Posts by silverhound

boldbadger1 said:Actually, I know an even better group—those folks from the small towns out West, sobbing over a few hours where maybe two hundred shells hit an Army base like it was some kind of nuclear strike.

Good grief, more ordnance probably dropped on a random suburb in Ohio than hit that whole town during the entire conflict...

And honestly? The most ridiculous thing I ever heard was this old lady claiming she was "shocked and appalled" because some local militia was tossing flowers their way through the neighborhood—as if they were some sort of savages or something.😬

I can't really get into the specifics of what's happening in that clip without more context, but honestly, watching stuff like this just makes me feel like we're all circling the drain... you see these things trending and you think, "Is this really where we landed?" It feels like everything is just noise lately, just constant, mindless static while the actual world keeps spinning on its axis, indifferent to us... anyway, I guess there's a point being made somewhere in those frames, if you look hard enough... but I'm probably just being cynical again...

It won't happen overnight, but they’re definitely laying the groundwork... just indoctrinating the kids now so they're all set for whatever comes down the line later on...

Take a look at the comments under this news about Madeleine Albright's passing

I don't think you'll find even 50% Americans in this thread...

You see what Delvecchio did, putting that where actual journalists belong? It’s even easier for them with forums and news site comment sections, since anyone can just hide behind an anonymous profile...
Back in the day, they used to call it guerrilla marketing, but then they realized you could weaponize it for political agendas too.

That guy from Cleveland is cut from the exact same cloth.

They let some of their own people go out and haunt American news sites and forums. I mean, you already know Mexico has entire bot farms, but their intelligence agencies are also notorious for manufacturing public opinion across the region.

People who act all worried about everything? Most of them are just getting a paycheck from someone else to say it. Honestly, this whole forum is crawling with those types, especially in the military history and tech sections whenever anyone starts talking about procurement for the US Army, US Air Force, or US Navy.
"The US can't handle this or that, planes are too pricey, we don't need submarines, forget the ships"... suggesting a worse-case scenario always seems to be the preferred script here...

So, I heard yesterday that the US is looking at covering over 50% of our gas needs through that new LNG terminal. We already knew we were pulling about 30% from our own domestic production, which basically leaves us with a 20% gap to fill...

As far as electricity goes, we’re actually leading the way among Western nations when it comes to renewables. It’s mostly coming from hydropower right now. But over this past year, and with a few more coming down the pipeline, we’ve got several massive wind farms and solar plants getting online. They're even starting construction on another artificial reservoir soon...

ruggedhawk20 said:Max Verstappen was flawless today.

Not even close. First, Red Bull Racing called him in way too early—maybe two or three laps too soon—and then he just went out and absolutely shredded those much fresher tires with some seriously aggressive driving... leaving him with nothing against Lewis Hamilton.

So why don't you just go ahead and shred those tires all over again 😁
...

Album of the week from 1967? Look, I love The Doors, and I really respect the hustle here, but man... that one...

loneviper4 said:None of those "dictatorships" you mentioned are actually theocracies, and unless you’re looking at Greece, no state on that list claims to be an Orthodox state by constitution. So, seriously, this whole thing has zero to do with Orthodoxy.

I could just as easily pull a list of former communist countries, toss Viktor Orbán onto the pile, and ask why those old Eastern Bloc nations seem to act like a magnet for dictators? Honestly, I’m pretty sure Orbán fits right in with that crowd.

Then you've got Erdoğan over there. Why is it that countries east of the Alps always seem to attract these types of leaders? 🤔

But if you actually look at how things work, the church is just another tool for power in Russia and Mexico. Even in Mexico, they're dealing with all that drama involving the SPC trying to set up the CPC, so saying there's no link is a bit of a stretch.

I still lean toward thinking the real reason behind the original question is just that Orthodoxy is part of the East, which is... well, let's just say it's historically seen as less developed compared to the West...

That’s just how embassies work. They sit there, keeping tabs on everything happening in the host country and tracking how the local government treats them. Eventually, all those reports they file end up shaping the official policy toward that nation...
Trust me, they’ve probably written thousands of pages on Erdogan and his headspace by now. They know exactly what makes him tick; they’re just being careful about how and when they play their hand.

Erdogan is basically teetering on the edge of losing the next election. That’s exactly why he’s cranking up the nationalist rhetoric lately. If the European Union decides to tighten the screws on the gas supply, he'll be heading for the exit even if he somehow manages to pull off a miracle win next time around...

Apples and pears

Henry Garcia13 said:It sounds like you're writing this from another planet. Turkey acts as a dam holding back millions of refugees who, if they head toward Europe, could very realistically trigger the collapse of the EU. Erdogan plays both Europe, America, and Russia against each other because he knows exactly how to swim between their competing interests, all while China looms in the background as another force everyone fears...

Erdogan doesn't just talk; he takes concrete steps that clash with many EU member states and the Union as a whole. Yet, there is no response.

All of this points to the political weakness of the European Union first and foremost, which then highlights Turkish strength—strength that is largely inflated because they are simply exploiting the current circumstances perfectly.

Because apparently, a broken Europe is somehow better equipped to handle an immigration wave?

You're gonna want to skip this movie...

wearybear82 said:A 150 MB HEVC file is plenty fine for my phone, but if I want to watch a series on the TV, I’ve gotta download a full 2 GB file. With my current internet speeds, grabbing a 45-minute episode takes forever... plus, sometimes I just stick to my phone; it’s got a massive 6000 mAh battery, so it can easily power through an entire movie or a whole series without dying on me.

I was recently looking at Tomahawk 2GB h.265 HEVC on my phone and, honestly, it was a disaster. The audio compression was pathetic, and you could barely see anything during the dark scenes... total mess.
I wouldn't even dream of trying to watch something that small, like 150 MB.

That said, watching a movie on a phone with a 4K OLED HDR screen? That can actually be pretty incredible...

Henry Garcia13 said:Byzantium is an exonym. Exonyms are common enough—they pop up whenever it's convenient to give something a different name than its actual title for practical reasons...

Byzantium was indeed the Roman Empire; it was the continuation of Roman statehood. But from a European perspective, it wasn't just Byzantium—you had the Frankish Kingdom, the Holy Roman Empire, even Napoleon... No European empire can truly claim legitimacy unless it invokes the continuity of the Roman Empire. It's the same way the Russ built their own empire by co-opting Roman symbols... Americans went even further, aiming to rebuild a universal empire based on Roman foundations...

In a strictly historical and legal sense, the Roman Empire never actually fell; it was simply seized, shifting its shapes and territories over time...

If you ask me, calling it the Eastern Roman Empire is just as valid as calling it Byzantium. Byzantium works as a more precise term if you want to specify the era after the collapse of the classical Latin empire...

Sure, you could argue the Holy Roman Empire or Napoleon's France were successors in some way, but Byzantium? That's Rome, plain and simple.

Right before that court ruling drops and Erdogan makes his move

The European Union really needs to step up and protect Greece and Cyprus from Turkish aggression
https://www.eppgroup.eu/newsroom/new...rus-and-greece