The Refuge of the Toads

Old subthreads
VickyCaramel
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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65821

Post by VickyCaramel »

Kirbmarc wrote:
Phil_Giordana_FCD wrote:The French don't really win or lose anymore battles/wars than other countries.

Save for the Italians, bunch of pussies!

*checks family name*



Please forget I was ever posting here...
To be fair, the Italians did win World War I and smash the Austrian Empire. It's in World War II that they really, really sucked. And it was largely because of shitty organization, shitty logistics and shitty material. Under a German general like Rommel Italian soldiers (the Afrika Corps was largely made up of Italians) kicked British and American ass repeatedly.

So it's not like the Italians are pussies, they're just hopelessly disorganized. Nobody can make Italian trains run on time.
It's largely because the fascists did to the Italian officer corps, what the SJWs have done to our universities. =P

Matt Cavanaugh
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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65822

Post by Matt Cavanaugh »

feathers wrote:
Matt Cavanaugh wrote:(Hi again all. The reports of my death were greatly exaggerated.)
Patheos addiction is such an ugly thing, you're better off smoking.
Is there a way to vape Patheos?

Matt Cavanaugh
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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65823

Post by Matt Cavanaugh »

John D wrote:A funny thing just happened in Michigan. Well... maybe not funny so much as typical.
87 voting machines in Detroit broke.

Nearly 88,000 ballots in Michigan were recorded with no vote for president. In presidential years, you often get ballots with just votes cast for president but no down-ballot races, but rarely the opposite.

Old_ones
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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65824

Post by Old_ones »

VickyCaramel wrote:
katamari Damassi wrote: My impression of him is unchanged. He's a demagogue with no interest in actual governing(that's what his vice president is for)and no actual ideas. He only wants to have rallies and be in front of the cameras. He won't attend intelligence briefings. He's appointed Goldman Sachs financiers and lobbyists to run our economy(which is likely what Hillary would've done), and a plutocrat with financial stakes in Russia, to be Secretary of State. He's going to be a disaster, and you people who think he's going to "drain the swamp" are delusional.
But he isn't Hillary.

Checkmate.
Checkmate if you are a retard.

Matt Cavanaugh
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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65825

Post by Matt Cavanaugh »

katamari Damassi wrote: The W situation was even worse. W didn't win the recount because it was never completed. The US Supreme Court ruled along party lines to stay the count, they then kept delaying ruling on it further, until they finally ruled that there was no more time left to do a recount, so the election had to go to W.
The recount was eventually completed under the auspices of the Miami Herald and U Miami. Gore came out ahead.

VickyCaramel
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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65826

Post by VickyCaramel »

Old_ones wrote:
VickyCaramel wrote:
katamari Damassi wrote: My impression of him is unchanged. He's a demagogue with no interest in actual governing(that's what his vice president is for)and no actual ideas. He only wants to have rallies and be in front of the cameras. He won't attend intelligence briefings. He's appointed Goldman Sachs financiers and lobbyists to run our economy(which is likely what Hillary would've done), and a plutocrat with financial stakes in Russia, to be Secretary of State. He's going to be a disaster, and you people who think he's going to "drain the swamp" are delusional.
But he isn't Hillary.

Checkmate.
Checkmate if you are a retard.
Hillary supporters are retards.

feathers
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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65827

Post by feathers »

Kirbmarc wrote:To be fair, the Italians did win World War I and smash the Austrian Empire. It's in World War II that they really, really sucked. And it was largely because of shitty organization, shitty logistics and shitty material. Under a German general like Rommel Italian soldiers (the Afrika Corps was largely made up of Italians) kicked British and American ass repeatedly.
I think they also lacked the zeal with which the Germans entered the war. They had a score to settle. I'm not sure why the Italians even bothered.

jet_lagg
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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65828

Post by jet_lagg »

Matt Cavanaugh wrote:
John D wrote:A funny thing just happened in Michigan. Well... maybe not funny so much as typical.
87 voting machines in Detroit broke.

Nearly 88,000 ballots in Michigan were recorded with no vote for president. In presidential years, you often get ballots with just votes cast for president but no down-ballot races, but rarely the opposite.
That number shocked me, especially if the bulk came from Detroit, where Clinton votes are all but assured and another 10,000 in her favor could turn the tables (I know she needs more than Michigan's 16 electoral votes for it to make any kind of difference but still). Apparently not voting for the president is more common than I'd realized though.
To put into perspective how improbable this is: four years ago, when there was in fact a Senate race on the Michigan ballot, giving people at least somewhat more of a reason to show up and vote in a downticket race even if they were determined to not vote for president at all, just 49,840 people voted in the state while leaving the presidential box empty.
A big discrepancy from 87,000, but higher than I'd have guessed just the same.

comhcinc
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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65829

Post by comhcinc »

Hey Pro Boxing Fan I got a response.

http://i.imgur.com/dmg0NHe.jpg

Steersman
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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65830

Post by Steersman »

Kirbmarc wrote:
Steersman wrote:
ROBOKiTTY wrote:Y'all are weird and lovely. Wish you'd stop hating me though. :cry:
Hey! Count your blessings! At least you're not close to the top of the Ignore List! ;-) Or accused of being cranky ("get off my lawn!") - or too salty! ;-)
Oh come don't feel cranky about being called cranky. You're my favorite nutty AI, just after HAL9000 and Skynet.
Aww, thanks! And Merry Christmas! - The Singularity is Near! ;-)

John D
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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65831

Post by John D »

jet_lagg wrote:
Matt Cavanaugh wrote:
John D wrote:A funny thing just happened in Michigan. Well... maybe not funny so much as typical.
87 voting machines in Detroit broke.

