 race riots in Detroit.  That was another thing my grandfather told me about.  The riot happened on Detroit's east side, and he lived and worked on the west.  The company he worked for had a black janitor who didn't show up to work for a week.  Everyone had assumed the worst, but when he did return he said "I thought if I had shown up you would have killed me."

Anyhow, it's a fun book and informative of the industrial history of those years.  I was surprised at how many manufacturers in Europe relied on hand assembly rather than machine tools and an assembly line.  It's relevant today with all the talk about bringing manufacturing back to the United States.  In 1938 the United States' industrial base was still devastated from the depression (steel production was about half what it had been in 1929); but the military contracts revitalized manufacturing.  So all we need to do is start Lend-Lease to Ukraine (or, given this administration, Russia), and we're on a way.

Kaiser's grandson ran one of British Colombia's largest resource extraction companies-mainly coal.  Kaiser Industries.  He also became the owner of the Denver Broncos.

#18

Off the Record / Re: The Off Topic Topic

Last post by Jacob - Today at 02:46:17 PM

Didn't you tell us once that you were thinking of retiring early so you could live in one of those comfy retirement homes and that, though you were 25 years from retirement, your beard was greying rapidly so you should be able to pass as a senior?

I don't think so, no.

Is HMB thinking of retiring early so he can live in one of those comfy retirement homes? He's 25 years from retirement, but his beard is greying rapidly so he should be able to pass as a senior.

#19

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

Last post by Savonarola - Today at 02:46:02 PM

And already:

Judge blocks Trump admin's move to bar Harvard from enrolling international students

#20

Off the Record / Re: The Off Topic Topic

Last post by grumbler - Today at 02:43:50 PM

I've not seen it yet but there's a well reviewed film featuring a 50 year old in a retirement home.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help_(2021_TV_film)

Early onset dementia is a thing.

Did I ever mention that I'm thinking of retiring early so I can live in one of those comfy retirement homes? I'm 25 years from retirement, but my beard is greying rapidly so I should be able to pass as a senior.

Didn't you tell us once that you were thinking of retiring early so you could live in one of those comfy retirement homes and that, though you were 25 years from retirement, your beard was greying rapidly so you should be able to pass as a senior?