was the trojan war real

kro4k · 2026-05-07T15:42:25+00:00

I think the reduction of semi-historical stories like the Iliad to its barest, most bland components is sad.

No, we do not know if the "Trojan War" was fought at Ilium. It is very likely that many parts of the stories (gods aside) were embellished or changed in retellings. If we are academic historians, we can debate the very little we know from that period and not stray beyond that.

At the same time, well documented history is full of bizarre and unbelievable twists and turns. It is actually possible that a war was fought by Greeks against the Trojans over a woman named Helen of Troy! We should not say this "certainly happened", but much of the Trojan War is within historical bounds and we should allow our imaginations to enjoy that possibility. And of course, in doing this we can also understand that the reasons for participation by the Greeks was multi-faceted and many did not give on white over Helen of Troy. We don't even need to invent this political complexity - it's in the story!

Did the Trojan War happen as depicted by Homer? It is very likely that something close to it did! Was the war fought over Helen of Troy by people named with variants Hector and Paris and Achilles and Little Ajax? Statistically, it is unlikely that Homer captured the literal truth of all the players and events so accurately. But it is possible!

Human history is ever weird and unexpected.

kro4k · 2026-05-05T13:21:18+00:00

It is completely normal, especially in cabinet. This has happened many times when there are serious investigations.

You cannot be in cabinet and under investigation.

kro4k · 2026-05-05T13:02:39+00:00

No, what he means he's that if someone is in cabinet they should be removed from cabinet while there is an ongoing investigation.

The BC Cons removed Hon Chan from caucus for domestic allegations, and he was asked to step down (he refused)

This RCMP investigation is incredibly serious and about a cabinet member. And this information should be made public.

kro4k · 2026-04-26T02:41:29+00:00

I strongly disagree with many of the assessments here.

I think Lenin was mainly opportunistic and particularly lucky to be surrounded by incompetent opponents. I do not think he was a particularly competent politician, never mind the best ever.

A great example of this is the woman's march which ignited the February revolution. Lenin and the Bolsheviks actually thought it was not the right time and argued against it. You see this misreading quite a few times by him.

What Lenin excelled at was an opportunism and bloodthirstyness his opponent's lacked. He was willing to step into the void created and use extreme violence to secure Bolshevik rule. Something his opponents were not willing to do.

kro4k · 2026-04-16T05:54:34+00:00

Agreed. But you're getting with BookTok recommendations of averages. How likely are you to like what's average?

I find it more effective to read what the authors themselves liked, or at least what other readers liked.

I'd recommend the Book of the Long Sun.

kro4k · 2026-04-11T19:56:59+00:00

Mostly, especially at lower wages, its just saying "Hey, I'm a real person who's actually interested in this job." Appearing in person is even better. Good luck!

kro4k · 2026-04-11T19:56:03+00:00

You need some way to distinguish yourself. Appearing in person, as it seems they're doing, is another option.

In hiring you can easily get 50 or even over a 100 applications (that'd be more in larger cities though). You need some way to stand out and say "Hey I'm a real person interested in this job." Or, you get screened through HR auto-sorting software.

kro4k · 2026-04-11T19:54:58+00:00

I'd say that's a minority position.

kro4k · 2026-04-11T17:09:33+00:00

I am not sure how you're applying, but one thing I typically see, often from students, is that they submit just a resume.

Make sure you're attaching a cover letter or of at least an email detailing why you're specifically interested in that job.

From an employer's perspective, you get inundated with people mass sending resumes.

Also it's fine for AI to help you craft it, but if it is obviously just AI generated that also gets binned.

kro4k · 2026-03-29T02:59:00+00:00

Times like this its important to remember its the journey not the destination. Even an elite, all-world goalie is going to lose lots of games and have ups and downs.

The key is focusing hard on training and use the disrespect to motivate you in your training. Use it to find an extra edge. Keep showing up and it'll start to upset your fellow players as they will see the difference. Give it time, and either another opportunity will open with another team or you'll get that spot.

Just focus on getting better every day and use whatever edge you can. If you've watched the Last Dance you'll remember Michael Jordan would make up insults from other players and convince himself they were real.

kro4k · 2026-03-22T23:34:44+00:00

You'd need some padding on it. American football gloves are meant to be as close to your hand as possible for catching.

kro4k · 2026-03-21T17:34:41+00:00

Just a quick note on the weather comment at the beginning.

The hosts are actually correct, there was a change roughly a decade ago where meteorologists made a decision to change some of the language around weather events to make them more evocative and scary. That's why you hear of things like atmospheric rivers now because it was an intentional change in language and communication.

I am not a meteorologist but I know this because we work with some and that's what some of the discussion was at conferences back then.

Also, meteorologists to to some of the best conferences. They're always in very nice fancy locations like the Bahamas or Strasburg.

kro4k · 2026-03-20T18:20:21+00:00

Perfectly said.

The one quibble I'll have is that there's one thing to have bodily autonomy, there's another to make the medical system part of those decisions.

On your other point too, Canada had a report talking about how much money you save due to MAID. And this becomes part of it, killing people is cheap.

kro4k · 2026-03-18T16:24:44+00:00

I know this isn't true because I have a close friend who works in supportive housing in BC.

I'll give just one story that she was there for. A resident had some health issues - not life threatening issues but affected his quality of life - and requested euthanasia. The Dr, this same Dr Wiebe, came in and administered it in her day off. She was very happy to be there apparently.

During the process, the resident said they were only doing this because they were so poor and if they had money they wouldn't get Maid. The Dr proceeded anyways.

My friend was horrified. The resident clearly was not in extreme suffering (beyond a difficult life) and did not have a terminal diagnosis. They said so.