Nearly 88,000 ballots in Michigan were recorded with no vote for president. In presidential years, you often get ballots with just votes cast for president but no down-ballot races, but rarely the opposite.
That number shocked me, especially if the bulk came from Detroit, where Clinton votes are all but assured and another 10,000 in her favor could turn the tables (I know she needs more than Michigan's 16 electoral votes for it to make any kind of difference but still). Apparently not voting for the president is more common than I'd realized though.
To put into perspective how improbable this is: four years ago, when there was in fact a Senate race on the Michigan ballot, giving people at least somewhat more of a reason to show up and vote in a downticket race even if they were determined to not vote for president at all, just 49,840 people voted in the state while leaving the presidential box empty.
A big discrepancy from 87,000, but higher than I'd have guessed just the same.
This doesn't really prove anything. Both candidates were very unpopular. I can imagine that there would be more blank ballots for president this time.

Brive1987
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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65832

Post by Brive1987 »

"I want to someday be able to tell my grandchildren that I resisted, I fought, I spoke out. I hope you feel the same way."

Full FtB retard. Nice. Hope to see more like this. He should escalate to wearing a button.

Steersman
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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65833

Post by Steersman »

MarcusAu wrote:Do what you gotta do Steers - say what you gotta say.

I guess it shows the 'Pit is not just playing lip service to tolerating different beliefs.

<insert the normal proviso that nobody speaks for the Pit, and that I do not necessarily endorse the beliefs of others who post here>
Thanks. :-) But quite agree with you about "not just paying lip service" - part of the reason why I voted for both The FT (PBUH) and The SlymePit for MVP; definitely a credible "claim to fame", if not fortune.

Although I'm not sure what you're referring to with your "say what you gotta say", whether it was general or whether you had something specific in mind. Maybe it was my discourse on intercourse? (So to speak.) Or fascism? Or, perchance, my ongoing criticism of an over-reliance on descriptive linguistics? ;-)

Shatterface
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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65834

Post by Shatterface »

Guy runs amok ranting about killing Muslims and gets all stabby on a train.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/38290932?client=safari

Twist: Stabby McStabface is black and, having found a Muslim woman in a hijab, refuses to stab her because he wants to stab a dude.

So, Stabby is a nutter, but already the press is painting him as far-right.

Shatterface
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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65835

Post by Shatterface »

Brive1987 wrote:"I want to someday be able to tell my grandchildren that I resisted, I fought, I spoke out. I hope you feel the same way."

Full FtB retard. Nice. Hope to see more like this. He should escalate to wearing a button.
Grandchildren are heteronormative. I can't believe FTB are still pushing this transphobic shit while Trump is literally turning transwomen into lampshades.

Phil_Giordana_FCD
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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65836

Post by Phil_Giordana_FCD »

Brive1987 wrote:"I want to someday be able to tell my grandchildren that I resisted, I fought, I spoke out. I hope you feel the same way."

Full FtB retard. Nice. Hope to see more like this. He should escalate to wearing a button.
You're being quite a bit demanding here.

Phil_Giordana_FCD
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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65837

Post by Phil_Giordana_FCD »

Shatterface wrote:Guy runs amok ranting about killing Muslims and gets all stabby on a train.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/38290932?client=safari

Twist: Stabby McStabface is black and, having found a Muslim woman in a hijab, refuses to stab her because he wants to stab a dude.

So, Stabby is a nutter, but already the press is painting him as far-right.
Not PZ Myers.

Tigzy
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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65838

Post by Tigzy »

Shatterface wrote:Guy runs amok ranting about killing Muslims and gets all stabby on a train.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/38290932?client=safari

Twist: Stabby McStabface is black and, having found a Muslim woman in a hijab, refuses to stab her because he wants to stab a dude.

So, Stabby is a nutter, but already the press is painting him as far-right.
According to twitter, the real tragedy is why the attacker isn't being labelled as a terrorist. Fucking imbeciles.

Steersman
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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65839

Post by Steersman »

Barbie's Boyfriend wrote:
Steersman wrote:
Barbie's Boyfriend wrote:Steersman, you mean fake it like your prostitute friends do when they are with you ?
Or maybe like "Barbie" does?
Unlike your prostitute friends, once I buy Barbie at the store, and bring her home, I don't hafta keep shelling out more $$$
I've generally found the human touch worth the extra coin. And many "providers" have had a more than engaging "bed-side manner", and in more ways than one.

CommanderTuvok
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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65840

Post by CommanderTuvok »

Freethought Resistance?

