The Off Topic Topic

[The Larch]

[Syt]

I just discovered there is a whole subreddit devoted to Ea-Nasir, an Iraqi copper merchant circa 1750 BC, who was (apparently) really rude and sold bad quality copper - as noted in a famous cuneiform "letter" complaining to him about these things.

It's r/reallyshittycopper

What's even more bizarre - recently, another letter was translated, apparently by mr. Ea-Nasir, reassuring some customers (including one "Mr Shorty") that some dispute or other will be resolved ...

As a lawyer, this is hilarious - that files relating to some commercial dispute are among the earliest writings preserved.

Ea-Nasir's name lives on!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complaint_tablet_to_Ea-nasir

I recall in an exhibition about Byzantine history, they had a letter from a Roman sandal maker, answering a complaint from a customer. In it he said that his sandals are of the best quality, that none of his customers ever complained, that the sandals very likely broke because the customer made alterations without the necessary skill, that he would offer no refund AND that he would charge in full for the repairs. In all, it sounded like a response you might get from any customer service today.

[celedhring]

The first known non-religious Catalan text is a dispute around a feudal contract. I guess whining has a way to trascend the ages.

[Sheilbh]

Interesting thing going on in the Aussie elections - the Teal Independents:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-20/teal-independents-who-are-candidates-what-electorates/101000412

The intro:

Who are the 'teal independents'? Your questions answered about the candidates fighting for some of Australia's wealthiest electorates
By Sam Hawley and Stephen Smiley for ABC News Daily
Posted Wed 20 Apr 2022 at 12:30am

They've been labelled the "teal independents" — a group of mostly female candidates taking on mostly male Liberal MPs in some of Australia's wealthiest electorates, spanning the country from Perth and Adelaide to Sydney, Melbourne and parts of regional Victoria.

With millions of dollars in funding behind them from small donors and from the Climate 200 group set up by clean energy investor and son of Australia's first billionaire Simon Holmes à Court, their campaigns are making many in the Liberal Party nervous, with polls suggesting a close-run election.

So who are the "teal independents", where are they standing for election, and if a handful of them are successful, what will their impact be on which party can form government after May 21?

The ABC News Daily podcast has been speaking with chief elections analyst Antony Green to answer those questions.

They're the big story of this electio which was otherwise looking pretty close. Because they're independents and not a party running everywhere it's difficult to poll but I think there's been a big MRP which indicates that they might not sweep everywhere but are likely to take a few big scalps

[Eddie Teach]

Are the Liberals the left or right party in Australia? And are they the governing party?

[Sheilbh]

Yes they're the governing party and they're on the right - sometimes, especially in polls, called the Coalition because of their long running (I think it goes back to the forties) alliance with the Nationals.

[viper37]

It's sad as from what little I've seen it does appear Depp was in the right and she really messed with him.

I think it pretty clear that Heard may have been violent as well, but if you're saying "Depp was in the right" you haven't been paying attention.  Depp was also violent against Heard (as well as abusing copious drugs and alcohol throughout).

Abusing drugs and alcohol is a given, so did she.  Violent, I'm not certain it has been proven.

Anyhow, it's irrelevant.  The internet is portraying Depp as the victim, not Heard, and that's why he won.  He won't command Jack Sparrow's like wages for his future work, but he'll work again and Heard's reputation will be that of a crazy woman.  True or not is irrelevant, as with most trials or public opinion.

[Barrister]

No posts on Ferdinand Marcos Jr. winning the Philippines presidential election?

[Josquius]

No posts on Ferdinand Marcos Jr. winning the Philippines presidential election?

Hadn't even seen a news article.

Kid of old dictator, but is he connected to the outgoing trump wannabe/drugs kingpin crazy guy?

[Josquius]

Oh. And this is definitely a still from a horror movie.



Swedish pm gonna be pregnant soon

[The Larch]

Is she wearing a life jacket?

[Barrister]

No posts on Ferdinand Marcos Jr. winning the Philippines presidential election?

Hadn't even seen a news article.

Kid of old dictator, but is he connected to the outgoing trump wannabe/drugs kingpin crazy guy?

You know he is!

His running mate for VP is Sara Duterte Carpio, the outgoing President's daughter.

And yes, Marcos Jr promises to continue Duterte's war on drugs.

Really surprised this has gotten very little world news coverage that I've seen.

[The Larch]

No posts on Ferdinand Marcos Jr. winning the Philippines presidential election?

Hadn't even seen a news article.

Kid of old dictator, but is he connected to the outgoing trump wannabe/drugs kingpin crazy guy?

You know he is!

His running mate for VP is Sara Duterte Carpio, the outgoing President's daughter.

And yes, Marcos Jr promises to continue Duterte's war on drugs.

Really surprised this has gotten very little world news coverage that I've seen.

I've seen it reported, but reaction seems to be an collective shoulder shrug, some kind of "yeah, he's the scion of a terribly corrupt and dictatorial political dinasty, but at least he's not a thug" reaction. I don't really know enough about Philippine politics to have an opinion or take on why they've elected such a guy.

[Barrister]

I've seen it reported, but reaction seems to be an collective shoulder shrug, some kind of "yeah, he's the scion of a terribly corrupt and dictatorial political dinasty, but at least he's not a thug" reaction. I don't really know enough about Philippine politics to have an opinion or take on why they've elected such a guy.

I certainly can't claim to be an expert on Filipino politics either.

I just remember quite a bit of coverage of the "People Power" protests back in the 80s that overthrew Marcos Sr's regime, plus there's a very large Filipino population in Canada.

[Josquius]

No posts on Ferdinand Marcos Jr. winning the Philippines presidential election?

Hadn't even seen a news article.

Kid of old dictator, but is he connected to the outgoing trump wannabe/drugs kingpin crazy guy?

You know he is!

His running mate for VP is Sara Duterte Carpio, the outgoing President's daughter.

And yes, Marcos Jr promises to continue Duterte's war on for the drugs market.

Really surprised this has gotten very little world news coverage that I've seen.

Fixed.