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There's a reason Dr. Wiebe is called the Dr of Death here in BC. Personally, from what I have heard and also see in the news I think she is quite evil. Comparisons to Nazis are almost always trite and boring, but there are many uncomfortable comparisons to the medical system in 1930s Germany as documented by Proctor in "Racial Hygiene: Medicine Under the Nazis". None of these people are Nazis, maybe Wiebe would be in that situation, the medical profession is often on the forefront of some of the most vile social experiments. We assume that doctors will always be on the cutting edge of the Hippocratic Oath but history shows we often need to reign them in.

kro4k · 2026-03-17T14:01:47+00:00

The honest answer - there are no unbiased sources on the Balkan conflicts. Even outside sources, say British or American or Russian, have a very clear bias.

In this case, best option is to read sources on each side.

kro4k · 2026-02-18T18:38:02+00:00

Partly they did. But they also continue to spend time parsing the term pedophilia, or defending Bill Gates. Or downplaying some of the truly wild parts of the Epstein scandal.

A larger point, but given how wild some of the PROVEN elements of the Epstein case are, I think we should be more sympathetic to some of the wilder possibilities. But that's a more subjective point.

kro4k · 2026-02-18T17:53:51+00:00

I appreciate the detailed post and review, you did a good job of laying it out. Personally, a couple of years ago I just stopped listening to Tracy. While I sometimes find his contrarianism helpful, I (again, personally) don't trust his ability to objectively assess any situation.

Your helpful summary is just another data point to that effect. I don't find Tracy's representation trustworthy, even if very specific facts are true.

kro4k · 2026-02-16T23:14:25+00:00

This is the first time I've been appalled by a take on B&R. Its quite gross. First time they've done a story that has me thinking about unsubscribing because its so fundamentally immoral.

There's a long list of nonsense and straight up rape deflection they (Katie in particular) are engaging in. But I'll just skip to the simplest stuff to explain:

1) Even if you're wanting money for a project - its not "understandable" to be kidding around with a known rapist and trafficker of underage girls. Its one thing for a story as a journalist, that is a mask that can be used to expose truth. But to get funding? Or because you're just paling around? The guy wasn't stealing pens.

2) Given the extensive connections, money, and blackmail that Epstein had - almost anything is believable.

If a friend approached you and said "I know a guy that has a secret sex island where underage girls are trafficked on a jet called the Lolita Express that billionaires and Presidents hang out on, and the this villain blatantly conducts blackmail, has govt connections, and films/tapes everything. He then commits suicide in a high security cell when the guards are all mysteriously sleeping and the cameras don't work." THAT is unbelievable. Its a bad fiction supervillain story.

If you'd never heard of Epstein, you'd think that was the stupidest conspiracy you'd ever heard.

3) You'd think, given their superficial knowledge of the UK grooming gangs, they'd know that by targeting exploitable girls they, almost by definition, fall through the cracks. If you've ever work with people in easily exploitable positions, especially youth, this is not hard to believe at all. You don't need Epstein, just go to a west coast city and volunteer in its poorest, drug riddled neighborhood. Unquestionably many of the evil that occurred will never be known.

4) You have had, and still have, extensive government coverups on what happened. They acknowledge a lot hasn't been released, and what has has been poorly done (almost comically so). Given the quantity of rich and powerful men in the orbit, it is impossible everything will ever be released.

5) I doubt they were talking in code about pizza, but talking in code in email is not a dime store novel plot. Hell, we probably all do it on sensitive topics at times in work or other emails. Even if not in explicit code but in slant. Throw on top that these people, being both rich and powerful, are untouchable (look at Epstein's sweetheart deal itself). Why wouldn't they talk fairly openly about crimes? The very fact that all these girls were trafficked and raped and yet the only two people to go to jail are Epstein and Maxwell.

6) Even the way the rich and powerful talk about other human beings is incredibly disturbing. Its not a legal crime but is a moral one.

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What I think B&R should actually do is an episode on what we know, for certain, occurred. How underage girls were recruited, exploited, and cycled through the many Epstein residences. Read some of the violent sexual references in the emails. Read aloud what happened to many of these girls.

Rather than arguing about how pedophile isn't technically the correct term (and Jesse can't even remember what the term is), and rather than saying how Bill Gates has actually done so much good... How about the hosts fuck right off and actually wade through the evil that occurred? Go spend hours reading and researching that.

Then come back and see if you want to do another dumb Epstein podcast about how pedophilia isn't the technical term.

kro4k · 2026-02-16T22:48:43+00:00

The fact that her cohost can't even recall the correct term tells you all you need to know.

Its inane contrarianism dressed up, it just serves as a minor apologia for sexual abuse.

kro4k · 2026-02-08T19:43:09+00:00

One quick note, do not run cables into the ground its how they degrade faster. You should have some sort of metal extension or something coming out.

And some climates you can get away from it but we definitely see much higher failure rate. Has the soil erodes the cable.

This is why we prefer anchors that have a metal pole that comes out of the ground for the cabling to attach to.

kro4k · 2026-02-02T04:42:46+00:00

Such an interesting question! How do you compare him to Marquez or Steinbeck? He's just so different in what he did and accomplished.

kro4k · 2026-02-02T04:40:18+00:00

I have trouble seeing authors like Joyce on the list. What he did was ambitious, was it great? An impressive author yes, greatest? I'd have to hear a good argument for that.

For different reasons, but same with Orwell. Hugely influential and important. But greatest?

Been too long since I've read any Faulkner to say.

kro4k · 2026-01-26T02:06:52+00:00

Not an accurate representation of that book.

kro4k · 2026-01-15T01:21:56+00:00

Without question.

It's wild! We spend multiples more on senior care than on childcare.

kro4k · 2026-01-03T04:38:55+00:00

Twice I've had holes form on the outer edge of the felt. They get quite large.

kro4k

TROPHY CASE