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
:popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn:
:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

:cdc:

CommanderTuvok
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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65841

Post by CommanderTuvok »

Tigzy wrote:
Shatterface wrote:Guy runs amok ranting about killing Muslims and gets all stabby on a train.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/38290932?client=safari

Twist: Stabby McStabface is black and, having found a Muslim woman in a hijab, refuses to stab her because he wants to stab a dude.

So, Stabby is a nutter, but already the press is painting him as far-right.
According to twitter, the real tragedy is why the attacker isn't being labelled as a terrorist. Fucking imbeciles.
Bang goes the false narrative that the police only label someone a terrorist when it is a non-white person involved. The problem is that most people are fucking clueless as to what the definition of "terrorism" is.

Shatterface
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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65842

Post by Shatterface »

Sky is illustrating their story with these helpful twats:
Major major po pos? Wtf? No witnesses more than two years old?

Ah, yes: a calm, reliable adult:
That will help community relations.

Steersman
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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65843

Post by Steersman »

Kirbmarc wrote:
Phil_Giordana_FCD wrote:So, who's worse? Steers or Barbie's?

I'd say Barbie's. They don't share enough pic similar to their avatar.
I at least appreciate Steers' ability to write long posts and provide links. Now if he bothered to read the stuff he links in their entirety, that'd be great.
:-) Surely you know of the analogy about sipping from the fire hose? No shortage of volume but some danger of blowing your teeth out from the pressure as a result of trying to take in too much.

If I tried to read everything of every link or article I ran across then I'd cover far less ground - the benefit of abstracts, summaries, and TL;DRs. If you think I've missed a salient item then do let me know, but it seems to me that I generally get the important and salient elements - at least sufficient for the level of discussion underway.

MarcusAu
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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65844

Post by MarcusAu »

Steersman wrote: Thanks. :-) But quite agree with you about "not just paying lip service" - part of the reason why I voted for both The FT (PBUH) and The SlymePit for MVP; definitely a credible "claim to fame", if not fortune.

Although I'm not sure what you're referring to with your "say what you gotta say", whether it was general or whether you had something specific in mind. Maybe it was my discourse on intercourse? (So to speak.) Or fascism? Or, perchance, my ongoing criticism of an over-reliance on descriptive linguistics? ;-)
Well I'm of the opinion that broadly (!) speaking I can accurately classify my mother as a woman.

Old_ones
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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65845

Post by Old_ones »

Kirbmarc wrote:
Sunder wrote:
Kirbmarc wrote:Like it or not he's going to be the legitimate president of US (well, unless the super-duper-clever plan to get the Electoral College not to award him enough votes succeeds, which I highly doubt) and likewise the legitimately elected members of the Congress and the Senate and the legitimately nominated members of his staff are going to be the legitimate government.
This is something I tried to stress to people as regards the electoral college. I'm absolutely for scrapping it, and the arguments in its favor are remarkably weak, but I absolutely don't believe the EC "cheated" Hillary. She, like every politician, knows the rules of the game and are playing accordingly, and the game is "get as many electoral votes as you can." A candidate winning the popular vote is incidental, they don't campaign for it. It is a consolation prize.

The EC revolting at choosing anyone other than Trump at this point would have far more grounds to be labeled illegitimate, and would be strongly contested in the courts (and likely overturned).
Absolutely. You may think that the rules for the game are dumb, but once you sit down, play it and lose you don't get to try and undermine it.

Also Dubya failed to win the popular vote in 2000, and his election was even more contested since he only won Florida after a very long recount process, but he was sworn in as president nonetheless. Did people riot and try to get the EC to choose someone other than Bush in 2000? I was eleven back then, but I don't remember anything as bad as what happened this year.
Democrats were pissed in 2000, particularly because they felt the Supreme Court made an unprincipled decision by stopping the Fl recount. A lot of them felt cheated, and there was frequent reference to Bush as an "unelected" or "Supreme Court appointed" president. No one talked about petitioning the electoral college to overrule the result, though, and this was probably because people were a lot less afraid of W than they are of Trump.

W ran as a moderate Republican during his first election. He called himself a "compassionate conservative", talked about a "humble" foreign policy and criticized Clinton's military intervention in the Balkans. He also appointed a lot of his dad's people to his administration. I remember hearing a lot of people say things like "well, I don't think Bush Jr. is all that bright, but he's surrounding himself with competent people who know how to run the government". I think the general feeling was that Bush Jr. would be a continuation of his Dad's presidency, and that he wasn't especially dangerous.

Steersman
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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65846

Post by Steersman »

MarcusAu wrote:
Steersman wrote: Thanks. :-) But quite agree with you about "not just paying lip service" - part of the reason why I voted for both The FT (PBUH) and The SlymePit for MVP; definitely a credible "claim to fame", if not fortune.

