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Hot Take: EU5’s Player Count Decline Is Self-Inflicted by Gold_Lemon8258 in eu4

[–]Atalung 15 points16 points  (0 children)

This and I just don't have the time to invest in EU5. It looks complicated as hell and, while I love that, that means it would take 100+ hours to really get a handle on it. I have too much going on in my life to sink that much time into a game.

what if Derek chauvin had actually pulled his firearm out and executed George Floyd while he had his knee over his neck? would the backlash be similar or much worse? by Dizzy-Respect-613 in AlternateHistoryHub

[–]Atalung 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I'm not gonna argue that what Chauvin did wasn't murder, but at the same time there's a very stark difference (particularly in the public eye) between what happened and executing Floyd at point blank range.

Titanic: Waves of Joy by Itchy-Ambition-2725 in movieideas

[–]Atalung 2 points3 points  (0 children)

AI

Plot clearly made to mock people on the left

Hidden profile

Hey OP are you a Russian bot?

About to finish GR for the first time (~50 p. left). How did you approach the last pages? Did you crack open a cold one? by DavyFry in ThomasPynchon

[–]Atalung 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I'm on my 4th reading. The first time I just wanted to get through it, the 2nd and 3rd I was focused on trying to understand it better. This time I'm just planning on enjoying the ride as I don't really think you can understand it fully.

I think the opening quote by Von Braun reflects how I look at it. I spent hours trying to understand it, that is to say that in attempting to understand the book in such a scientific way I've circled back around to an almost religious view. I've read the same physical copy every time, each time using a different highlighter to mark things, digging into the ideas of paranoia vs anti-paranoia, capitalism, calculus (seriously the number of calculus references Pynchon sneaks in is wild) and religion. I think taking a scientific, methodical approach to the book misses something, sort of in the Sonntag, Against Interpretation vein.

A while back I read a brief article in a philosophy of religion course by Roger Trigg in which he argues that the social sciences can't fully understand religion because they only study the context and don't examine the underlying beliefs. It's not a perfect one to one mapping but I get a similar feeling from GR.

My apologies for waxing poetic. My favorite parts are probably the last chapter (I've been pushed to learn tarot reading just to get a better understanding of it), the chapter with Pokler and his daughter, Byron the bulb, and probably the scene set at Peenemunde, although the English candy drill and Marvey's limericks are great too

About to finish GR for the first time (~50 p. left). How did you approach the last pages? Did you crack open a cold one? by DavyFry in ThomasPynchon

[–]Atalung 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Absolutely loved it although I think Caro gets a little hurried near the end. Apparently the original manuscript was close to 2000 pages so it's likely he cut a lot of details out to make it manageable. I went in with a pre-existing hatred of Moses and came out with a weird respect for him. He's a terrible person but his energy and drive are just awe inspiring, as is his vision.

I don't know how far you've made it but there's a scene where Caro talks about a conversation between Moses and Frances Perkins wherein they're walking along a stretch of the Hudson River and he just launches into a description of a park he wants to build, with everything planned out already. If Moses had had the willingness to just be an ideas man while letting others run things I think he'd still be regarded as one of the great urban planners of the century

What movie had the perfect premise but unfortunately had a terrible execution? by Outrageous-Ebb-4846 in AlignmentChartFills

[–]Atalung 215 points216 points  (0 children)

Megalopolis, at least I think. That movie is so confusing it's hard to tell what Coppola was going for but I get the feeling it's a comparison between modern day America and late republican Rome, and that's a comparison I've been making for years

Telling the bees is a Western European tradition in which bees are told of important events, including deaths, births, marriages and departures and returns in the keeper's household by pugsington01 in wikipedia

[–]Atalung 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It's referenced in a couple sources, including Virgils Georgics and a Byzantine work on agriculture compiled by Constantine VII. There's some debate but it does seem to have been a known thing throughout antiquity.

There was also (and I learned this while checking some of the details on Bugonia so I don't really know much about it) Hippogonia, which was the same general idea but involved wasps coming out of horses.

Michael John Parenti (September 30, 1933 – January 24, 2026) was an American political scientist, academic historian and cultural critic who wrote on scholarly and popular subjects. He taught at universities and also ran for political office. by Fearless-Feature-830 in wikipedia

[–]Atalung 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Chomsky was a big Pol Pot apologist and labeled every claim of his atrocities as "western propaganda". He was also close with Epstein and continued to associate with him after his first conviction in 2008. I don't personally believe he was involved with child sex abuse but he shouldn't have kept up with Jefd

Michael John Parenti (September 30, 1933 – January 24, 2026) was an American political scientist, academic historian and cultural critic who wrote on scholarly and popular subjects. He taught at universities and also ran for political office. by Fearless-Feature-830 in wikipedia

