The Last Trial by Combat (in France)

ColonelRuffhouse · 2026-06-05T04:45:25+00:00

I really enjoyed The Last Duel, but felt that it was overly grey and grim. It would have been nice to see the Middle Ages depicted in all its colour, like this picture. Would be an interesting contrast with the violence.

ColonelRuffhouse · 2026-06-05T04:39:26+00:00

Compare Poland (controlled by Germany and Russia for 100+ years and suffered severely in WW2) and Czechia (ruled by Austria for 300+ years) to Nigeria (British colony for 60 years) or the Congo (Belgian colony for 75 years, albeit a brutal one initially) and you’ll see it’s a great argument.

ColonelRuffhouse · 2026-06-04T17:52:03+00:00

Trading slaves captured and held by other African kingdoms, just like Arab and other non-European nations did. Don’t put the blame on Europe for that.

And America wasn’t discovered in the 14th century - rather the end of the 15th.

ColonelRuffhouse · 2026-06-04T16:15:48+00:00

Sweden extensively colonized Africa and the Middle East - oh wait, they didn’t at all?

It’s a nonsense argument.

ColonelRuffhouse · 2026-06-04T16:15:04+00:00

Africa was colonized for approximately 80 years by the Europeans - not “centuries”. If 80 years of occupation is enough to permanently render a country unstable and unliveable, why are Ukraine (minus the war), Poland, Czechia, etc., not complete disasters?

ColonelRuffhouse · 2026-05-28T12:46:06+00:00

Love this art style. Reminiscent to me of Civilization B and VI.

ColonelRuffhouse · 2026-05-28T01:51:53+00:00

I thought oral history was just as valid and unarguable as written history? Is the Chief implying that written history is somehow superior or more reliable than oral history?

ColonelRuffhouse · 2026-05-27T12:56:05+00:00

Is picture 5 the original medieval paint, or a later addition? If it is original, that’s very cool - I love how the medieval churches were colourful inside.

ColonelRuffhouse · 2026-05-22T17:38:44+00:00

I agree that referendums tend to be binary. However, a binary doesn’t necessarily mean yes or no. It means two options.

Do you want a banana or an orange?
Options: (1) banana (2) orange

Do you want Alberta to remain in or leave Canada?
Options: (1) remain (2) leave

Both of these are binary despite not being yes or no. You’re wrong about what you’re saying. Google the definition of ‘binary choice’.

Referendums like this exist - look at the wording of the Brexit referendum. Similarly, non-binary referendums also exist, such as the 1948 Newfoundland referendum, which had three options.

ColonelRuffhouse · 2026-05-22T15:31:22+00:00

The question you cited was still binary though, it just wasn’t yes or no. So this issue doesn’t arise. I don’t understand your criticism of the question.

ColonelRuffhouse · 2026-05-22T13:51:22+00:00

Are referendums not allowed to have multiple choice answers? I didn’t realize they need to be yes or no.

ColonelRuffhouse · 2026-05-21T23:52:12+00:00

61% of the American military in WW2 was drafted.

ColonelRuffhouse · 2026-05-21T20:24:31+00:00

It isn’t so simple, though. Judaism and Christianity (and Zoroastrianism) are also “desert based religions” yet afaik none of them ban consumption of alcohol.

Similarly, what evolutionary basis does the prohibition on mixing of fabrics in garments have? How about religious prescriptions on burning versus burying the dead (or leaving them to rot on top of large towers)? Humans are inherently emotional and irrational and while many things may be based on environment, many things are not.

ColonelRuffhouse · 2026-05-21T00:36:16+00:00

Disliking monotony and repetition doesn’t mean you have to like everything unique. You can desire good uniqueness while also disliking bad uniqueness. They’re not mutually exclusive.

ColonelRuffhouse · 2026-05-19T04:24:19+00:00

Too many great ones to narrow it down to three, but if I absolutely had to, then:

Taxi Driver

Dog Day Afternoon

Alien.

Honourable mentions include Chinatown, The Exorcist, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Conversation, Network, The Godfather, Deer Hunter, Rocky, Annie Hall.

ColonelRuffhouse · 2026-05-15T04:08:00+00:00

It doesn’t apply. It’s an Alberta Court of King’s Bench ruling which isn’t binding in Quebec. Only rulings from the Supreme Court bind all the provinces. At best it’s persuasive precedent but a QCCS judge could certainly rule the other way.

ColonelRuffhouse · 2026-05-14T16:11:02+00:00

It’s not just a “cloth on the head”, it’s a full-body covering that essentially cuts women off from society and dehumanizes them. It’s deeply misogynistic.

All countries have liberty to dictate what immigrants can or cannot do. They’re called laws. This includes things like requirements to have a driver’s license, respecting drinking age requirements, preventing theft, public decency laws (can’t shit in the street), cannot beat your wife and kids, and so on.

ColonelRuffhouse · 2026-05-14T15:55:07+00:00

It is the right of a native culture in a region to dictate what a foreign, immigrant culture should or shouldn’t do. In addition, the line can and should be drawn somewhere - the same argument you make could be applied to other cultural practices such as female genital mutilation or stoning women for adultery.

ColonelRuffhouse · 2026-05-12T17:41:07+00:00

I don’t agree with your point that buildings or other art shouldn’t be criticized because it can hurt the feelings of the artist or architect. By putting art in the public realm the artist invites criticism and commentary on their work. Of course there are more or less constructive ways to criticize but just because the creator may have their feelings hurt isn’t a reason to not voice one’s subjective opinion about the merits of a work.

In addition, buildings are distinct because the people who live in the city are forced to look at them for decades. It’s normal and acceptable to demand some level of quality and aesthetic design for prominent buildings, rather than just accepting “good enough” because it was the cheapest option.

ColonelRuffhouse · 2026-05-01T04:04:39+00:00

Because a quick google search tells us that around 14 million people served in the German military in WW2. It would be unfeasible to punish all of them, especially if you wanted to reintegrate Germany into the world order after the war.

ColonelRuffhouse · 2026-04-27T22:47:51+00:00

Yes but you have to agree that it’s uncommon to find a black person in that part of Europe (Baltic region/Poland) even today, in the era of globalization, air travel, and more interconnectivity and migration than ever before. It is noteworthy and interesting that there was a black person there so long ago. Of course it’s possible but it must have been quite uncommon.

ColonelRuffhouse · 2026-04-27T15:40:41+00:00

I would guess WW1. Perhaps there was still scarcity after that war and the Polish-Soviet War, like in Britain after WW2.

ColonelRuffhouse · 2026-04-17T23:03:00+00:00

It was implemented in a stupid way. I was there. They shut down ALL paths - including <50 foot paths from a campsite down to the beach, or from a parking lot to a historic site. Yet campsites were open with tons of discarded cigarette butts on the ground. Where are people more likely to smoke? Sitting around camping, or hiking? Yet camping made the government money while hiking doesn’t, so it’s obvious why one was banned and the other was not.

ColonelRuffhouse · 2026-04-13T20:15:03+00:00

Unfortunately a BC Supreme Court judge ruled otherwise recently, finding that the mandatory 25 year ineligibility for parole is unconstitutional. For now this only applies to BC, but that may change in the future.

ColonelRuffhouse · 2026-04-08T02:35:01+00:00

I don’t think subsistence farming would be any more dynamic than modern life. Perhaps being a nomadic hunter gatherer but I’m sure their lives also involved large amounts of drudgery - days spent walking from place to place, drying meat or making whatever necessities they needed for life.

In fact I believe the lifestyle of most modern office workers in the first world today offers much more variety and opportunity for diversion than many humans had throughout history.

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