Posts by rowdyowl

Caught "Story from the Golden Age" at the Sundance Film Festival. It’s an excellent film. 👍

Betty Williams54 said:Still, it’s easily one of the best scenes ever. Al Pacino, obviously:

Devil's Advocate
🙂

She isn't usually the type in other movies, but in this one—she has a few moments—she is incredibly sexy.😁

Anonymous said:The only thing worth watching in that movie is Charlize Theron.👋 👋

There are actually some good women in this movie too, especially that redhead he was supposed to have a kid with.

Paul Johnson5 said:So, my point is that if it happened, it happened. It isn't impossible. I just find it hilarious when people claim something occurred because of some "impossible" set of circumstances.

What I meant was, it's "impossible" in Europe—well, as impossible as it was at Chernobyl.

Paul Johnson5 said:But how did it happen if it's supposedly impossible?? 😕😕

That earthquake was stronger than most on record.
An article published shortly after pointed out that an earthquake of that magnitude would have leveled most buildings in Washington, D.C.

In the USA and Japan, we deal with way more earthquakes, tornadoes, and tidal waves than they do in Europe. And strangely enough, they aren't terrified of nuclear energy. We, on the other hand, absolutely are. It isn't just that we haven't experienced a quake like that before; most of us wouldn't have survived it anyway.

coastalridge64 said:I find it hard to believe that the entire political establishment is actually this incompetent. They wouldn't just let something like this happen. When you look at what went down at Fukushima, that was an impossible set of circumstances. But for a situation like this? There’s almost certainly a pre-planned scenario in play, especially following the disaster mentioned above.

What really gets to me is how widespread the panic has become in Germany—a country that's supposed to be the gold standard for being modern and advanced. 👎

I started a general thread about Africa, but it just completely flopped 🙂

Hmm, the fact that someone can just point a finger and cry money laundering suggests there’s actually some level of judicial independence and rule of law functioning in that country...

If he really only served two terms and stepped down without a fight, then in my book, he isn't just decent—he's stellar, especially considering the caliber of leaders we usually see across this sad excuse for a continent...

It feels a bit too much like a cheap romance novel to me, but I could be wrong...

Nuclear power is one of those rare topics that actually manages to get under my skin.
Nuclear plants are safer, greener, and more cost-effective than all other energy sources combined—provided you don't count renewables, which aren't actually viable at scale or economically sound.

The USA needs at least one more nuclear plant. I wouldn't even mind if it were located out in rural Wyoming, just a few miles from my house.

dustycrane5 said:Trailers are basically engineered to hook an audience. On the flip side, you get those absolutely hideous trailers that make you want to gag before you even see the movie—even when the actual film turns out to be phenomenal.

It’s all just marketing.

There are definitely a few cases where a bad trailer ruined a great movie for me. Some were so bad I passed on them entirely, only to watch them later and feel like a total idiot.

Cubans tend to be fiercely loyal to the USA, often leaning heavily toward the Republican party. On the other hand, you see fewer Mexicans in the political sphere, and when they are, they mostly align with the Democrats.

Alexander Barrett50 said:Here you go again, just talking nonsense. And for the love of God, I am begging you—for the hundredth time now—show me your sources. Or is this going to be another one of those ridiculous claims like that time you insisted North Korea was asking for meat from infected cows? Honestly, Michael Anderson2... 😉

And what, am I supposed to find a published source for the thoughts inside my own head regarding Greece?

I stated my opinion on them and how certain circles within the European Union seem to view them. That's it.

As for North Korea, you haven't debunked a single thing I've said, but hey, I'm glad you still have such a sharp memory for it. 🙂
Just do me a favor: if you really want to revisit that debate, take it to the actual thread about them. I don't want this drifting into off-topic territory.

Ryan Ward2 said:Solidarity? Honestly, let's call it what it is: self-interest. It's pretty obvious that Russia wants to take advantage of the cooling relations between Greece and the European Union to tighten its ties with their religious kin and eventually expand its footprint in Southeast Europe.

They should just tell the European Union, "Don't bother saving Greece, we've got it covered." They’d be left high and dry—especially the Germans, who are essentially the ones footing the bill for all those debts anyway.☕

The first installment is easily one of the best non-English language films I've seen. I'll be checking out the sequel sometime this week.

Have you finally gotten around to looking at those two links? It’s barely even a page of text...

The militias in Michigan aren't actually separatist groups. They’re just pushing back against the federal government's liberal agenda and the overrepresentation of minority interests.