Although I'm not sure what you're referring to with your "say what you gotta say", whether it was general or whether you had something specific in mind. Maybe it was my discourse on intercourse? (So to speak.) Or fascism? Or, perchance, my ongoing criticism of an over-reliance on descriptive linguistics? ;-)
Well I'm of the opinion that broadly (!) speaking I can accurately classify my mother as a woman.
:-) Though you don't say how old she is - if she's gone into menopause or has had her ovaries removed then, technically speaking at least, she isn't a woman. And in that case, to be precise, all you could say is that she is nominally a woman ("in name only") or has the appearance of one ("possesses or gives evidence of having some of the stereotypical and superficial - non-defining - attributes of one"). Q.E.D. ;-)

But rather problematic, to say the least, that so many - even some who should know better - are unable to differentiate between surfaces and essences, so to speak. ;-)

jet_lagg
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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65847

Post by jet_lagg »

John D wrote:
jet_lagg wrote: That number shocked me, especially if the bulk came from Detroit, where Clinton votes are all but assured and another 10,000 in her favor could turn the tables (I know she needs more than Michigan's 16 electoral votes for it to make any kind of difference but still). Apparently not voting for the president is more common than I'd realized though.
To put into perspective how improbable this is: four years ago, when there was in fact a Senate race on the Michigan ballot, giving people at least somewhat more of a reason to show up and vote in a downticket race even if they were determined to not vote for president at all, just 49,840 people voted in the state while leaving the presidential box empty.
A big discrepancy from 87,000, but higher than I'd have guessed just the same.
This doesn't really prove anything. Both candidates were very unpopular. I can imagine that there would be more blank ballots for president this time.
I'm not disagreeing. I'm saying it looked suspicious to me, because I'd have assumed the number of ballots without a choice for president marked would be in the low hundreds for each state, but then I saw it that it's apparently normal to have tens of thousands of them. Again it wouldn't change the results even if Clinton did take Michigan. I understand liberals banging on about wanting to get rid of the electoral college because there was such a divide between that and the popular vote, but acting as if Trump didn't win decisively is ridiculous. It would be like losing a football game and screaming about how your team had run more yards ("So who really won? Huh?").

comhcinc
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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65848

Post by comhcinc »

jet_lagg wrote: I understand liberals banging on about wanting to get rid of the electoral college because there was such a divide between that and the popular vote, but acting as if Trump didn't win decisively is ridiculous.
The thing about that is a lot of people are complaining about it but no one is doing shit about it. No one is starting petitions to get a constitutional amendment on a ballot. No state congress person putting an amendment forward. Nothing but bitching on social media.

Frankly I am not impressed.

Kirbmarc
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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65849

Post by Kirbmarc »

feathers wrote:
Kirbmarc wrote:To be fair, the Italians did win World War I and smash the Austrian Empire. It's in World War II that they really, really sucked. And it was largely because of shitty organization, shitty logistics and shitty material. Under a German general like Rommel Italian soldiers (the Afrika Corps was largely made up of Italians) kicked British and American ass repeatedly.
I think they also lacked the zeal with which the Germans entered the war. They had a score to settle. I'm not sure why the Italians even bothered.
Because Mussolini was incredibly sure that the Germans were going to win and didn't want to be left out. He said that with a couple hundred dead he could sit down at the table of the winners. Then he attacked France while the Nazis were almost in Paris and managed not to win. He attacked Greece and managed to screw it up so much that Hitler had to save his ass. He attacked Egypt from Italian Lybia and 30,000 Brits captured 100,000 Itys. He attacked Kenya from Italian Somaliland and recently invaded Ethiopia and the British kicked the Italians out of East Africa. He sent 230,000 Italian soldiers in Russia and lost 100,000 of them between casualties and POWs.

Mussolini was an incompetent, megalomaniac twat. To be fair Hitler was also an incompetent, megalomaniac twat, but he had better generals and better industries. Once Hitler started to micromanage the war the Germans suffered one disaster after another.

Kirbmarc
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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65850

Post by Kirbmarc »

comhcinc wrote:
jet_lagg wrote: I understand liberals banging on about wanting to get rid of the electoral college because there was such a divide between that and the popular vote, but acting as if Trump didn't win decisively is ridiculous.
The thing about that is a lot of people are complaining about it but no one is doing shit about it. No one is starting petitions to get a constitutional amendment on a ballot. No state congress person putting an amendment forward. Nothing but bitching on social media.

Frankly I am not impressed.
They are starting petitions to ask the electors not to vote for Trump, though. Which makes me think that bitching about the electoral college is just a pathetic excuse and that they wouldn't have accepted the result even if Trump also won the popular vote.

screwtape
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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65851

Post by screwtape »

Kirbmarc wrote:
feathers wrote:
Kirbmarc wrote:To be fair, the Italians did win World War I and smash the Austrian Empire. It's in World War II that they really, really sucked. And it was largely because of shitty organization, shitty logistics and shitty material. Under a German general like Rommel Italian soldiers (the Afrika Corps was largely made up of Italians) kicked British and American ass repeatedly.
I think they also lacked the zeal with which the Germans entered the war. They had a score to settle. I'm not sure why the Italians even bothered.
Because Mussolini was incredibly sure that the Germans were going to win and didn't want to be left out. He said that with a couple hundred dead he could sit down at the table of the winners. Then he attacked France while the Nazis were almost in Paris and managed not to win. He attacked Greece and managed to screw it up so much that Hitler had to save his ass. He attacked Egypt from Italian Lybia and 30,000 Brits captured 100,000 Itys. He attacked Kenya from Italian Somaliland and recently invaded Ethiopia and the British kicked the Italians out of East Africa. He sent 230,000 Italian soldiers in Russia and lost 100,000 of them between casualties and POWs.

