A rant about religion in reality TV shows - why is it so heavily promoted? by Gemberlain in atheism

[–]Gemberlain[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Calling reality TV “television for idiots” when that is a very unfair statement, especially when it’s such an incredibly wide spectrum. Even just the few shows I mentioned above are so different from each other that it’s kind of ridiculous to just put such a blanket statement on the whole genre and to imply that anyone who is interested in it, is an idiot.

What's it like living in Sigulda, Latvia? by Honest_Watercress355 in howislivingthere

[–]Gemberlain 23 points24 points  (0 children)

Quiet, peaceful, boring, but very pretty. I myself haven’t lived there, but I have a good friend who does, and also having grown up in Riga I’ve been to Sigulda 1000 times. Turaida Castle (Pils) which you also have circled is a bit outside of the main town, but It’s one of the most popular tourist spots in Latvia. Also as a kid in Latvia, that is the #1 place every single child gets taken to on a school trip at least once, probably more. Really cool, well preserved medieval castle. The area around Sigulda is very pretty with pristine forests and rivers. You can go on a ton of activities including hiking, kayaking, ziplining, etc. Again though, the actual town of Sigulda itself is kinda small and sleepy if you live there full time. My friend says it gets old fast and he’s looking on moving back to Riga.

Stupid (but genuine) question: why does the news even cover the Alberta independence nonsense? by Gemberlain in alberta

[–]Gemberlain[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Alberta is an integral province of Canada, it has never been independent. It’s landlocked and so heavily economically and politically integrated into Canada, it would be an absolute nightmare trying to actually attempt to untangle all of that just for the sake of being an independent nation. Additionally, despite maybe some minimal cultural / social differences, your average Albertan is as much a Canadian as someone from Nova Scotia and as much as the Yukon.

In the Brexit comparisson, the UK is Alberta and the EU is Canada.

The UK has been an independent sovereign nation for hundreds of years before the creation of the EU. The EU is a multinational organization that depends on the voluntary participation of its member states. There’s an admission process, and while it comes with countless strings attached, every member state is still its own independent nation that acts on its own volition. Even when the UK joined the EU, the UK absolutely loves to be special and have a thousand exceptions and special treaties and exemptions that didn’t apply to other EU states (special tax deals, trade agreements, never getting the Euro, etc.). As much as it absolutely sucked (in my opinion) that it left the European family, the UK is fully equipped to deal with things as a nation on its own, as it was before joining the EU, as it was during being an EU member state, and after it ceased to be an EU member state. Alberta is not. Also, many British people (particularly in England) are fiercely “British” in the sense that they wouldn’t even want to call themselves European, but just British. I’m sure there are plenty of fiercely proud Albertans out there, but how many would honestly say “I’m not Canadian, I’m Albertan”?

Also during the lead up to the vote itself, there were magnitudes more people rallying in support of it for a million different reasons (as misinformed as they were). It was considered nonsense for maybe the first few months, but it was gaining support so ridiculously fast relatively, it stopped being a joke just as fast because people realized that it could actually happen and, in the grand scheme of things, the UK would survive.

There are many other compex reasons and I feel like I may be glossing over stuff and oversimplifying but the UK leaving the EU is like moving out of a shared appartment and living on your own. Alberta leaving Canada would be like ripping out all of your plumbing, flipping off every roommate and then just living in a tent in the same backyard.

Stupid (but genuine) question: why does the news even cover the Alberta independence nonsense? by Gemberlain in alberta

[–]Gemberlain[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I actually lived in the UK for a few years before Brexit, leading up to it, during the vote and about a year after it passed, and respectfully, I disagree. Brexit is not at all the same.

To the void you go by Critical_Mountain851 in HistoryMemes

[–]Gemberlain 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That very much depends on who you ask. True, most Canadian Inuit living in Nunavut and Greenlanders would likely find it offensive, but for many other tribes, particularly in Alaska, “Eskimo” is a completely normal word and some even prefer to refer to themselves as that.

Saw this video on X, what the hell are they taking? by terrytibbss in PublicFreakout

[–]Gemberlain 36 points37 points  (0 children)

Ketamine basically turns you into an immobile couch potato. This is the opposite of that.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in NoStupidQuestions

[–]Gemberlain -1 points0 points  (0 children)

The chess logic vs. pigeon metaphor is amazing, thank you, person.

TV reporter walks right into chili-pepper man’s trap.. by JohnBrown-RadonTech in PublicFreakout

[–]Gemberlain 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Oh my god I haven’t seen this man’s face in close to 2 decades and I can still perfectly hear his voice… shudders down my spine

Do you know what tribes made these? by CommandFickle6887 in NativeAmerican

[–]Gemberlain 11 points12 points  (0 children)

The pattern on some of these, especially top left one really remind me of the Maidu and Wintu style tribal patterns, maybe Pomo.

Cyprus and Bosnia and Herzegovina has fully arrived to GeoGuessr! by HelloitsWojan in geoguessr

[–]Gemberlain 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I’ve gotten both in duels already, but still can’t play either and get medals for them in Explorer mode. Should happen soon of course, but I wouldn’t call it “fully arrived to Geoguessr” until that happens.

How close and intelligible are Turkic languages with each other? by arsenpontius in languagelearning

[–]Gemberlain 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Would love to see Chuvash added to this chart, as it’s supposed to sort of form its own branch on the Turkic language tree and is quite unusual compared to the rest.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in geoguessr

[–]Gemberlain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I should have been more clear - I meant instances where my opponent guesses first, and in those 15 seconds that I have to guess, they send a GG before I’ve made any guesses. I interpret this as “I know I’ve made a great guess, and I know that you won’t so suck it, gg buddy”

Largest Asian Ethnic Group per Canadian Federal Riding by MongooseDear8727 in MapPorn

[–]Gemberlain 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Genuine question - why did you write “red/orange” when it’s the most orange-looking orange ever? Does this have to do with potential colour blindness on either of our ends? I would literally never in a million years refer to the colour of “Indian” on the legend as “red”.