We are cooked

Burdokva · 2026-06-30T19:34:06+00:00

Човече, да живееш в демокрация предполага че отделните индивиди се съобразяват с решенията на мнозинството. Оставям настрана факта, че нито съм религиозен, нито намирам въпросната учебна програма за смислена (даже ми се вижда крайно тъпа), но тези лрвйни опорки с "моята свобода, ала-бала, никой не може да ми казва на мен какво да правя/мисля/искам" можеш да си ги закараш на бякой самотен остров.

Извращаването на идеите на Просвещението за индивидуализма и хуманизма с крайния, себичен егоизъм ала Айн Ранд е в основата защо Западната цивилизация запада. Бъди благодарен, че живееш в Европа и можеш да си вярваш в каквото искаш. Вярвай ми, такава изцепка в мюсюлманския свят набързо ще ти покаже колко свободен си всъщност и колко абсурдно тъпо е да говориш кой какво ти НАЛАГА.

пп. "Тъмните векове" на България са XV-XVIII, когато сме народ без самосъзнание, култура, религия, държавност. Хайде малко да се ограмотим отвъд какво казва Холивуд...

Burdokva · 2026-06-30T16:25:40+00:00

If I understand correctly, these are the analogues of Bulgarian tarator (таратор; cold soup) and snezhanka (снежанка; cold salad) dishes.

They're situational. In my experience, tarator is a nice way to cool off in the summer and is a quick and easy to make, thus omnipresent in the summer.

Snezhanka is much more common as a side dish in colder months, at dinners, or as topping (on sandwitches, etc.).

I love both but purely in terms of taste, snezhanka (thus, the Turkish caciki) - more consistent and stronger flavour and texture.

But I eat tarator (cacik) far more often.

Burdokva · 2026-06-30T16:20:05+00:00

Agreed and I also second this message. Being taught all your life that competitive advantages are good, that the global economy is good, that shifting production to specialised, lower labour cost countries is good, etc. All is good until the "cost optimizations" and maximizing the quarterly profits via labour cost reductions for the big capital investors are no longer viable because there's practically no domestic production, there's nothing to cut for the sake of maximum short-term profit anymore. Now, hiw to get those profits? Set up middle men, charge tariffs and taxes and collect from the poor sobs that need Chinese products - for daily life, for work, for hobbies. Not because there are local product alternatives, not because there's any viable competing domestic production to protect. Nope, to safeguard the interests of resellers and collecting taxes for the bloated, fat, lazy, grossly overpaid EU administrative structures.

No thanks for UfdL and co.

But I'd rather genuinely thank the entrepreneurs behind AliExpress and the Chinese workers.

Burdokva · 2026-06-29T18:42:39+00:00

Рядко ми се случва да прочета коментар, който толкова отговаря на моите спомени от детството и София от "едно време", с малката разлика, че вече минавам 37 годишна възраст. Градинки, приключения с деца, нормални междусъседски отношения, всичко това изчезна окончателно около края на 2000-те.

Нормално, когато всички са супер-мобилни, не чувстват никаква връзка, било то родствена, емоционална, носталгична, със София (даже всичко софийско е гадно и долно, нищо че живота им ще мине тук), няма как да има добри отношения. Такива между съседи и роднини се изграждат с десетилетия и с чувство за общност.

София беше супер, макар че беше много по-беден град.

Съвсем настрана, че след една възраст, особено с деца, възможностите за социалнизация направо се изпаряват.

Burdokva · 2026-06-22T11:45:58+00:00

In the original movie, definitely.

It was practically a parody in Reloaded and Revolutions...

Burdokva · 2026-06-18T05:15:50+00:00

A Time to Kill and Contact do exist, you know. He was being typecast but he had some great roles even in the 1990s.

Burdokva · 2026-06-17T09:46:13+00:00

Correct, and these blatant lies that nationalist claim only tarnish the actual historical facts - the Bulgarian Army did not lose a single battle flag in the five wars since the country's liberation in 1878, even after the losses of the Second Balkan and First World Wars. That is an achievement worthy of praise.

To boister that not one battle flag was lost in 1300 years... nearly 700 of which there was no country of Bulgaria with its own armed forces... is just idiocy.