Mussolini was an incompetent, megalomaniac twat. To be fair Hitler was also an incompetent, megalomaniac twat, but he had better generals and better industries. Once Hitler started to micromanage the war the Germans suffered one disaster after another.
After bomb disposal in the Blitz, my father was sent to North Africa around the time of Mersa Matruh. He always had a very high regard for the DAK and Rommel, but had a special smile for the Italians. He seemed to regard their antics in the western desert as being those of lovable but stupid children.

ThreeFlangedJavis
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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65852

Post by ThreeFlangedJavis »

gurugeorge wrote:
screwtape wrote:The impression I have is that Trump didn't run to win, but simply to boost his businesses.
I didn't get that impression at all. He's all about "winning."

To tell you the truth, FWIW my first impression of him as a fresh candidate, without (as a Brit) having been subjected to his fame or personality to any great degree beforehand, was that he was evidently sincere and wanted to win because he felt the US was going in the wrong direction. But since I thought it was time for the Republicans to get a crack at the whip, and being aware of him only via hearsay, as a vaguely buffoonish guy who'd once made it big in the 80s, I was worried that he'd gum up the works. My feeling was that the Dems were demoralized, and this would be the ideal chance for the Republicans to field someone young and energetic. I had thought Cruz or Rubio would stand a good chance.

As a Brit, I totally didn't know how huge a phenomenon he'd been on the fame circuit in the US. I had never seen the American Apprentice show, I'd been unaware of his multiple appearances on things like SNL, soap shows, etc. (which incidentally, show a self-deprecating side to him that's both good business and suggests he's psychologically ok).

So I'm someone whose opinion of him has changed from initially mildly unfavourable via hearsay, but thinking he meant what he said, to actually quite liking the guy having been exposed to him in his stump speeches, etc., and still thinking he means what he says.

Even the roller-coaster-ride of listening to him talking and worrying whether he'll ever complete a sentence has become mildly endearing to me. If he doesn't make a great president, I'll eat my hat. (A cunning ploy, since I don't have one. :) )

A tad naive? People who've seen Trump up close tend to view him as an emotional black hole who'll do anything to get his narcissistic supply. What can you say about a supposed billionaire who sues people who investigate his actual worth (nowhere near a billion) and runs upselling scam courses? This is why some people are so worried about him. He'll act in the public interest as long as it makes him feel good and as long as his handlers can stroke his ego, but who knows what will happen if he feels slighted. You think Trump means what he says even though he will flat out deny what he said ten minutes ago if necessary?

free thoughtpolice
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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65853

Post by free thoughtpolice »

Three Flanged Javis wrote:
A tad naive? People who've seen Trump up close tend to view him as an emotional black hole who'll do anything to get his narcissistic supply. What can you say about a supposed billionaire who sues people who investigate his actual worth (nowhere near a billion) and runs upselling scam courses? This is why some people are so worried about him. He'll act in the public interest as long as it makes him feel good and as long as his handlers can stroke his ego, but who knows what will happen if he feels slighted. You think Trump means what he says even though he will flat out deny what he said ten minutes ago if necessary?
He is a liar that will tell you want you want to hear to get what he wants without any intention of delivering, even more so than the worst politicians. He also appears to naively swallow crap from nutters like Alex Jones without checking the facts.
The CIA is telling him about the Russians hacking the DNC and interfering in the election and because it doesnt suit his preconceived notions or his ego he is attacking the messenger.
I can only hope he doesn't fuck things up too badly.

CaptainFluffyBunny
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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65854

Post by CaptainFluffyBunny »

free thoughtpolice wrote:Three Flanged Javis wrote:
A tad naive? People who've seen Trump up close tend to view him as an emotional black hole who'll do anything to get his narcissistic supply. What can you say about a supposed billionaire who sues people who investigate his actual worth (nowhere near a billion) and runs upselling scam courses? This is why some people are so worried about him. He'll act in the public interest as long as it makes him feel good and as long as his handlers can stroke his ego, but who knows what will happen if he feels slighted. You think Trump means what he says even though he will flat out deny what he said ten minutes ago if necessary?
He is a liar that will tell you want you want to hear to get what he wants without any intention of delivering, even more so than the worst politicians. He also appears to naively swallow crap from nutters like Alex Jones without checking the facts.
The CIA is telling him about the Russians hacking the DNC and interfering in the election and because it doesnt suit his preconceived notions or his ego he is attacking the messenger.
I can only hope he doesn't fuck things up too badly.
Nonsense. I'm certain he'll run the country with the same competence and moral integrity that he ran Trump University, Trump Vodka, Trump Steaks, casinos, etc. He is a man of deeply held principle and ethics, which he demonstrates repeatedly in his scrupulous business dealings. :whistle:

free thoughtpolice
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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65855

Post by free thoughtpolice »

Well, at least we can hope he can bring an end to all the cannibalism that is going on.
[youtube][/youtube]

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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65856

Post by ThreeFlangedJavis »