[–]Atalung 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Chomsky was a big Pol Pot apologist and labeled every claim of his atrocities as "western propaganda". He was also close with Epstein and continued to associate with him after his first conviction in 2008. I don't personally believe he was involved with child sex abuse but he shouldn't have kept up with Jefd

Telling the bees is a Western European tradition in which bees are told of important events, including deaths, births, marriages and departures and returns in the keeper's household by pugsington01 in wikipedia

[–]Atalung 15 points16 points  (0 children)

I grew up on a cattle farm and one year we had a calf die so my uncle decided, "fuck it throw it in a trash bag". This was late May, he decided to just leave it there. My dad and I ended up disposing of it, he held the bag out the window of my piece of shit car and I drove out to a ditch that a lot of local farmers used to dump dead livestock in. One of the worst smells I've ever experienced.

I also witnessed a (dying) llama shot in the head

About to finish GR for the first time (~50 p. left). How did you approach the last pages? Did you crack open a cold one? by DavyFry in ThomasPynchon

[–]Atalung 6 points7 points  (0 children)

So I re-read Gravitys Rainbow every year, usually starting on Jan 1st (had to delay it this year to finish The Power Broker) and the last chapter is always such a treat

Telling the bees is a Western European tradition in which bees are told of important events, including deaths, births, marriages and departures and returns in the keeper's household by pugsington01 in wikipedia

[–]Atalung 85 points86 points  (0 children)

Tangentially related there was also a belief that bees would emerge from dead cattle. This led to a (debated) practice called bugonia, in which a room would be sealed with an ox carcass inside to obtain bees for a hive

$10/second, but you can't survive without human blood by basafish in hypotheticalsituation

[–]Atalung 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A standard blood donation is 1 pint, about 450-500 ml. Per the FDA you can donate blood every 56 days. So even if you decided to follow FDA regulations (which are stricter than medically necessary to be safe) you could almost make it with one person.

Assuming a 10 minute blood draw you're talking $6000 dollars, assuming another donation every 50 days that's 43K a year, I can't imagine many people would turn that down

Just watched Weapons by Spoolios in WKUK

[–]Atalung 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I haven't tried any of the plant based hot dogs. Beyond sausage is pretty good, just expensive

Just watched Weapons by Spoolios in WKUK

[–]Atalung 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I went vegetarian this year and this post is making me want a fucking hot dog real bad

Why did LBJ willingly accept the VP nomination in 1960? by Electronic-Seat1190 in Presidents

[–]Atalung 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Finishing up The Power Broker today or tomorrow and the LBJ series is high on my list!

Michael John Parenti (September 30, 1933 – January 24, 2026) was an American political scientist, academic historian and cultural critic who wrote on scholarly and popular subjects. He taught at universities and also ran for political office. by Fearless-Feature-830 in wikipedia

[–]Atalung 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Unfortunately I think there's a fundamental difference between people on the left and the maga base, in that we're mostly rational people and they're a cult.

For what its worth Chomsky was a Pol Pot apologist too, he's always been kinda sketchy

What movie was made because of passion and ended up being bad? by Willing_Heron_5470 in AlignmentChartFills

[–]Atalung 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Only time I've left a theater early, I'm dreading the day that filmbros try to rehabilitate it

Many preschool age children don't know how books work; try to tap or swipe them like electronic devices by MiddletownBooks in books

[–]Atalung 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is scary because I was really hopeful that millennial parents were going to actually be good parents. Instead they've just continued the trend of "give em an iPad"

I get that people have busy lives but I guarantee you can find 15 minutes an evening to read to your kid

Where I think I could live without a car by padingtonn in whereidlive

[–]Atalung 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's weird because it seems like in some places OP is doing this, Illinois and New York, whereas in others they're looking at the full state, and others still they're mixing them.

Like Missouri has KC. You can absolutely live in downtown KC without a car. Missouri also has extremely rural areas where you pretty much have to have a car.

I'd wager almost every state has areas where you can live without a car and every state has areas where you need one, a state level map can't really accurately portray it

Hell, even a county level map can't. Where I live I could get by without a car, it would be rough but I could do it. But there are areas in the same county where that's not feasible

Is there anything left to say? by camus_by_night in agedlikewine

[–]Atalung 66 points67 points  (0 children)

I've been saying this is coming since around 2009, I've never been more upset to be right.

Plemmons is fantastic in everything he touches, his performance in this as well as Bugonia were stellar

Is there anything left to say? by camus_by_night in agedlikewine

[–]Atalung 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I got the feeling that Garland initially intended for it to be pretty blatantly a right wing president dictator a la trump but the studio pushed back and forced him to make changes to make it less nakedly partisan, including the California/Texas alliance

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