In the Ukrainian press I read about stories where in EU countries their children are taken from mothers and given to other families.

I don't know about the Ukrainian press but that sounds like Russian propaganda to me.  The Russians have stolen Ukrainian children and given them away to families in Russia - this is well documented.  I have never heard of anything like that in the EU and doubt that is true.

I never received the e-mail - just checked my spam folder to be sure - and haven't received my payment.  The one I requested from DT the same day arrived in PayPal quickly.

I just requested a payout too.  No e-mail confirmation or other indication that it is moving forward.  I requested one from DT the same day and that is on its way.  One agency is legitimate the other one not so much.

I was looking through my December iStock statement and noticed a payment from DACS, of which iStock took 85%.  I always claim DACS directly and certainly don't want an agency taking 85%.  I haven't noticed this in the past but probably wasn't paying attention.  Does anybody know what this is about?  Does it affect our regular DACS payback?  Really don't want them taking 85% if I can claim it directly, although if it is in addition to the regular payback then I guess something is better than nothing.  If anybody knows more about this please let me know.

perhaps if they trust the ip address you're ok going forward

That would be my guess.

Quote from: sgoodwin4813 on January 22, 2024, 16:16

Quote from: LDV81 on January 13, 2024, 14:07

...
Pete and gang for advice and confirmation instead of experts military or otherwise

I'll believe Pete over the military any day!

That's an interesting stance. You must elaborate.

I was mostly joking but not completely.  Pete seems to have a very balanced view of most things.  I used to have a lot of respect (or at least an assumption of competency) about the military but after some of them were in a previous administration it appears otherwise (I'm thinking of one who should be in jail except for a pardon), plus I know of one who was in military intelligence who was a complete crackpot.  Very nice guy but not who you would want in charge of anything, and I think he was a Colonel.  The crackpots seem to mostly be in the Air Force so maybe the other branches are better.  However, in my experience most military people have little background or abilities to make reasonable conclusions about scientific phenomena - I would leave that to the scientists and keep the military out of it.  As for UAPs, I'll take the opinion of independent scientists over the military any day.

Oh, I know that look!

What mittens on that orange cat!

...
Pete and gang for advice and confirmation instead of experts military or otherwise

I'll believe Pete over the military any day!

Some speculate that this can only mean we are some form of resource like vitamins or cattle.

I would think they could find something much more nutritious and tasty than us.  Maybe there are just no cards to show...

Well said, Uncle Pete!

Quote from: sgoodwin4813 on July 27, 2023, 16:34

From what I've heard of the congressional hearings so far they have been vastly underwhelming.  It seems to be three "whistleblowers" who all believe that we have been visited by aliens, and at least one of them said they know 40 other guys who swear on their grandmothers' graves that they have seen alien craft and/or biologicals.  And that is it - no proof of any kind, no documentation, no testimony from any of the people who supposedly have seen these things except second- or third-hand reports.  And they can't say any more because it's classified.  So what is the point?  It all seems like a monumental waste of time to me.

So, you are relying on hearsay? Watch the hearing yourself. Documentation, including the names of involved people and addresses, has been provided to the Inspector General. Additional details have been provided behind closed doors, as I understand it. A guy who had been conducting an official investigation in this field testified under oath before the Congress. Do you grasp the magnitude of this event? That investigation had been his job, he just presented his findings in the Congress, under oath.

I've seen enough of it.  Hearsay is what Grush has provided, not me.  Looks like Congress is going to have a special investigation so maybe more will come out that way.  However, I suspect none of these mythical alien craft will appear.  I have no doubt the people testifying believe what they are saying, they just haven't provided any solid proof. 

Why is all of this confined to the US?  What about Canada, China. Brazil, Russia and other countries with large land areas?  Surely they must have been the recipients of alien spacecraft - many more than the US - yet why have we not seen aliens rolled out in those countries?  When people in other countries provide "evidence", it's always of the same type - somebody saw something they can't explain.  Nothing tangible.  Surely the US military couldn't classify materials collected in all those other countries, could they?

If this was some kind of farce, some kind of prank, then you, dear Americans, have some serious issues in your country

You haven't figured that out yet?  We have much more serious problems than aliens - a large part of the population thinks the last election was stolen, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary (and none to support their conclusion) and they support someone for President as a supposed champion of democracy who's stated goal is to become a fascist dictator.  Aliens are the least of our problems.

