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bolverk

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Everything posted by bolverk

  1. Aleksandr heard the whine of an approaching Russian drone. A Ukrainian infantryman on a four-soldier foot patrol, he was picking his way at 2 a.m. through the waist-high vegetation of an August meadow. A high-pitched whir rose in the moonless quiet. An armed multicopter had detected them and was maneuvering to attack. Now luck would influence fates. The soldiers were on a mission to string wire across the forlorn emptiness between opposing trench lines, creating obstacles to entangle Russian infantry and strip invaders on motocross bikes from their seats. Weighed down by equipment, they were caught in the open and exposed. The nearest hint of protection β€” the woodlot they stepped out from minutes before β€” was about 300 yards back. Both Russia and Ukraine operate remotely piloted mini-aircraft that watch over the battlefield with cameras and pursue targets on sight. Some drop bomblets. Others sweep low with explosive charges to strike quarry kamikaze-style. All fly more than twice the speed that even a fit soldier can sprint, a disparity ensuring that many engagements end in one-sided agonies and video-recorded gore. In this new form of warfare, chance still plays a role. When multiple soldiers appear together, most drones cannot strike them all. A pilot must decide: This man? That one? The fleeing soldier who tripped, becoming an easy kill? Or the pair running together who might be felled two at once? The pilot chose Aleksandr, a silhouette holding a rifle in tall grass. The drone stopped above him and released a small explosive munition. After a brief free fall, it landed beside him on dirt. Light flashed in Aleksandr’s eyes, accompanied by a blast that threw him down. His luck was bad: Shrapnel tore through him; pain flared in his left leg. His luck was good: The drone did not linger for the finish. It darted away, chasing his peers as they bounded for trees. Bleeding, pressed to soil, he heard more explosions, off in the direction from where he had come. Quiet settled over the field. Gift link. Long read (28 minutes) but well worth it: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/05/magazine/ukraine-russia-war-drones.html?unlocked_article_code=1.y08.O2KZ.yGOvMOdt95zB&smid=url-share
  2. Go home. You're drunk, @Zepol87. This ain't Tijuana. Sheesh! You can't take that guy anywhere.
  3. Who? This weird-looking guy whose signature pieces of legislation seem suspiciously focused on culture war kid and trans stuff? The one with the bizarrely shorn mane, pedophile beard, and snearing smile? The one who had a Collin College professor fired over mean speech that hurt his feelings, resulting in losing a lawsuit for violating her free speech rights? The one who went to Baylor? The one who serves on the board of Houston Baptist Christian University, whose president, Baylor-grad Robert Sloan (previous president of Baylor who narrowly escaped being ousted due to "controversial financial dealings" and offering an overly conservative campus vision/plan during a period when they had that basketball murder scandal), sought out and received a waiver in 2017 from Trump 1.0 for offering Title IX because civil rights protections for people who engage in homosexuality are unnecessary, because like "a tendency towards arson or theft" homosexuality is a sinful tendency that stems from a person's individual and therefore chosen "behavior" and who has close ties with Ben Young, pastor at Houston's Second Baptist Church, who's been recently sued filed by current and former church members, accusing him and his family of orchestrating a takeover of the church and its $1 billion in assets by altering the bylaws to grant nearly dictatorial authority to the senior pastor, along with the "Abuse of Faith" investigation detailing cases of sexual abuse by church staff, along with hundreds of other Baptist churches and institutions throughout Texas. And then there's the brother Ed Young back up in the Metroplex, head of the megachurch Fellowship, who's been criticized for his lavish lifestyle and purchase of a private jet, and who's enmeshed in politics, inviting culture warrior conservatives into a house of worship. Nah, it's gotta be some other culty, creepy Bible thumper.
  4. Wordle 1,600 3/6 πŸŸ©β¬›β¬›πŸŸ¨β¬› πŸŸ©πŸŸ¨β¬›β¬›β¬› 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Connections Puzzle #878 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟦🟦🟦🟦 πŸŸͺπŸŸͺπŸŸͺπŸŸͺ πŸ™‚ Daily Quordle 1381 8️⃣4️⃣ 7️⃣5️⃣ m-w.com/games/quordle/ ⬜⬜🟨🟨🟨 🟨⬜⬜🟨🟨 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟨🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 ⬜⬜🟨🟩⬜ 🟨🟩⬜⬜⬜ 🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟨🟨 🟩⬜🟨⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟨⬜🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
  5. I won't even pretend to know shit about fuck concerning airplane stuff, flying, and whatnot. This ignorance led me to google the phrase "compressor stall," which brought up this helpful video, timestamped to a good explanation that even I could understand.
