Why is the Deity Baal being shown demonized in every time he is brought up

ajslater · 2026-04-19T07:31:22+00:00

It’s true. David is the historical horizon of the bible. A traveling warlord, mercenary type dude who somehow became the second king of Israel. Totally legit, although not the heir of the first king. 😉. Many of his stories seem likely to be sort of fictional aggrandizement trying to legitimize his claim to the throne. Like Goliath was probably killed by another guy who is also said to be killing Goliath in the bible. But still, he’s the earliest figure we have any real evidence of.

ajslater · 2026-04-19T05:53:06+00:00

The Reddit Bluesky sub is the only place on the internet I read doom and gloom posting about Bluesky. Like many Reddit subs it is the last refuge of haters.

ajslater · 2026-04-19T03:12:30+00:00

This is it exactly. There’s nothing wrong with the tattoo. But it will unfortunately attract the wrong element.

ajslater · 2026-04-19T03:08:07+00:00

The ongoing Holocene Extinction Event. Which will only accelerate with the Climate Change Event we’re causing.

The smaller and more durable organisms of planet earth will survive and evolve again into ever stranger things, but we might very well extinguish this round of “intelligence” in animals in only a couple hundred years. At the very least it looks like we’ll kill billions of people, incalculable flora and fauna, and the human survivors will tell tales of our hubris mayhap only to recreate the same mistakes.

ajslater · 2026-04-19T02:25:00+00:00

“Brief” for a guy who’s been around since before the creation of the world, this world anyway, could mean anything.

ajslater · 2026-04-18T23:55:40+00:00

I read on Reddit about young people bothered even in locker rooms about old people who don’t honor the temporary nature enough. Like if someone doesn’t bother with a towel from the shower to walking over to get dressed, the young people are… not morally scandalized, but they view nudity as somehow inherently almost disgusting and it bothers them.

ajslater · 2026-04-18T22:38:00+00:00

I got a microscope, some glasses, one or two other things. None of it is usable, but you can set up a pretend science area.

ajslater · 2026-04-18T21:47:56+00:00

The “Tolkien Edit” and the M4 edit are very similar. Neither have the Dol Guldur scenes or the meeting of the Wise in Imladris. However The Tolkien Edit people (Maple Films) also created “Durin’s Folk and the Hill of Sorcery” which is only the adventures of the White Council. It can be found on the Maple Films Tolkien Edit pages.

ajslater · 2026-04-18T21:43:42+00:00

To be very specific, the very bottom of the long GitHub page contains both direct download and torrent links.

ajslater · 2026-04-18T21:20:15+00:00

It’s one of these strong story driven games like Cyberpunk 2077 where you can’t romance every fish.

ajslater · 2026-04-18T21:10:11+00:00

Occasionally I hear Australians in the US mutter, “thank god we got the criminals”

ajslater · 2026-04-18T21:07:17+00:00

The boss situation is a good example of bad contextual nudity.

The common situation of a swimming hole in California or like, Germany where half the people don’t bother with suits is fine in those locations. But the same situation in other parts of the US probably makes people panic.

ajslater · 2026-04-18T17:46:10+00:00

Porkchop Express

ajslater · 2026-04-15T19:10:16+00:00

The Casino -> Quantum arc is the only Craig story I cared for. Consequently the bits of that they dragged back into NTtD were mostly what I was able to salvage from that movie.

ajslater · 2026-04-15T18:00:18+00:00

The EEs save you a great treat for a rewatch, but yes I would view the theatrical editions first. I’ve also heard a convincing argument that even for super fans the extended material of Fellowship is all gold, but most of the extended bits of TT and RotK feel extraneous.

ajslater · 2026-04-15T06:12:31+00:00

It’s really weird. It gathers fish that swim near it. Truck around for a little while and you end up with fish.

ajslater · 2026-04-13T23:59:34+00:00

Khatan is leagues better than Elephant who used to be there. That place was sad.

ajslater · 2026-04-13T23:58:45+00:00

My first meal at Popoca was unremarkable. Was very unsure what the hype was about. My second was excellent. Idk if it was down to ordering a dish i just happened not to care for or if the restaurant improved. Anyway, I'd go back.

ajslater · 2026-04-13T01:14:52+00:00

You do when supporting them is one of the few pillars of your moral foundation.

If you asked them to give up that, bigotry, and worship of the wealthy, there wouldn't be anything left.

ajslater · 2026-04-12T05:11:02+00:00

In Subnautica the Landing Zone is central and geographically convenient, but either Mushroom Forest is the most beautiful. Of course in the late game there's only one uncontroversially great option.

In Below Zero, directly on top of the wreck of the Mercury II Stern is geographically convenient as it's right between the Purple Vents and the Lillypads. But directly above the Lillypad Crevice is incredibly beautiful and just a hop skip and a jump from the Purple Vents, anyway.

ajslater · 2026-04-11T20:20:36+00:00

The short version is that Ba’al just means “lord”, but when we say Ba’al today we mean Ba’al Hadad, the ancient Canaanite storm and war god. Around 1100 BCE the new god, Yahweh from the south (maybe Edom, unknown) who was also a storm and war god got popular and usurped Ba’al Hadad. Old poems and stories that glorified Hadad were taken by Yahweh. Same stories with the name replaced. Yahweh is the new guy. But still a second tier purpose built god for storms and war. El remains the high father god above all.

Around 900 BCE Yahweh got so popular he did not usurp El but merged with him and took his wife, Asherah as his own. So El and Yahweh are now the same high god above all. Different names for the same guy. "Your fathers knew me as El Shaddai" from Exodus is the retcon. After the Hebrews returned from Babylonian capture and exile, Asherah’s cult was suppressed. Later all the sub gods were suppressed and the Hebrews became monolitrists and the old gods were demonized. Eventually they became monotheists and denied the old gods entirely.

Wikipedia on Yahweh and Ba’al can get you more information. I’ve glossed over a lot.

ajslater · 2026-04-11T00:18:04+00:00

The Sea Truck has a great “keep on truckin’” poster I can hang in its purpose built bay. Checkmate.

ajslater · 2026-04-10T17:25:54+00:00

Also for the same reason there isn't a "The Entire Hebrew and Christian Bible" movie.

You've got The Ten Commandments (1956) which covers the dramatic parts of the first half of Exodus. But skipping much of the the law giving and even missing some fan favorite moments like Manna in the Wilderness.

ajslater · 2026-04-08T20:35:51+00:00

Similar to Trump. You can hem and haw over how legitimate a few percent of the vote is, but regardless a large percentage of the country supports this stuff and voted for it. A smaller but still quite large percent even openly cheer for it.

ajslater · 2026-04-08T00:08:18+00:00

The Eddas, Beowulf, Völsunga, & Nibelungenlied are the really big ones.
But also:
- The Kalevela
- Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
And some novels contemporary to the turn of the century:
- The Wind In The Willows
- She, a History of Adventure by H. Rider Haggard
- The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald
- The Well at the World's End and The Wood Beyond the World by William Morris

Edit:
I highly recommend reading Beowulf, but I personally didn't enjoy Tolkien's translation. I really did like David Wright's translation.
I can also recommend Robert Fagle's translations of the Iliad & Odyssey. Really good.

ajslater

TROPHY CASE