And look at them both, dwarfed by the 6 foot 9 inch first Lady! She should play basketball!

So, in the state where it’s completely OK to sacrifice an innocent child, because the vaccine has “bad stuff” in it - most likely the people saying that could not list ingredients, of course, while other pregnant women who’ve lost their pregnancies are regularly suspected of sabotaging, or otherwise finding ways to abort their pregnancies. The same state that’s also trying to extradite a doctor from NY over sending abortion medication to a TX resident.

So, the lesson here is to not abort an unwanted pregnancy, but instead, let the child be born, then decide you have an issue with vaccinations, before tossing your child into parks, play dates, and the brick & mortar petri-dish all parents know schools to be? I’m just trying to figure out the rules here…so a fetus is a person, but a child is not? Or maybe women don’t get to make choices with their bodies, but parents get to make choices for their children’s bodies? Of course parents make choices on their children’s behalf every day, but these choices?

Oh, and lets not forget, that meanwhile, Catholic Health Initiatives-Iowa, a faith-based health care provider, is arguing in a medical malpractice case that the loss of an unborn child does not equate to the death of a “person” for the purpose of calculating damage awards. Gee, what an awfully convenient twist in the rules, when money enters the scene - depending upon how this all plays out.

But…but…aren’t we exceptional? 🙄

I’m not doing anything for them. As far as I’m concerned, Luigi is a hero. You can tell he’s threatened those in power. There are convicted serial killers who’ve gotten less of an escort than Luigi.

If really like to know more about him, and what pushed him to do what he did.

In the US, when referring to veterans, some people seem to carry this big distinction between regular vets and “combat” vets. Sure, there are the stolen valor people, who would tell others they did things they didn’t, but for the most part, people who served, just got through it, and did what they had to do… The old, “heroes aren’t born, they’re made” thing - where we react to situations we’re thrust into. Not being thrust into harrowing situations doesn’t make one “less of” a man or woman.

Personally, I see more of the Luigi stuff coming, considering how things are going in the US. But, if like to know more about how this allegedly all came together in his case… he’s just some 20-something college kid - outside of his current predicament, that is.

I’m in the US and have a 1970 Fiat 500. That little car can handle quite a few of my needs. I sometimes use it for work, when I only have estimates. Normally I drive a full size Ford E150 van.

I appreciate the Fiat because it’s so different from everything on the roads here, just fun to drive, (I’m 54, so at an age where things like lumbar support and other creature comforts are nice) and it’s just uncomfortable enough to make me really appreciate our more modern and larger vehicles (the For van, a Mercury Cougar convertible, a Dodge 2500 4x4, and a Volvo XC70).

The only real bad side is that between it’s age and the fact that they were never freaky imported into the US, parts aren’t readily available. The last time I used it for work, it broke down.

Wow! How long until “the man” starts collecting passports, and requiring working immigrants to work off the debt of being allowed to work the fields, before allowing them access to their passports to be allowed to leave - likely with an ICE escort?

You know, that’s exactly what I’ve said, every single time I’ve eaten beef, anywhere in Europe…“What weak beef! I bet that cow couldn’t have done more than 20 push-ups. I can actually taste that a 2-hour run would have taken that cow the better part of an hour.”

🙄

We were told at the time, that the Brits has a surface group in the area, and didn’t want a sub submerged in the same area. Neither we, nor our radar saw anything. But in 21 years spent in the navy, I’ve never seen seas like in that 1st deployment. Modern subs, with round hulls, are optimized for submerged steaming, only cruising on the surface when arriving/departing ports or when operationally necessary (i.e. shallow waters or transferring personnel).

I’ve probably been out in seas just as bad as that 1st deployment - when the boat is rocking at 600-800 feet submerged depth, it has to be really, really bad on the surface, but being submerged, I really didn’t get to see it on those occasions.

There were about 6 of us…you know, 5 making fun of me. We were offroading on trails in a wooded/forested area versus open mud/sand fields. As I was choosing directions on which trails to take, I used signals as was habit.

My first deployment in a fast-attack submarine, in the fall of 1991. We were working under British operational control, and they ordered us to cruise surfaced, in the North Sea. I was standing watch as a lookout, with another lookout and the Officer of the Deck (OOD), in the sail superstructure of the boat. We were wearing body harnesses and lanyards, clipped into the superstructure - normal procedure.

I was a sailor aboard USS SUNFISH (SSN549), a Sturgeon Class boat, where the sail superstructure was 25 feet tall. We were in 48 foot seas.

The 3 of us on watch that night were washed overboard more than 10 times each. Often all 3 of us at the same time… flung overboard, hanging by our lanyards, trying to roll around and grab onto the ladder rungs, or one another, to get back into the bridge pooka. None of us broke any bones or lost any teeth, but we were pretty battered and bruised by the end of it.

That was the first time I got to see the entire boat out of the water… at the top of the wave, I could see the stem planes, stabilizers, the end of the towed-array housing, and the propeller. At the bottom of each trough, we’d see just a tiny hole of sky, through the water, as it all crashed down upon us, and we all hold on, trying to stay inside the superstructure.

We pulled into the Navy Base at Rosyth Scotland the next afternoon. The windshield, booked in for surface operations, was completely missing, as well a the port running light. We sustained damage to our observation periscope and main communications antenna as well.

The experience was both scary and exhilarating.

Predictability is so much more important than being nice. Just follow the rules.

I’ve been made fun of, signaling while offroading.

I’ve heard that he’s 50/50 if the words are written with crayon.

The way of the future…VCRs went away. DVDRs went away, replaced with DVRs and membership streaming, where you can “buy” a movie on Amazon Prime, but if they lose the rights to the movie, so do you - oh well. Your Tesla will brick, if Elon gets mad at you, and your video games will stop working if “the man” unplugs the server. Oh, and dont get caught pulling out your old dusty VCR to record the Super Bowl to watch later…thats a copyright violation. The oligarchs want to make sure the plebes eventually own nothing. If the masters can take it all away, the peasants will do what they’re told, be quiet about it, and smile when in sight of the masters.

“We have many values, but the most valuable value to us is profit, far and away. As a business pursuing profit above all else, supporting this administration, and always being ready and willing to bootlick, anywhere, anytime, at a moments notice, was thought to be our best shot at the highest profitability possible for our members. Unfortunately, like most of the supporters of trump, his administration, and his best-picked people, we’re left embarrassed, and holding a (figurative) bag of shit, with nothing to show for it except for smelly hands. Sorry. Can we get a do-over?”

What! I’ve been waiting for my “trickle-down” check to come in the mail since 1990. I’m starting to think it’s never going to come. If it takes too much longer, I may have to reevaluate my faith in trickle-down economics. 🙄

Volleyball tournaments in Philadelphia, PA. My daughter plays for the 757 traveling team out of Virginia Beach, VA. So, crowds, uncomfortable chairs/seating, noise, cheering, eating out, hotel rooms, then the Sunday escape from Philly.

LOL! Other than in here and in person, I keep my political views to myself. I can’t believe the number of business people with political stickers on their trucks.

I have a Panasonic Toughbook CF-30 with Ubuntu on it. IIRC, it’s 18, and the specs don’t support upgrading it anymore with Ubuntu. I was thinking of going to Mint, but I haven’t really kept up with the various available Linux flavors, for the last few years. 2 of the 3 USBports have stopped working, but that’s a $30 part replacement. The wifi see,s really slow as well, but I’m not sure whether that’s a hardware or software issue.