Kirbmarc wrote:
ROBOKiTTY wrote:I was saying to a friend earlier. Normal politicians, when they have other business interests, treat their political career as their first priority publicly and their other interests as secondary personal stuff on the side. Trump seems to be treating his business interests as priority number one still, despite having been elected. I'm still not sure if he's pulling a long con like Dubya (who fooled the world into thinking he was a deeply religious dummy), or if he's just making it up as he goes.
Dubya fooled the world into thinking he was a deeply religious dummy when he actually was just a corporate dummy. The guy's decisions were his entourage's decisions, and were terrible ones. We're talking about the élite which somehow, despite everyone and their dog telling them it was a bad idea for a long list of reasons, still decided to invade Iraq and overthrow Saddam, and didn't even have a real plan to deal with the aftermath. Arguably at least half of the problems in the MENA countries right now are due to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
What has happened to cast doubt on Dub's religiosity? Defense reports during his presidency were awash with biblical quotes. Rumsfeld made sure that reports sent to Dub had biblical imagery on the cover..

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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65857

Post by ThreeFlangedJavis »

Kirbmarc wrote:
Phil_Giordana_FCD wrote:The French don't really win or lose anymore battles/wars than other countries.

Save for the Italians, bunch of pussies!

*checks family name*



Please forget I was ever posting here...
To be fair, the Italians did win World War I and smash the Austrian Empire. It's in World War II that they really, really sucked. And it was largely because of shitty organization, shitty logistics and shitty material. Under a German general like Rommel Italian soldiers (the Afrika Corps was largely made up of Italians) kicked British and American ass repeatedly.

So it's not like the Italians are pussies, they're just hopelessly disorganized. Nobody can make Italian trains run on time.
Auchinleck's go to plan when defending against Rommel's attacks at El Alamein was to attack the Italian sectors. Rommel invariably had to divert German units to shore up the Italians.

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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65858

Post by VickyCaramel »

screwtape wrote:
Kirbmarc wrote:
feathers wrote:
I think they also lacked the zeal with which the Germans entered the war. They had a score to settle. I'm not sure why the Italians even bothered.
Because Mussolini was incredibly sure that the Germans were going to win and didn't want to be left out. He said that with a couple hundred dead he could sit down at the table of the winners. Then he attacked France while the Nazis were almost in Paris and managed not to win. He attacked Greece and managed to screw it up so much that Hitler had to save his ass. He attacked Egypt from Italian Lybia and 30,000 Brits captured 100,000 Itys. He attacked Kenya from Italian Somaliland and recently invaded Ethiopia and the British kicked the Italians out of East Africa. He sent 230,000 Italian soldiers in Russia and lost 100,000 of them between casualties and POWs.

Mussolini was an incompetent, megalomaniac twat. To be fair Hitler was also an incompetent, megalomaniac twat, but he had better generals and better industries. Once Hitler started to micromanage the war the Germans suffered one disaster after another.
After bomb disposal in the Blitz, my father was sent to North Africa around the time of Mersa Matruh. He always had a very high regard for the DAK and Rommel, but had a special smile for the Italians. He seemed to regard their antics in the western desert as being those of lovable but stupid children.
The Italians fought pretty well once they swapped sides!

When Italy entered the war, he had been in power for 18 years. Most of the private soldiers had known nothing else but Mussolini's dictatorship. To them he wasn't a new and inspiring leader like Hitler. In fact there was a distinct lack of enthusiasm for creating an Empire for Mussolini, especially one that consists of empty desert.

Like most dictators, Mussolini kept his power with large doses of nepotism, which meant the sons of all his friends went into the officer corps where they trained hard at the brothels and poker tables while drawing large salaries.

Some of the Black Shirt and Colonial units were actually very good, the Navy fared better than the Army. They were a bit of a mixed bag, but overall dreadful.

Interestingly, the Germans held them in complete contempt (as did the Libyans) but the British liked them... they were very good natured and compliant as POWs. Sadly this wasn't reciprocated, Italian treatment of Allied POWs was dreadful.

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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65859

Post by gurugeorge »

Suet Cardigan wrote:
feathers wrote:
Tigzy wrote:Holy shit. Has anyone taken a look at FTB recently?
https://web.archive.org/web/20161212154 ... esistance/
Screen Shot 2016-12-12 at 18.08.24.png
Paper, stone. Still miss the scissors.
What Myers thinks he is:
che-guevara-venezuela.jpg
What Myers really is:
CitizenSmithPower.jpg
ROFLMFAO

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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65860

Post by JackSkeptic »

My Uncle was a POW in an Italian camp and he spoke very highly of them. He often felt guilty he was having an easy time and out of any real danger. I suspect it varied between camps.

Italians were not given any decent eqiupment or motorisation, which is why Rommel dumped them when he lost Alemein. Their guns were next to useless even against out of date tanks and their leadership was terrible. There is a lot of reports of the Italians fighting bravely but hopelessly. They were key in winning Gazala though which was arguably one of the most important battles before Alemein.

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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65861

Post by Brive1987 »

The Italians were adequate (say against the Ethiopians) until they were hit by the Australians at Bardia.

The Australians were highly abusive, punching down with martial privilage and leaving the wogs literally shaking for the next four years.

