Recent posts

#21

Off the Record / Re: Grand unified books thread

Last post by Savonarola - Today at 12:22:42 PM

I finished reading The Viking Book of Poetry of the English Speaking World, first edition from 1941, revised in 1958.  It's comprehensive, so it's interesting to see what was thought of as "Canonical" in those days.  Elizabeth Barrett Browning only had a couple works in; I expected that since she was re-evaluated with the waves of feminist scholarship beginning in the 1970s.  My 1990s edition of the Norton Anthology of British Literature has her complete verse novel "Aurora Leigh" in it (which I don't think is very good.  In my opinion it's just not an idea that worked; and since no other major poet tried to write a verse novel I don't think that's a fringe opinion.)  Anne Bradstreet was also missing; I had assumed that she was always "One for Team America," but now I think maybe she was also rediscovered with the women's movement.

The poets are listed by the year they were born.  That surprised me in some places; I didn't ever think of Stephen Crane and William Butler Yeats as contemporaries or John Keats and Ralph Waldo Emerson.  Of course Keats and Crane died young and Yeats and Emerson were best appreciated in their old age.

I learned that some of the earliest middle English poems are Christmas carols; which is why "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" or "Tidings of Comfort and Joy" have archaic language in them.

Most of the poets at the end of the book were born at the final years of the 19th century; and while going through that period I kept thinking of the Blackadder line about the man who was "Sick of the war, the blood, the noise, the endless poetry."  Though I did discover this one by GK Chesterton that I liked:

Elegy in a Country Churchyard

The men that worked for England
They have their graves at home:
And birds and bees of England
About the cross can roam.
 
But they that fought for England,
Following a falling star,
Alas, alas for England
They have their graves afar.
 
And they that rule in England,
In stately conclave met,
Alas, alas for England
They have no graves as yet.

#22

Off the Record / Re: The Off Topic Topic

Last post by Admiral Yi - Today at 12:18:32 PM

I don't recall any reporting about Rittenhouse wading into a demo.

#23

Off the Record / Re: What does a BIDEN Presiden...

Last post by grumbler - Today at 12:14:33 PM

I haven't follow this closely. Would you say this made MTG and the GOP look like tools and the Democrats reasonable, or is this more of a "Look at all these clowns in congress! Both sides!" thing?

More of a MTG yammering constantly and AOC and Jasmin Crockett tossing back zingers while the chair haplessly tries to restore order.

#24

Off the Record / Re: The Off Topic Topic

Last post by Jacob - Today at 12:07:04 PM

There's that other reactionary cause celebre guy (Kyle Rittenhouse or something like that) who shot some BLM guys he felt threatened by when he waded into their demo while wielding his rifle. IIRC at least one of them was white.

I think the fair game doctrine is being expanded to include left-wing activists whatever their race, in addition to Black people.

#25

Off the Record / Re: What does a BIDEN Presiden...

Last post by Jacob - Today at 11:57:17 AM

I haven't follow this closely. Would you say this made MTG and the GOP look like tools and the Democrats reasonable, or is this more of a "Look at all these clowns in congress! Both sides!" thing?

#26

Off the Record / Re: The Anime Thread

Last post by Jacob - Today at 11:56:15 AM

I've never really been an anime watcher beyond Miyazaki's work, but recently we've started watching One Piece with my boy. It was mainly "let's watch something together" thing, but I've been positively surprised by just how good it is.

Great characters, great writing, funny, with really good commentary on society and the human condition.

It's a bit of a commitment, with more than 1000 episodes at this point (we're in the mid 500s right now), but I've found it totally worth it.

Apparently it's one of the world's biggest selling entertainment properties, with more than 500 million units sold (rivalling Harry Potter).

#27

Off the Record / Re: [Canada] Canadian Politics...

Last post by Jacob - Today at 11:50:20 AM

#28

Gaming HQ / Re: New Paradox Tinto Game - "...

Last post by Zanza - Today at 11:47:34 AM

Definitely looking forward to play in the HRE. Brandenburg, Bavaria, Palatine, Hansa, Habsburg, Holland, Milan, Provence, Savoy, Bohemia, ... So many fun options.

#29

Off the Record / Re: Israel-Hamas War 2023

Last post by Barrister - Today at 11:45:05 AM

The establishment of Israel in Palestine was a completely different thing to regular immigration into an established country.

So first of all the large majority of israelis were born in Israel and aren't immigrants.  The number seems to be between 70-80% were born in the country (it seems to depend if you measure just jews, or the entire population which includes arab israelis).

But second of all nobody has ever said that Israel was a "regular" country.  I've long said that because modern Palestinians think of themselves as a nation, that therefore they are a nation - no more justification is needed.  But nobody thought of "Palestine" as being a nation in the 19th or first half of the 20th century.  Jewish immigration was all legally done, both before and after the creation of Israel.

[was regular immigration]

#30

Off the Record / Re: Israel-Hamas War 2023

Last post by OttoVonBismarck - Today at 11:30:20 AM

The establishment of Israel in Palestine was a completely different thing to regular immigration into an established country.

The basis of the Jewish population was regular immigration, the foundation of the State is not dissimilar from how many States have been founded--by its leaders proclaiming it as such. I happen to live in such a state, I assure you it is a valid form of establishing one.