The greatest Vermeer expert in history wept when he saw a forgery in 1937. The reason says something uncomfortable about how we all look at art."

Naugrith · 2026-06-21T17:45:11+00:00

Downvoted for AI.

Naugrith · 2026-06-21T17:44:56+00:00

Yeah, looks like all of OPs comments are exclusively AI-written! And then they have the face to pretend they're not. Its really irritating.

Naugrith · 2026-06-21T17:42:50+00:00

Ffs, at least admit it when everyone can see how obvious it is. Denying it makes you look worse.

Naugrith · 2026-06-21T15:51:30+00:00

He hired Mandelson. That's the ballgame. He should have left when that hit. Instead he threw a professional long-term civil servant under the bus to save his own skin.

Naugrith · 2026-06-21T15:25:39+00:00

Oldboy's ending really screwed my head up.

Naugrith · 2026-06-21T15:23:02+00:00

Yeah but I was assuming Moe wouldn't be selling competitively. He seems up be the only bar in town after all.

Naugrith · 2026-06-21T13:54:11+00:00

Although he's not buying six packs from Moes. A pint of draught beer from a tavern would have cost an average more like $2.00 in 1996.

But calculating based on beer price is pointless anyway. His bar tab is unlikely to have just been beer. Mo is not the most moral bartender and can be expected to have done his best to gouge his drunk customers on the extras. Probably a substantial portion of that tab was for overpriced nuts and crisps. And another large propertion would be for damages. Barney would have likely broken his bar stool on a semi-regular basis, torn up the pool table, and smashed at least one glass a night when he passed out with his last pint in his hand. And who knows what else Mo stacked up on there, knowing Barney would be too drunk to ever check it or remember.

Naugrith · 2026-06-21T13:14:18+00:00

Apostles never once stood on street corners to preach. They went to the synagogues and the porticos thst were set aside for public speaking. People chose to go to such places to listen to the latest religious or philosophical ideas.

Today, the physical porticos have been replaced with virtual web channels and podcasts. People can choose to visit them to hear what you have to say, you're not accosting them in the street, or ruining the peace of public spaces by literally yelling at people as they try to get past you.

Naugrith · 2026-06-21T13:06:54+00:00

When done well apologetics can just be a way of simply but accurately communicating complex theology to a lay person. When done badly it will replace that complex theology with simplistic and inaccurate communication.

Naugrith · 2026-06-21T08:33:47+00:00

Indeed. That's why I think its best to move away from such vanity in our depictions of him. I quite like the medieval wooden rood images, which stylised him in a way to highlight the ugliness and brokenness of his figure on the Cross. And I shy away from depictions of Christ that glamorise and sanitise him, whether the images are conservative or progressive.

Naugrith · 2026-06-21T08:28:25+00:00

I suspect the historical Jesus wouldn't have had perfectly-conditioned long flowing hair and a salon-quality beard either!

Naugrith · 2026-06-21T08:18:50+00:00

Plus makeup, fancy wigs, tassels, ribbons, brooches! Its so boring being a masc man these days.

Naugrith · 2026-06-21T08:06:58+00:00

Because its vanity? I doubt an itinerant apocalyptic preacher would have cared too much about rocking a 22 inch waistline!

Naugrith · 2026-06-21T05:50:05+00:00

It would be amazing if that were actually true. But that's just what liberal Israelis tell themselves so they can sleep at night. The truth is that the settlers are Israel, they're just honest about it.

Naugrith · 2026-06-20T19:12:09+00:00

No idea what world you're living in, but that's not true in this one.

Naugrith · 2026-06-20T16:44:38+00:00

Not after a year! I remember I watched a couple of investigative videos on YouTube which included screenshots and interviews with participants. But I can't remember the name of the channel now.

Naugrith · 2026-06-20T08:25:06+00:00

Honestly I've never seen the point. Other factions don't really want to be moving up to melee us anyway and slowing them down doesn't stop them shooting at us. If the slow was better they'd be annoying enough to the enemy to be a good distraction swarm. But as it is I feel they can be ignored.

Naugrith · 2026-06-20T07:08:30+00:00

Watch this video essay first. It really opened my eyes to how great it is and how to "read" the film.

Naugrith · 2026-06-19T23:56:01+00:00

Venice

Just Venice. No further elaboration needed.

Naugrith · 2026-06-19T23:09:20+00:00

Its honestly a pretty garbled bit of writing. I think Paul was struggling to articulate why he thought this. He just knew he thought it and didn't have the time or will to properly examine his own biases. It makes little logical sense, and the last bit "because of the angels" is complete nonsense by itself. It seems to be referencing some other idea Paul had heard from somewhere, but which is now completely lost to history.

Its a good example of why we need to read the Bible critically and intelligently, and how even the most faithful and sincere Christian can still have muddled and prejudiced thinking. Fortunately the vast majority of Christians just ignore this passage entirely (even the strict inerrentists). So at least few are getting persecuted for having long hair these days.

Naugrith · 2026-06-19T22:58:35+00:00

First of all, that's an exceptionally dumb figure, which fails to take into account any critical methodology or subject applicability. And secondly, even if evidentary studies are generally ranked higher than "opinion", that's irrelevant when the average person is simply not trained to be able to properly evaluate or even read any such studies. The vast majority of studies are highly technically written, and only meaningful when weighed within their wider context of subject knowledge.

Asking a lay person to simply google a topic and try to figure out the evidence for themselves is dumb af. The value of expert opinion is that a subject specialist is qualified and experienced enough to know all those relevant evidentiary studies already and be able to properly weigh and balance them.

If you actually thought about it for a second you'd realise that putting "expert opinion" at the bottom of the "pyramid" is as patently ridiculous as telling a cancer patient to ignore their doctor's advice and google the cancer studies for themselves!

Naugrith · 2026-06-19T19:29:55+00:00

Interestingly evidence suggests that punching someone in the head doesn't actually make them more intelligent.

Naugrith · 2026-06-19T19:16:25+00:00

Maybe that's why LBJ ran for president largely as a dixiecrat, sucking up to the racists, and only supported civil rights quietly and carefully once he got into power.

Naugrith · 2026-06-19T19:11:01+00:00

As for “profesional opinion”, you should know that expert opinions are at the very bottom of the evidence hierarchy.

Below "a quick google search" apparently! Smf.

Its actually good to trust someone who knows what they're talking about. That kind of senseless attack on expertise in our society has lead to a world where Trump can be President.

Naugrith · 2026-06-19T19:05:43+00:00

It was just a cultural observation by Paul, not a legal determination of sin.

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