This is my retained memory of the relevant section of my school text book.

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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65862

Post by Brive1987 »

Let the salt-icles grow ........

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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65863

Post by Brive1987 »

I reckon we could be in Beijing by Christmas. Smash the door don and let the house collapse.

Really?
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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65864

Post by Really? »

Brive1987 wrote: Let the salt-icles grow ........
Please let it happen:

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/44 ... Y9VQK.jpeg

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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65865

Post by ROBOKiTTY »

ThreeFlangedJavis wrote: What has happened to cast doubt on Dub's religiosity? Defense reports during his presidency were awash with biblical quotes. Rumsfeld made sure that reports sent to Dub had biblical imagery on the cover..
He's still religious, but much of the outward religiosity was theatre for the Christian right. He pushed intelligent design while in office, but once he was on his way out, he's said that he doesn't think evolution and religion are incompatible and that he doesn't think the Bible is literally true.

Probably not a surprise to anyone who paid attention. Dubya grew up in the Episcopal church and later became a Methodist. The Episcopal church is liberal, and the Methodist church is moderately conservative. Nothing about his background suggested Christian right.

free thoughtpolice
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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65866

Post by free thoughtpolice »

ROBOKiTTY wrote:
ThreeFlangedJavis wrote: What has happened to cast doubt on Dub's religiosity? Defense reports during his presidency were awash with biblical quotes. Rumsfeld made sure that reports sent to Dub had biblical imagery on the cover..
He's still religious, but much of the outward religiosity was theatre for the Christian right. He pushed intelligent design while in office, but once he was on his way out, he's said that he doesn't think evolution and religion are incompatible and that he doesn't think the Bible is literally true.

Probably not a surprise to anyone who paid attention. Dubya grew up in the Episcopal church and later became a Methodist. The Episcopal church is liberal, and the Methodist church is moderately conservative. Nothing about his background suggested Christian right.
My take on W was that he was an authentic religious moron. He was a sinner (alcoholic) and Jesus saved him and allowed him to make things right with his family. He certainly had connections with the Baptist/ born again bunch and even lobbied his father during his reelection attempt to make more connections with the Christian right types.
Maybe after he famously prayed to God to guide him into whether he should invade Iraq and God told him to go ahead and didn't warn him about the no WMDs and resulting mess he may have had a crisis of faith? Especially near the end of his tenure when it was obvious the sort of blunders God tricked him into screwing up so royally.

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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65867

Post by VickyCaramel »

free thoughtpolice wrote:
ROBOKiTTY wrote:
ThreeFlangedJavis wrote: What has happened to cast doubt on Dub's religiosity? Defense reports during his presidency were awash with biblical quotes. Rumsfeld made sure that reports sent to Dub had biblical imagery on the cover..
He's still religious, but much of the outward religiosity was theatre for the Christian right. He pushed intelligent design while in office, but once he was on his way out, he's said that he doesn't think evolution and religion are incompatible and that he doesn't think the Bible is literally true.

Probably not a surprise to anyone who paid attention. Dubya grew up in the Episcopal church and later became a Methodist. The Episcopal church is liberal, and the Methodist church is moderately conservative. Nothing about his background suggested Christian right.
My take on W was that he was an authentic religious moron. He was a sinner (alcoholic) and Jesus saved him and allowed him to make things right with his family. He certainly had connections with the Baptist/ born again bunch and even lobbied his father during his reelection attempt to make more connections with the Christian right types.
Maybe after he famously prayed to God to guide him into whether he should invade Iraq and God told him to go ahead and didn't warn him about the no WMDs and resulting mess he may have had a crisis of faith? Especially near the end of his tenure when it was obvious the sort of blunders God tricked him into screwing up so royally.
I heard he started rambling on about god to several European politicians... which scared the fuck out them.

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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65868

Post by DW Adams »

Name that activist!
I did not watch Saturday Night Live in its entirety last weekend; I don’t own a TV. Like many Americans, and especially many transgender people, I am homeless. I live in a minivan, and I write my articles and lectures using the “socialist” tax-funded internet access at a public library. I eat protein powder mixed with water for most of my meals, and I read a lot. It wasn’t always this way: Two years ago, I was the director of public relations at a respected national non-profit, until I was laid off, and then lost my apartment, at the same time that I experienced a number of health problems that make finding work difficult—but that I cannot afford to treat properly. I’m ashamed of being homeless, and until this moment, only a handful of my close friends were aware of it. I’m not disclosing this here to seek pity: This is not about me. This is about something much bigger than me.

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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65869

Post by Lsuoma »

Maybe she needs to start taking oestrogen.

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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65870

Post by HoneyWagon »

DW Adams wrote:Name that activist!
I did not watch Saturday Night Live in its entirety last weekend; I don’t own a TV. Like many Americans, and especially many transgender people, I am homeless. I live in a minivan, and I write my articles and lectures using the “socialist” tax-funded internet access at a public library. I eat protein powder mixed with water for most of my meals, and I read a lot. It wasn’t always this way: Two years ago, I was the director of public relations at a respected national non-profit, until I was laid off, and then lost my apartment, at the same time that I experienced a number of health problems that make finding work difficult—but that I cannot afford to treat properly. I’m ashamed of being homeless, and until this moment, only a handful of my close friends were aware of it. I’m not disclosing this here to seek pity: This is not about me. This is about something much bigger than me.

