The Off Topic Topic

[mongers]

I have a pdf file open that's a key to the UKs network railway timetable, all 85mb of it. 

I'm just about beginning to get my head around how the trains system is organised and functions here.   

[DGuller]

Many people who've had to flee from Communism are less than impressed by Communism.

It's an acquired taste, it takes extensive education to truly appreciate it.

[Valmy]

Makes sense to me.  Why would children/grandchildren of Vietnamese refugees want to display the communist regime's flag? 

Well generally when we have the 'XXX Students Association' at UT Austin it is students from that country not second and third generation children of emigrees. So that was why I found it weird. I would be surprised to see the Russian Students Association flying the Soviet flag as well.

Also the only times I had ever seen the South Vietnamese Flag before was on bumper stickers of Vietnam War Vets and in movies and documentaries about the Vietnamese War. I did not realize that was anything but an old symbol of a fallen regime. I was clearly very wrong

[DGuller]

In high school, in my BC calculus class, the teacher was the only American in the room.  There were 24 Russian immigrants and 6 Chinese immigrants in the class.  He pinned the picture of the red Soviet flag below the American flag so that we would feel comfortable pledging allegiance to the flag.

[Razgovory]

The Republic of Vietnam may one day come back.  Stranger things have happened.  An interesting dynamics occurs in the US with refugees.  People who flee their home country come to the US.  Their children and grandchildren are raised American, but they don't quite forget the indignities their parents and grandparents endured.  Some of children and grandchildren become rich and powerful, and they make a point of reminding the old country they did not forget.  Sometimes the immigrants themselves become powerful.  The British were reminded about the famine in Ireland by American leaders for about century and I can't imagine the Soviets were happy to see Zbigniew Brzezinski across the table from them.

[Josquius]

A man dies and goes to heaven.

As he sits in a chair Jesus Christ takes a seat in front of him.

The man is confused because he is also surrounded by clocks

The man asks Jesus "What are all these clocks for???"

Jesus replies "These are lying clocks, the more you lie, everytime you lie, the hand turns one hour ahead"

The man asks "How about Mother Teresa's clock?"

Jesus points it out and said "It is at 12, meaning she never told a lie"

The man stares in awe and points out a clock, "Whose clock is that?"

Jesus answers,"That is Sally's, it is at two, meaning she told 2 lies."

The man gets curious because he can't find Donald Trump's clock.

The man finally asks "Where is Donald Trump's clock?"

Jesus calmly looks him dead in the eye and says,

"It's being used as a ceiling fan in God's office"




The joke made me laugh though I can't help but find issue with the image of mother theresa it presents. Surely there's a better example that could go there.

[grumbler]

http://www.jokeindex.com/joke.asp?Joke=502

I think that the first time I heard that joke it was from my father and Nixon was the president.

[Razgovory]

I didn't think you had a father.  I always just assumed you crawled out of the primordial ooze.

[jimmy olsen]

This "historical" RPG by this Gamergater developer has come out, Kingdom Come Deliverance.

It takes place in 14th century Bohemia, so the Rock Paper Shotgun reviewer immediately pointed out two glaring issues warranting "further discussion". One, is the lack of black people in the game, and secondly, the negative portrayal of Cumans in the game.

But that's not what really hit me in the head. But rather, this comment under the review:

The problem with this game being described as historically accurate is that it presents a historical theory to benefit its desired story / game style, as does all historical fiction. I've got no issue with historical inaccuracies in fiction – Braveheart for example is a great story despite its historical failings – but to describe it as accurate would be wrong.

This piece of entertainment shows a Bohemia with limited female roles and no PoC – this is an inherently conservative reading of the sources. That's not bad history but would be strenuously argued by other historians – calling this 'accurate' gives the idea there is no such argument.

Qhy does this matter? Our cultures are based upon a foundation of our shared history. If that is distorted by the idea that (for example) women were never economic actors in their own right then it becomes harder to improve our culture to one of better equality

I am sorry but in what way does it help the equality of either women or persons of colour if we pretend that they have been enjoying equal rights (or even a presence) in medieval Europe as white males of noble birth?

To me that akin to trying to demonise the Nazis: in their case, you need the context of their humanity to truly grasp the horror they represent and the horror we must be vigilant to avoid as it can come back any time it is let to.

In case of medieval society, it should be emphasised how your birth and gender decided your fate in the caste system they had, precisely to point out the wrongs of that system.

As the capital of the Holy Roman Empire during the later 14th century, it's possible that you might run into a diplomat or merchant that's from Africa or the Levant, however given that's pretty far inland that's going to be rather unlikely. A port city is a much more likely place to run into people of color in Europe at the time.

[Valmy]

As the capital of the Holy Roman Empire during the later 14th century, it's possible that you might run into a diplomat or merchant that's from Africa or the Levant, however given that's pretty far inland that's going to be rather unlikely. A port city is a much more likely place to run into people of color in Europe at the time.

Again the Cuman warriors in this game are a big plot point. If they don't count I hardly think a North African or Levantine would.

But I do not even know if the game goes to Prague.

[alfred russel]

Again the Cuman warriors in this game are a big plot point. If they don't count I hardly think a North African or Levantine would.

But I do not even know if the game goes to Prague.

I'm not an expert on the Cumans, but I suspect that a lot of the Cumans showing up in the relevant places during this era were from areas now considered european, and probably looked as much like the people that live there now as they did people from central asia.

[Valmy]

Again the Cuman warriors in this game are a big plot point. If they don't count I hardly think a North African or Levantine would.

But I do not even know if the game goes to Prague.

I'm not an expert on the Cumans, but I suspect that a lot of the Cumans showing up in the relevant places during this era were from areas now considered european, and probably looked as much like the people that live there now as they did people from central asia.

The Europeans certainly considered them intimidating Asiatic Tartars at the time, I don't know what modern POC-catagorizer experts would consider them.

[jimmy olsen]

As the capital of the Holy Roman Empire during the later 14th century, it's possible that you might run into a diplomat or merchant that's from Africa or the Levant, however given that's pretty far inland that's going to be rather unlikely. A port city is a much more likely place to run into people of color in Europe at the time.

Again the Cuman warriors in this game are a big plot point. If they don't count I hardly think a North African or Levantine would.

But I do not even know if the game goes to Prague.

The game does not go to Prague as far as I can tell.

[Josquius]

The 404 message for the New Zealand government's website.



Well played

[MadBurgerMaker]

Ugh the grackles are back.  From what i can tell, all they do is shit everywhere and make a bunch of noise.