Michael Hopcroft

Odd how generosity has come to mean "buy super-expensive trinkets for your friends to show they you are capable of buying super-expensive trinkiets -- even if you're not." Every Christmas most families get deeper and deeper into debt.
 
Want to be generous? Feed a stranger who hungers and don't tell another soul in the world that you did it.

Odd how generosity has come to mean "buy super-expensive trinkets for your friends to show they you are capable of buying super-expensive trinkiets -- even if you're not." Every Christmas most families get deeper and deeper into debt.
 
Want to be generous? Feed a stranger who hungers and don't tell another soul in the world that you did it.

Mars called, Dr. Watney. She misses you. All is forgiven.
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMkKH7hOqq0

I've SEEN the Russian naval base in question, not so many years ago. I know it features prominently in discussions between armchair strategists online, but I don't think that it has the slightest interest to Putin or the Russian military at all, except as a propaganda piece. It's a tiny harbour with a few rusting corrugated iron sheds, with two cranes, one of which has rusted out, and fallen over into the harbour. When I saw it, the floating piers were derelict and there was a rusted sunken ship at one wharf. It was, in a word, desolate. The Russians are entirely smart enough to know that a small, useless harbour in an area where they cannot reliably project airpower is not a military asset on the global stage, but a liability, which is exactly why they've left it to decay. Promises to rebuild it so that it could host aircraft carriers or cruisers have so far produced bupkiss, and the current Russian buildup isn't even in the area of the port. Edit: and the Russians are actually using their access to the much better port at Limmasol in Cyprus rather more than their Syrian option anyway. I don't know what the status is now, but prior to the war, their "naval base" had a staff of 4.
 
No, Putin's interest and his whole foreign policy - which has been pretty consistent for the last decade and a half - is built around one thing: maintaining Russia's ability to intervene in global energy markets. That's it, period, finito. Every action he has taken in the past has been consistent with that goal in mind, including his intervention in Ukraine and now his intervention in Syria. Putin is irrevocably marked by the collapse of the USSR and the USSR collapsed because - like today's Russia - it was critically dependant on energy revenues for foreign exchange. When OPEC pulled the plug on oil prices in the '80s, that was all she wrote for the USSR. Putin - in his own ham-handed way - is trying to ensure there is no rerun, and for that, he wants a seat at the table in the Middle East. Syria - and the Assad regime - is the last proxy the Russians have left in the area, although they are attempting to cuddle up to Egypt again. The last thing he wants is a new government that is supported by the US or Saudi Arabia becoming dominant in Syria. And that's why the Russians are not hitting ISIS right now, instead hitting the more moderate rebels pressing the regime forces. It suits Putin just fine to have unrest in the Middle East, and ISIS is, quite frankly, useful to him at the moment. As long as they are not strong enough to tople Assad, the worst he is likely to send their way is harsh words. It's also why the Russians moved into Syria at right this moment, as soon as Turkey and other NATO members started taking a more active role.
 
cheers, Mark

Q: Why is that entire flock of sheep running away in terror? (JK)
 
A: And the jailer man, and Sailor Sam were searching everyone...

Swedish humor. See if you can stay with it.
 

Only one response to that:
 

The doghouse in your neighbor's yard. On the positive, though, it's a really terrible doghouse unsuitable for the local climate. The dog will thank you for the opportunity to convince the neighbor to let him live in the house where it's warm.

Q: I just arrived at the L-5 colony. What's the going rate for oxygen and water?
 
A: I'm going to have to science the [bleep] out of this.

whom everyone quarter
 
Since they wouldn't be random if I chose them, a random word generator was used.

Pass out fake final exams and give the students ten minutes to finish them. The questions should either be incredibly advanced copncepts that students at that level can't possibly grasp or utter nonsense. The collect the papers, shred them in front of the entire class, and hand out the actual syllabus,
 
You will have to think of some way to stop the class from hating your guts for a month if you do this.

Q: What was the post-game interviewer too polite to say to the coach of the Chiefs?
 
A: And that's why vampires are lousy at putting on makeup.

Beethoven Symphony no. 3 in E flat, Op. 55

Not coming to a console near you: LEGO The Borgias. Rated M for Mature if the publishers are lucky. You've never seen a minifig do this!

I found this oddly fascinating.  To show primitive building methods, the guy starts with nothing and builds a clay hut. The axe and fire sticks are in other videos
 

Left without further comment.

Tap is a uniquely American lost art. There are very few tap dangers of any prominence today. So when I was pointed to a Youtube scene with the Nichlas Brothers from the 1940s, I was astounded. The grace, strength, and athleticism of these men was astounding. I wonder if some of the things in this clip are even possible for anyone but the most obsessively trained and practiced.
 

My favourite band's new single Lost. At first didn't "get it" but now I found a way to relate to it. What does everyone else think? 
 

I don't know about anyone else, but I found the video resonant. When I was a teenager, I would sometimes go out on very long walks in the middle of the night. I didn't do anything -- just walked to someplace distant and walked back. I probably knew in the back of my  mind that I was breaking curfew laws, but I was never caught.
 
The visuals reminded me of those days.

Q: Man, the simulator is frozen. What will happen when I kick it?
 
A: I know sharks can;t live inside an active volcano. I know it's impossible. But let's stop arguing about Applied Ichthyology and RUN FOR YOUR BLASTED LIVES!

It's even funnier for Full Metal Alchemist fans. The poor dwarves....
 
(For the record I doubt the cartoonist has ever even heard of Full Metal Alchemist.)
 
In most fictional settings, Lust is personified as an impossibly gorgeous woman. Why is Lust never personified as a disgusting old pervert?

It's even funnier for Full Metal Alchemist fans. The poor dwarves....
 
(For the record I doubt the cartoonist has ever even heard of Full Metal Alchemist.)
 
In most fictional settings, Lust is personified as an impossibly gorgeous woman. Why is Lust never personified as a disgusting old pervert?

The fact that "chicken fries" are such a hot item should be alarming to those who do still care about food. They are to protein what Funyuns are to the vegetable kingdom.

"Darn it, how the heck do you wrap 20 experience points?  He'll finally be able to dodge Biff the Wonder Dog's attacks!"
 
NT:  Foxbat being Foxbat, what is he actually going to purchase with those 20 XP, instead of a higher DCV?