Well, I am assuming I know whom this is. I do not know what health issues they have that makes working difficult. But being transgender is no a cause of homelessness as no one KNOWS they are trans unless they correct the use of pronouns.
They still should have that white male privilege we all hear about.
They had a ton of contacts while working at that respected non-profit. Have all bridges been burned?

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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65871

Post by Really? »

HoneyWagon wrote:
DW Adams wrote:Name that activist!
I did not watch Saturday Night Live in its entirety last weekend; I don’t own a TV. Like many Americans, and especially many transgender people, I am homeless. I live in a minivan, and I write my articles and lectures using the “socialist” tax-funded internet access at a public library. I eat protein powder mixed with water for most of my meals, and I read a lot. It wasn’t always this way: Two years ago, I was the director of public relations at a respected national non-profit, until I was laid off, and then lost my apartment, at the same time that I experienced a number of health problems that make finding work difficult—but that I cannot afford to treat properly. I’m ashamed of being homeless, and until this moment, only a handful of my close friends were aware of it. I’m not disclosing this here to seek pity: This is not about me. This is about something much bigger than me.

Well, I am assuming I know whom this is. I do not know what health issues they have that makes working difficult. But being transgender is no a cause of homelessness as no one KNOWS they are trans unless they correct the use of pronouns.
They still should have that white male privilege we all hear about.
They had a ton of contacts while working at that respected non-profit. Have all bridges been burned?
She's quite special. 90% of homeless people are men. She's one of the rare homeless women out there.

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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65872

Post by Really? »

Oh, and I guess the other question is why American Atheists hired a public relations director who has half of a college degree.

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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65873

Post by DW Adams »

She should post on the new FTB blog
If we even begin to allow Trump’s outrageousness to decline to normalcy, we have already lost. To preserve the progress we have made—or as much of it as possible—we have no choice: We must resist. It is our only hope. We have a lot of work ahead of us, and some of us will not survive. But I believe that this is a fight worth fighting. I intend to do my part, and I hope that you will join me.

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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65874

Post by HelpingHand »

I am not signing up for a Facebook account just to post on that Newsweek opinion piece. But if someone did....

http://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-tw ... snl-530135

...may want to make mention that this brave homeless activist, who implies she became homeless when she lost her job two years ago, and claims to have problems affording even food much less medicine posted a youtube video just three months ago talking about the $170 soft cover case she bought for her $1500 effects board. You get to see the piano in the background. No great views of the thousands of dollars in other kit around her house.



Added bonus that anyone who watches the video gets to hear her velvety voice.

fuzzy
Pit Art Master
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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65875

Post by fuzzy »

Properly trimmed sideburns make a woman's face appear thinner.
http://i.imgur.com/MCkTAxA.png

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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65876

Post by Service Dog »

Ape+lust wrote:
Tigzy wrote:Holy shit. Has anyone taken a look at FTB recently?

They...they've got a militant wing now. 'FREETHOUGHT RESISTANCE'. It is, to quote:
[a] blog to specifically express our outrage with the current intolerable state of affairs.
As opposed to all those other FTB blogs where they were just too shy to express some outrage, I guess.

Anyway,
The purpose of this blog is:

To report on and document abuses and criminal activities of the right wing and theocratic zealots;

To express our own opposition to these acts;

To promote activism;

To provide information about opportunities for activism;

To provide an online rallying point for opposition to the illegitimate government of the United States.
So basically, they'll...blog. Well that's a novel new turn for FTB.

The first two posts are by PZ Myers, presumably in 'Gosh something must be done!' mode. It's all exceptionally silly, ludicrous and highly quixotic. And toxic. Hmm - 'toxic quixotic'. Bout sums up Peez and crew these days.

https://web.archive.org/web/20161212154 ... esistance/
HAHAHA! Good ol' Peez. Still aching to be somebody that matters, still too chickenshit to DO SOMETHING THAT MATTERS.

CLENCHED FIST SALUTE!

http://imgur.com/AkXZnNL.png
Aww sheeeeit.... PZ '#WokeNigga' Myers... yeaaaaahhhhh

HelpingHand
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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65877

Post by HelpingHand »

Well played on the Newsweek comment. Much thanks.

VickyCaramel
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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65878

Post by VickyCaramel »

Myers gave me an earworm.

[youtube][/youtube]

I am gonna struggle to get the image of him in black beret and leather gloves out of my head.





Becky is single again. It explains a lot.

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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65879

Post by deLurch »

Hunt wrote:I'm starting to wonder. Am I the only yank on the pit who isn't white trash?
Yes. Every US citizen here is white trash except for you.

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Re: The Refuge of the Toads

#65880

Post by John D »

Wow. So this is kinda weird. I am listening to Dinesh D'Souza on the Ruben Report. I am used to D'Souza debating Hitchens and other atheists (and losing). I assumed the guy was a total idiot. But... as long as he is not talking about religion he makes a lot of sense. I actually like this interview.


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