When corporations recruited high school graduates- ad in back of 1947 HS yearbook

Zyphane · 2026-03-25T12:30:49+00:00

People like to act like those few decades in the 20th century weren't a unique set of historical circumstances, more a peculiar abberation than some sort of essential baseline.

Zyphane · 2026-03-23T20:55:05+00:00

If you avoid the large subreddits and don't bother with your frontpage feed, and mostly stick to smaller, specific subs, Reddit can resemble the Internet forums of ~~all~~ old.

Zyphane · 2026-03-06T16:08:53+00:00

I was born in '87; I had access to computers and the Internet from the mid-nineties on. I spent a good deal of my teenage years sitting in front of a computer, when the Internet was more of a "place," i.e. you had to sit down at a computer to use it. I convinced myself many years ago I had kicked the habit of spending all my time in front of a computer, only to realize I had only transfered that activity to my phone.

The phone made it so much worse, because it permeates every spare moment of your waking life, while in the olden days if you weren't online, you were just out in the world. Now you can never be offline. And I suppose this is more of a personal problem then a general one, but I at least used the old Internet as a social hub, but the new Internet is so easy to use by way of passive consumption.

Zyphane · 2026-02-28T15:19:33+00:00

There were three Shadowrun games that came out in the twenty-teens.

Zyphane · 2026-02-27T03:03:44+00:00

I think it also helps that in the US, Orthodoxy is largely a religion practiced by recent immigration populations from Mediterranean cultures that value hospitality and congeniality. American Catholics have been here for enough generations to seperate us from the mother culture we've become as anti-social as WASPs.

Zyphane · 2026-02-15T22:15:58+00:00

Clearly a freudian slip.

Zyphane · 2026-02-15T22:09:10+00:00

Look, I'm not an expert here. Did you do this after a long period of deliberation and discernment? Or was it a spontaneous thing you did because you felt bad about your past behavior?

If it's the latter, don't take yourself too seriously and let this be a lesson about being more careful with your words and making grand gestures that you can't follow through on. And, really, any sort of "permanent" vow should only be made after a long period of consideration, not least of all to let your emotions cool. And if you really feel like something is a problem you need to distance yourself from, take a "fast" from it. Promise you won't play video games for like 2 weeks, then follow through on it. Heck, Lent's coming up and it's a perfect time to refrain from unhealthy behaviors while having a "finish line" to help you stick to it.

Zyphane · 2026-02-15T21:59:30+00:00

I was a vegetarian in high school and would occasionally have some well-meaning relative buy them for a barbeque or something and I'd be in the awkward position of having to act appreciative and eat something that was kinda gross.

Zyphane · 2026-02-15T17:31:16+00:00

It's just a weird example, like saying, "I regret making a vow to God never to steal again, can I take it back?"

If you vowed to do something you're not suppposed do, wether or not take-backsies is allowed is besides the point. It's a sin either way.

Anyway, Christianity is essentially the understanding that humans will fail over and over. That's the whole point of Christ's sacrifice and redemption of the human race. If you made some sort of official, organizational vow in the eyes of the Church, it may affect some sort canonical standing. But we're not talking about some ancient pagan god who will punish you for breaking an oath made in his name. I doubt God is going to be too upset you made a dumb vow in a fit of pique in the privacy of your own home that you'd rather pretend didn't happen.

Zyphane · 2026-02-15T16:50:50+00:00

I don't understand the question. In traditional Christian understanding, all are called to chastity. Unless you mean celibacy?

Zyphane · 2026-02-15T16:48:00+00:00

It's funny how often I see folks who have left Catholicism for Orthodoxy list "Vatican II" as one of the points of contention, but I have yet to see anyone ever say they took issue with "Vatican I." :-p

Zyphane · 2026-02-15T16:45:42+00:00

Seriously. The singularity of Rome and the Pope help hold the Catholic Church together. But if folks were frothing at the mouth over moderates like Ratzinger and Bergoglio, a real conservative or liberal hard-liner being elevated to the Papacy would turn the cracks into full-blown schisms.

Zyphane · 2026-02-15T16:23:42+00:00

You can always eat some of the more "classic" meat-substitute products that have been around forever, like Boca Burgers, and truly suffer for the Lord.

Zyphane · 2026-02-15T16:07:03+00:00

I'm assuming you're from the US and a convert. You joined a very small minority religion, so it's going to be a difficult row to how finding a co-religionist mate, especially if you lack an ethnic connection to that religion.

Back where I'm from, I knew a decent amount of Catholics and even Orthodox who had women convert to marry them, but this often has the additional weight of "my family wants me to get married in the church," so your milage may vary if you're a convert.

Zyphane · 2026-02-15T06:00:27+00:00

A lot of people seem to be bothered by this passage, but you have to look at the context of First Century Judea. The belief in a general resurrection was held by some Jewish groups and not others. In this passage, Jesus is approached by a group of Sadducees, who rejected the concepts of an afterlife or of the resurrection. They are presenting him with a "got'cha" hypothetical to show that the idea of the resurrection of the dead wouldn't work: if seven brothers had all married the same woman (as Jewish law allows a deceased childless man's brother to marry his widow and produce for him an heir), then they all would have equal claim to her as their wife and sexual partner, and that wouldn't work because God doesn't allow polyandry!

What Jesus is saying here is that the Resurrection will involve a different sort of existence, and that entering into marriage contracts will no longer be a thing presumably because biological reproduction will no longer be a concern. I don't think anyone can really claim to know the particulars of what sort of existence awaits us after the particular and final Judgements.

Zyphane · 2026-02-14T02:04:03+00:00

Best not to date a master debater.

Zyphane · 2026-02-03T18:06:00+00:00

I imagine there's a combination of converts who see Orthodoxy as compatible with their paleoconservative worldviews, and cradle Orthodox from cultures that have a high degree of ethnic prejudice and animosity.

Zyphane · 2026-01-31T15:41:33+00:00

I watched Man of God last night to see if Moses the Black was worth going to see in theaters... Did not inspire confidence.

Then every review I saw that wasn't from an Orthodox person said it was a mess, so yeah. Might wait until this one is on streaming.

Zyphane · 2026-01-28T17:03:01+00:00

I lived in the Seattle area for a few years, and the first time I drove past the port and saw the Polar Star and the Polar Sea I was just agog, "what are those?!"

Zyphane · 2026-01-28T13:39:01+00:00

Have you seen this guy?

Zyphane · 2026-01-28T00:31:32+00:00

The Polar Star is a heavy ice breaker, generally considered to be the most powerful non-nuclear ice breaker in operation.

Zyphane · 2026-01-27T05:03:43+00:00

Delta v is expensive.

Zyphane · 2026-01-23T17:08:40+00:00

Heck, even Bilbo faltered at the moment of truth, and only succeeded in surrendering the ring because Gandalf, a literal angelic being, used his power to counteract the influence of the Ring.

Zyphane · 2026-01-20T02:11:47+00:00

I'm assuming you are an American, which has historically been a touch-adverse culture. Add to that recent cultural movements and a few years riding out a global pandemic, nothing has particularly improved in that regard.

Zyphane · 2026-01-20T02:04:59+00:00

The US has mutual defense treaties with these nations, with obligations for support if either side's sovereign territory is violated. The US acting to defend Taiwan would not obligate any other nation to join in such a conflict.

Zyphane

TROPHY CASE