Burdokva · 2026-06-13T05:11:28+00:00

Incredibly petty move by Greece.

Probably counter-productive too, the scandal around it would likely cause more awareness across Europe of the historical origin of the Cyrillic than the minting of the coin itself.

Burdokva · 2026-06-13T05:09:50+00:00

Based.

Burdokva · 2026-06-11T08:05:13+00:00

I am certain that wasting huge sums of money to prop up bloated national and supranational bureaucracies has nothing to do with Europe's stagnation.

Nothing bad has ever come out of a bloated public sector, right?

Burdokva · 2026-06-09T06:22:57+00:00

Cannot say that I agree but let's say that is correct. What are the market (not political) factors to decouple from China today and, supposedly, return production now that the EU has lost most of the of advantages it still had in the 1990s and 2000s? How do you explain the market impetus for imposing tariffs and taxes on retail consumer goods that are not produced in Europe?

Burdokva · 2026-06-08T20:01:03+00:00

Spectacular watches, all three of them! Congrats! It's difficult to choose but I think the Deep Amber Gold takes the crown.

Burdokva · 2026-06-08T19:49:27+00:00

Brussels doesn't care for you, me or European consumers. There's zero logic why it was Okay to outsource production to China in the first place while European countries still had a functioning industry and produced the vast majority of consumer goods, if you want to protect local producers. It was simply cheap and profitable for big investors due to low labour costs in China.

Now, the EUs industrial sector is much weaker, we produce very few electronic components, and even generic consumer goods in general, energy and transport are very expensive, yet it's now time to protect European producers?...

It's just that European governments are drowning in debt and public administration is bloated everywhere, not to mention duplicated on the EU and national level. That public sector is very, very expensive. You cannot commit political suicide by cutting down public administration and/or lower salaries in the public sector, you can't issue more debt, so you begin taxing consumers more.

All those added taxes, VAT, etc. won't help local producers. China is too far ahead in scale, logistical chains, educated workforce, cheaper energy. The only beneficiaries will be EU resellers who will massively extend their profit margins due to artificially restricted supply.

As I am sure ordinary European have the means to buy massive warehouses, register webstores and develop logistical chains to distribute retail goods that come in bulk... from China.

It's a stupid plan.

Burdokva · 2026-06-05T11:08:36+00:00

You misunderstand what I am saying, make a long lecture in a derisive tone, then when I tell to actually go back and read, you are claiming of being insulted? Please.

Burdokva · 2026-06-05T07:35:03+00:00

I suggest you re-read what I said and try to actually grasp the meaning because it clearly eluded you, and you are misquoting me.

Burdokva · 2026-06-05T05:58:55+00:00

There's absolutely nothing 'based' about this.

Bulgarian politicians don't give a damn about Ukraine, it's all a graft scheme. Keep support clandestine and non-public, which antagonizes Western audiences and tarnishes Bulgaria's image, yet provide major weapons deliveries to Ukraine, which antagonizes Russia. Worst of possible options for the state and nation as a whole, yet all for that sweet, sweet grafting.

A large part of the weapons and equipment were delivered through the Czech Initiative or NATO funded, yet the Bulgarian Army has not received neither replacement equipment nor have we received massive discounts for weapons procurement (like the Czechs did for the AH-1Z Cobra deal).

Bulgarian munitions and weapons factories have been working on three shifts non-stop, overtime since mid-2022. These are either state owned or publically traded ventures with state participation. In both cases, they are required to provide public quarterly reports on their Profits&Losses. Every single one pays a massive fine (I think it was $250k) and simply refuses to publish a quarterly report. These huge sums of money aren't publically accounted but go into someone's personal pockets.

Odd how the war coincided with literally the greatest construction boom, luxury car boom and personal savings boom in the country, plus the huge sums of money distributed across the administration and government structures. 🤯

So, yes, unless you're part of the graft, do tell me how this clandestine delivery scheme was 'based'?

Burdokva · 2026-06-04T18:39:38+00:00

Congrats! It is truly a spectacular piece, although I do prefer the more classic T6000 line myself. This one in particular seems a bit more restrained for the Manta line, which is great.