  6. Whatever caused it, the left engine looked like it was on fire while trying to take off. Just awful.
  7. That’s the nature of the feudal pyramid, where a small elite is at the top -- whether they be aristocrats or oligarchs (as we have in the US, for now) -- acting as leeches on society and above almost all accountability from us peasants. It’s only the king sitting atop his throne who can do shit about it when there are so few checks and balances on authority. I know you’re hyperaware of this, and so please don't take this as me being combative. It’s just a wider truth spoken to the board in general.
  8. This thread, and just about every other one in the Daily Texan, is political. The mods just pick and choose which they tolerate. I once got into it with Immamac on posting a foreign relations/international news thread here. He justified its relocation to the Cloak Room based on the broadest definition possible for politics: relating to the government or the public affairs of a country (you could substitute in any level of jurisdiction, e.g., city, county, state, etc., though). The point being, any thread that discusses local policies is inherently political in nature, but we (the Surly collective) or they (the mods) arbitrarily choose what’s deemed political or news, based on shifting rules or definitions that have confounded everyone. It, of course, doesn’t help that people’s own implicit political biases at the national level can significantly influence stances at the local level, often with a subtle nod or wink, while pretending not to be "political."
  9. It's not really a "war" if the other side doesn't fight back. And since we "attacked" first, without provocation in most instances, I don't blame them. Anyone with a lick of sense shouldn't be surprised at all by this. FAFO
  10. With his ties, I could certainly see how that’d help them recruit out-of-state athletes from Texas.
  11. Isn't that the whole point of royal dynasties though? Be a parasite on society because gawd bestowed onto you some divine status gained solely through birth.
  12. Rough start Wordle 1,599 5/6 β¬›β¬›β¬›β¬›πŸŸ© β¬›β¬›β¬›β¬›πŸŸ© β¬›β¬›β¬›πŸŸ¨πŸŸ© β¬›β¬›πŸŸ©β¬›πŸŸ© 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Connections Puzzle #877 πŸŸͺπŸŸͺπŸŸͺπŸŸͺ 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩 πŸ™‚ Daily Quordle 1380 7️⃣5️⃣ 4️⃣6️⃣ m-w.com/games/quordle/ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟩🟨⬜ ⬜🟩⬜⬜🟩 ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜ ⬜🟩🟨⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩 ⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜ 🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
  13. Were those guys speaking Russian? Of course, I hardly know any Russian except for what I've learned in this thread, but the way they were speaking didn't seem to have the right "cadence" for lack of a better word. Not that it really matters, because it's a multiethnic/multilingual country, but I'm wonder if they were foreign workers. Also:
  14. ASSHAMMER indeed. Oh, that's not what it's called? Well, it should be.
  15. If you go down that list, it's interesting that so many are clustered in South/Southeast Asia (India, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia), as well as Australia. I wonder if that's related to where they are, or just where folks are digging.
  16. Wordle 1,598 4/6 β¬›β¬›πŸŸ¨β¬›πŸŸ© β¬›πŸŸ¨β¬›β¬›πŸŸ© πŸŸ©β¬›β¬›β¬›πŸŸ© 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Connections Puzzle #876 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩 πŸŸͺπŸŸͺπŸŸͺπŸŸͺ 🟦🟦🟦🟦 πŸ™‚ Daily Quordle 1379 6️⃣8️⃣ 5️⃣4️⃣ m-w.com/games/quordle/ 🟩⬜🟩⬜🟨 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟨⬜🟨🟨 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩⬜🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜ ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ 🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜ ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ 🟨⬜⬜⬜🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
  17. They have Kurt Bowels answering questions: https://apnews.com/live/top-25-college-football-poll-11-2-2025#0000019a-3719-d2b2-ab9f-f7fd46200000
  18. Wordle 1,597 4/6 β¬›β¬›πŸŸ¨β¬›β¬› β¬›πŸŸ©β¬›β¬›πŸŸ¨ β¬›πŸŸ©πŸŸ¨β¬›β¬› 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Connections Puzzle #875 πŸŸͺ🟨🟩🟦 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟩🟩🟩🟩 πŸŸͺπŸŸͺπŸŸͺπŸŸͺ πŸ™‚ Daily Quordle 1378 6️⃣7️⃣ 5️⃣4️⃣ m-w.com/games/quordle/ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩 ⬜🟨🟨🟨⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 🟨⬜⬜🟨⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩 ⬜⬜🟨🟨🟩 🟨🟨⬜🟨⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
  19. Wolfpack beats Ga Tech.
  20. They look like Permian out there. Oh, and Fuck Mojo.
  21. NC State 47 Ga Tech 30 with four minutes left.
  22. I think the Yellow Jackets are getting exterminated tonight.
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