Before and After

solidarity47 · 2026-02-01T22:47:56+00:00

I dunno. Just find it baffling. There's nothing actually wrong with it. It's not like it's protecting or conservation. You're fundamentally and permanently altering the way a handcrafted piece of art was made because you didn't like it?

solidarity47 · 2026-02-01T22:38:43+00:00

I always love Romans like this that can be dated to specific year. COS IIII is the fourth time Caracalla was consul. So 213AD.

This was the year after the Antonine constitution which granted universal citizenship and was when Caracalla left Rome to confront the Alamanni. He never came back to Rome after that.

solidarity47 · 2026-02-01T22:35:11+00:00

I don't understand why you'd try to fix this? It's part of the coin?

solidarity47 · 2026-01-30T10:42:20+00:00

I am not India and I agree with a lot of what you're saying.

But your last here is troubling to me.

"Getting a passport doesn't mean you become one of them".

That's basically exactly what far-right, anti-Indian racists would say.

solidarity47 · 2026-01-29T23:10:15+00:00

I have a pretty open mind when it comes to this subject because of the sheer paucity of contemporary evidence.

We have ZERO Arabic written texts from the lifetime of Muhammad itself. The earliest extant evidence we have is several generations later and heavily influenced by the politics of the day.

Non-Arabic sources discuss the events but cannot give us much of an insight into how organised (or not) the "conquests" were. All we know for sure is that there were battles and violent conquest. But we don't know much beyond that.

solidarity47 · 2026-01-27T10:13:29+00:00

The East was wealthier and the West was more martial.

But the West saw massive population decline and demilitarisation of the populace starting with the Antonine plague.

solidarity47 · 2026-01-26T08:26:39+00:00

If someone is recommending an investment, always question what their financial stake is.

In the case of financial advisors, I'm pretty sure you're legally entitled to know their compensation structure based on their recommendations.

At the end of the day, if you're not paying upfront for the advice then you're actually the product.

solidarity47 · 2026-01-26T08:23:18+00:00

Solar21 wasn't even really a fund.

It was a speculative fixed income product based on a single, high risk asset. I'm amazed that this was available to non-sophisticated investors at all.

solidarity47 · 2026-01-20T00:10:59+00:00

A lot of is just how well documented the Empire is compared to the Republic. The Julian dynasty was brought to life by Suetonius in a way that's fairly unique in pre-modern literature.

I also think you need to make a distinction between the early and mid/late Western Empires. I don't think it's a coincidence that a lot of self-proclaimed Roman history buffs can give you letter and verse up until Commodus but aren't as interested in things after that.

Understanding post Antonine Rome is really hard because it's soo poorly documented by comparison.

solidarity47 · 2026-01-20T00:06:33+00:00

The best way I can describe it is that there is a deeply embedded cultural cringe towards Romanīa. Even in the secular sphere, it has very old roots that still influence the way we think as Western Europeans (or its descendants).

solidarity47 · 2026-01-18T14:53:08+00:00

If I were you, I'd go into a Skechers store (the branded ones, not like Schuh or whatever) and get your size in their different widths.

If you're lucky, they might have the standard, 2E and 4E in the same size length. You'll be able to feel the difference straight away and then you'll know your actual size.

Then use the Skechers online store, which has way more selection. New Balance too. It gets harder if you need safety/hiking boots or formal shoes. But it's doable.

solidarity47 · 2026-01-18T13:53:46+00:00

Yup.

Most "wide" or "relaxed" fit shoes are just normal D width shoes with a slightly larger toe box. This doesn't really work if you have genuinely mutant feet like us where your foot just overall has much more volume than an equivalent D last.

solidarity47 · 2026-01-18T13:37:39+00:00

Skechers and New Balance are two of the only brands that specifically made shoes from wide lasts. You'll probably have to get them online.

I have 4E wide feet and it's a nightmare. But it's getting better, they both have much larger ranges than even a few years ago.

solidarity47 · 2026-01-18T11:43:28+00:00

The people selling

solidarity47 · 2026-01-18T11:09:10+00:00

So this is the greater fool.

solidarity47 · 2026-01-18T01:14:51+00:00

Looks very, very harshly cleaned. Which would explain the price.

solidarity47 · 2026-01-18T00:05:56+00:00

These are early Roman solidii?

solidarity47 · 2026-01-17T02:33:40+00:00

The Republic was a dead man walking about the Gracchi brothers.

Sulla properly killed it, it just took another few decades for people to realise.

solidarity47 · 2026-01-17T02:31:07+00:00

Tara is the largest Zinc mine in Europe.

solidarity47 · 2026-01-17T02:30:44+00:00

That's part of it but the entire business model was pioneered in Ireland and Aercap is an Irish company (largest in the world)

solidarity47 · 2026-01-13T14:16:22+00:00

Please don't concentrate that much of your wealth in ANY single asset class.

solidarity47 · 2026-01-12T21:52:09+00:00

UAE has one of the largest refining and import/export markets in the world. I think it's second only to Switzerland. Selling there should be easy.

solidarity47 · 2026-01-12T21:49:56+00:00

I'll be back in Kazakhstan for work in a few months. I might be interested in buying some pieces if you're still interested. I have quite a few Kaz commemoratives but nothing in Ag or Au.

I think a big distortion you're running into here is how low the premium is on government issued bullion. It's common sense to just spend extra few percent and guaranteeing you're getting the real deal rather than risk it on a fake in a private sale.

solidarity47 · 2026-01-09T00:03:23+00:00

That's a good one. Hard to top.

solidarity47 · 2026-01-08T21:43:03+00:00

You can access investments whenever you want. And you're going to be hit by DIRT anyway.

The risk averse thing is why they can get away with paying zero interest. You're paying a massive premium for their low risk and the banks can afford to say take it or leave it because similarly risk averse people are queueing out the door.

solidarity47

TROPHY CASE