[I have a feeling that even if a giant UFO landed in front of the White House and aliens came out, many denialists would still deny it, because it doesn't fit into their world view. It would be "a trick of the light", or the infamous "swamp gas".

That is where you are dead wrong.  Those of us who are skeptical of alien contact are not that way because of a world view but because of a lack of evidence.  Provide even one alien craft or a body of an extraterrestrial that can be verified by independent scientific analysis and most of us will accept it.  But if the only "evidence" is that somebody saw something they can't explain then that doesn't cut it.  We will see what comes out of the continuing congressional hearings but I wouldn't hold my breath that they will uncover anything substantive - I just don't think there is anything more to provide.

From what I've heard of the congressional hearings so far they have been vastly underwhelming.  It seems to be three "whistleblowers" who all believe that we have been visited by aliens, and at least one of them said they know 40 other guys who swear on their grandmothers' graves that they have seen alien craft and/or biologicals.  And that is it - no proof of any kind, no documentation, no testimony from any of the people who supposedly have seen these things except second- or third-hand reports.  And they can't say any more because it's classified.  So what is the point?  It all seems like a monumental waste of time to me.

I have no doubt that there are videos that can't be completely explained, many first-hand reports of pilots and others seeing weird phenomena, or other minor things like that.  But actual alien spacecraft or bodies?  So far no evidence.  At all.  If there are really that many alien encounters nowadays there is little possibility that the military or whoever else could cover it up - if someone found a spaceship or part of one or actual alien bodies it would be all over the internet before you could say "TikTok".

Congress should stop wasting their time.  If they want to get to the truth, then put on some pressure to declassify what the whistleblowers are talking about and give the world a look.  Show me some actual physical evidence and I will believe it, but "whistleblowers" saying they believe it and know a bunch of other guys who swear it's true without providing any actual evidence doesn't cut it.  Lots of people believe things that aren't true but will swear up and down that they have seen it with their own eyes.  I still remember the bigfoot show where people all over the US are sure they've seen sasquatch but are not deterred by the complete lack of any physical evidence.  Somebody on Nextdoor not long ago tried to tell me how they've seen mountain lions in Indiana for decades - even though they have been extinct in the state for more than 100 years (other than the very occasional one that wanders in from North Dakota, which we did have once about a dozen years ago).  That person grew up in the country and was sure that mountain lions are there.  They really believed it.  I'm sure they saw something - a bobcat maybe or a large domestic feline - but it wasn't a mountain lion.  Just like the African lion that was recently reported in Germany that turned out most likely to be a wild boar.  It's the same with the aliens - just because you've seen something you can't explain doesn't mean it's extraterrestrial (or a terrestrial myth).  It would be very easy to confirm - make something available for independent analysis by the global scientific community.  All of the technological progress that has occurred during my lifetime (which is getting to be a while now) was mostly the next obvious thing - there are no major jumps I can think of that would have resulted from an injection of alien technology.  If the US military is benefitting from alien technology then they need to find some better aliens - we are certainly better than the Russians but only incrementally so, and not really at all when you consider the obscene amounts of money that have been spent.  No more congressional showboating, let's see the evidence!  If it doesn't exist then stop fooling around.

It's the degenerate nationalistic propaganda and constant brainwashing, from kindergarten onwards, flourishing on a religious and cultural foundation.

...

Other countries are not immune to this cultural-religious essence ready to embrace nationalistic propaganda.

...

These European an US citizens "left behind" are the ones who also caused Brexit and MAGA and the relaunch of fascism inside the EU and the US.  Because putin/russia simply tells them what they want to hear, and they have the (false) sense that they understand putin better than their own children.

That pretty much sums it up.  I've met many Russians who are good people and don't support what their government does, but can't do much about it or they will be put in jail or worse.  Not all Russians are willing mass murderers!  That would be like saying everyone in the US was a Christo-fascist bigot based on the previous person in the White House.  Unfortunately, too many people are easily influenced by propaganda and get hyped up on nationalistic nonsense to do things they ordinarily would not.  I am not defending them, it is just a sad commentary on our species.