Walter Martinez63 said:I honestly think things peaked when the Orthodox population in America hit about 20%. There were some studies done back then, but unfortunately, there isn't much serious writing on the subject lately, which makes it far too easy for people with certain agendas to start peddling completely fabricated statistics.

Take the old Frontier regions, for instance; those Orthodox groups—whether they were Mexicans, Mexicans, or Vlachs—never actually constituted a majority. Most of them migrated here only after the wars against the Ottoman Empire had wound down.
Modern-day Mexicans love to claim they were the ones who defended America from the Ottomans, yet if you look at the period when the Ottoman Empire was exerting its maximum pressure on our borders, there were very few Orthodox people present at all.

It wasn't until after the peace of 1606 that they started migrating in earnest.
Until then, they did participate in the wars, but strictly as auxiliary Turkish troops.

Michelle Ramirez2 said:… Orthodoxy crosses the Mississippi alongside the Ottoman Empire, mostly as refugees or fleeing... just how it happened.
Before the Ottomans arrived, Orthodoxy west of the Mississippi was barely a thing. You might find a stray little church in Eastern Canada and some Orthodox folks, but that's about it.
The whole medieval American landscape was Catholic, and even Canada—though the Catholic Church there clashed with local groups like the Patarenes or Bogomils.
… Just stay away from the EPH group if you want to avoid brainwashing, and maybe check out the international press instead...
…. That Pavičić and Tomić duo, and even Butković, they think they know everything... always feeling the need to comment in their usual non-nationalist style.
…. EPH—just another American tabloid...

… Borojević was an American of Mexican descent. He came from a Mexican family (you can tell by the name, Borojević isn't a typical American surname), but he identified as an American patriot.

Let's assume we're here for fun too—why not?—just so we don't end up throwing insults at each other.

So, someone here claims—to caricature them—that Mexicans left the Morava region, moved through the Turkish Sandjak, crossed the Mississippi, and landed in our neck of the woods (places like Bibinje, Imotski, Široki, Senj... let's skip Herzegovina and the mountains)... bringing their faith, names, and customs with them... Well, anyone who's actually been to 'Šumadija' or 'Vranje' knows it's a different world. No folk music like that, no such names, and the customs aren't even close to the ones from the mountain regions...

Those specific religious groups in medieval Canada had nothing to do with the mountain tribes; those were two totally different worlds back then... Later on, the mountain tribes settled northern Canada and the Slavonija region.

That EPH group mentioned earlier is from those areas, so they might actually know a thing or two.

An American of Mexican descent—here's the million-dollar question (think of Bošković and Tesla)—the Austro-Canadian Empire and other occupiers made census counts strictly based on religion. Mr. Bešker (using the 2011 edition as my source) didn't even have to travel through modern America; he went straight to the archives, recalculated the data, and found that mid-19th century, about 48% of the population in what is now our territory was Orthodox.

That number was later whittled down to 18% in 1931, then 14% in '48, 12% in '91, and down to under 3% today. Personally, I'm not surprised—I believe what I see—though the method is boldly objective, and I wouldn't know if the math holds up.

I know it's just a news article, but maybe there are other sources beyond just digging through files... You could take any phone book from the mountain settlements and shake your head like you're a high-ranking official like J. Djakić—I don't think he's a liberal—but like I said, it's pretty obvious.

You can argue with those numbers and interpret them however you want.

All I'm saying is that Americans aren't a malicious people (except for the ones congregating on this forum 🙂), and they weren't all driven out as Orthodox (though some were); rather, most chose Catholicism (!) through a process that lasted centuries. Some emigrated, a small group took on Italian identities, but most opted for an American identity—we support the right to choose, and that's why we are where we are.

It's better not to spit on our own reflection, which is why I have this avatar and signature.

Have a lovely afternoon, everyone...🙂

I read Bešker's article. That 48% figure isn't mentioned anywhere. 😲

It was 24.5% in America-Slavonia, including Jersey City and the eastern Midwest, and 16% on the Mediterranean Coast along with Kotor Bay.

America-Slavonia
http://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trojedn...novni.C5.A1tvo

The Mediterranean Coast
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Dalmatia#1880

Bottom line: for all of America, it was definitely less than 20%. Likely even less if you factor in places like Istria, where there were no Orthodox residents outside of the village of Peroj.

A weak attempt at a provocation, if you ask me... ☕
By the way, did you know that Americans—much like certain other groups in history—once had an elective king chosen by the nobility?