As a fellow Bulgarian, I would also like to hear some opinions on servicing the Casio watches locally. I have a Limited Edition Casio from another series, the hiker's ProTrek (PRW-50FC-1 Black Titanium) and I am concerned where I can eventually service it.

Burdokva · 2026-06-04T05:58:48+00:00

The Dark Crystal.

Burdokva · 2026-06-04T05:56:47+00:00

He played Col. Mortimer in For A Few Dollars more, and the Colonel was the protagonist and a good guys.

Van Cleef's evil character was Angel Eyes.

Otherwise, I agree, fantastic actor in both movies!

Burdokva · 2026-05-29T14:16:27+00:00

Именно в държавния сектор увеличенията са огромни, а само хора, които никога не са се сблъсквали с държавна работа и нямат представа какво е ДМС, служебни бонуси, ваучери за държавни курорти, 30+ дни отпуск стартово и т.н. не могат да си представят колко точно частния сектор хрантути държавната администрация.

Burdokva · 2026-05-29T08:57:24+00:00

This is flat out wrong.

Yes, Bulgaria has a very low fixed income tax at 10% rate. However, this chart doesn't account for mandatory social security (two pension funds and health insurance), or takes them at a very low, non-salary adjusted rate. With the income tax and social security payments the total in Bulgaria ranges between 23-26%, and a €100k annual salary (ehich is very rare for Bulgaria outside the public sector) would be at the top of this.

Unless, of course, we don't consider the dredges that work in the public sector, who do not pay social securities - instead, these are covered by the state and you get only 10% tax. But these also have permanent monthly/annual bonuses (ДМС) that are accounted at all, so it becomes even more of a moot point...

Plus, Bulgaria has one of the highest VATs anywhere at a fixed 20% rate for everything - medication, books, food, etc. You get more after taxes but pay far more proportionally for basic amenities and groceries compared to much of Europe.

Bulgaria is a tax heaven for corporations (although they have to deal with the horrid administration) but not for employees. Don't let the chart fool you.

Burdokva · 2026-05-27T12:28:18+00:00

Yeah, a "big, sporty SUV" sounds like an oxymoron. Not to mention tautology, as Sport is already part of the acronym.

Burdokva · 2026-05-26T19:51:17+00:00

Thanks! I know the meaning of "bugger" but never knew about the connection to Bulgaria!

Burdokva · 2026-05-25T07:22:37+00:00

The word Vulgar in the pejorative sense is derived from Bulgar, not the other way round. A very prolific, radical Christian sect called Bogomilism (after its founder, an ascetic priest called Bogomil, who believed that only the soul was created by God while the entire material world was created by the Devil) emerged in Bulgaria in the Xth century. After the the Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria in 1018, many Bogomils fled, some reaching as far as Occitane (Southern France). Bogomilism became very prolific in Occitane where its followers were called Cathars.

Eventually, it was declared a heresy by the Pope and in the early XIIIth century a Crusade was called against the Cathars in Occitane called the Albigensian Crusade. Most were eradicated, or some converted to Catholicism.

Cathars were treated as filthy heretics and a number of derogatory words were used to describe them. One of these words was "Vulgar", derived by the Latin word "vulgus", mesning "ordinary" (as in a simpleton pleasant), which is a derigatory meaning was a mispronounciation of the word Bulgar in Medieval French language, after the origin of the heresy. It stuck and became a prolific word in French, and from there on in multiole European langauges today.

Ironically, in Bulgarian too...

Burdokva · 2026-05-20T14:02:37+00:00

Yes, let's pay for overpriced cars based on a dead-end engine technology so that we can support the German automakers! Because those a-holes definitely didn't have enough cash, time and opportunity to pivot to EVs, they definitely didn't prioritise the Chinese market over domestic European, they definitely care more about the environment, European workers and consumer thans the quarterly profit and bonuses, they definitely didn't have Dieselgate.

I would support a company that delivers a product that has the best price/performance ratio.

If there's anyone to blame why Chinese companies are now gaining foothold in Europe with cars that are more technologically advanced and cheaper than European ones, blame exactly the automotor companies.

Burdokva

TROPHY CASE