Maedhros

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/2020/09/2600-year-old-wine-factory-unearthed-lebanon/ 2600 year old wine factory found in Lebanon. Pretty cool!

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/889pk3/facebook-threatens-to-pull-out-of-europe-if-it-doesnt-get-its-way I wouldn't mind!

Wow that's lame. Season 1 was a show I really enjoyed - there was clearly a lot of passion behind the project. Hope someone else picks it up if that's possible?

Political ads are banned here, both on tv/radio, and on posters outside etc (to avoid the biggest/richest parties dominating airtime), not sure how common that is around the globe? As far as I'm concerned, good riddance. I'm sure there's a lot of shady stuff on social media, but I prefer my exposure to politics be reasonable debates, and politicians actually talking about issues.

CK2 is such a great game, that I've played far, far too much. More developers should make Grand Strategy games with RPG flavour. However, I couldn't really get into CK3 right away, so I'm gonna wait for a few patches before I start playing. Right now it doesn't really feel any better than CK2, despite some welcome changes.

I thought book 4 was very good, and would make for a very fascinating film in the right hands. A guy turns himself into a Giant Sandworm and becomes the Emperor of the Universe for thousands of years to teach humanity a lesson, what's not to like? Book 2 & 3 less so, though they somehow managed to adapt those decently in that Children of Dune miniseries (that sadly doesn't hold up well CGIwise).

It's pretty common for trailers to misrepresent, so there might not even be any internal dialogue in the film. I don't think the trailer was good at all, very generic. I think (and hope) the director had very little to do with it, and that the tone of the film will be quite different. Disregarding how he looks, he seems to be a phenomenal young actor. I've only seen him in The King, and Call Me by Your Name, but he nailed both of those very different roles.

The guy who nominated him is incidentally the most disliked politician in Norway. Far-right guy.

I've always been of the opinion that we should form a "United States of Scandinavia". With somewhere in Norway as the capitol of course.

https://www.businessinsider.com/cohen-trump-hired-obama-lookalike-to-humiliate-in-video-2020-9?r=US&IR=T

I really enjoyed Scott & Amundsen, so gave this one a try. Also very good, gonna read Shackleton next. Found a "summary" of the book here: https://www.badassoftheweek.com/nansen

I don't really affiliate with any political party or politician in Norway either. I tend to vote for the little ones that are good watch dogs, to help ensure they get a seat or two in parliament. The uttermost left party here is actually pretty good in terms of unveiling corruption. I wouldn't want them to govern the country, but I'd prefer they have a public voice.

https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/515244-dhs-to-label-white-supremacists-as-the-most-persistent-and-lethal "“We judge that ideologically-motivated lone offenders and small groups will pose the greatest terrorist threat to the Homeland through 2021, with white supremacist extremists presenting the most lethal threat,” it adds." Not BLM and Antifa? Someone's about to lose their job.

Muslim ban, crotch grabbing, cheating on his wife, bullying, corruption...it all pales against the fact that he eats his steaks well done, with ketchup. (Only slightly joking): https://www.eater.com/2017/2/28/14753248/trump-steak-well-done-ketchup-personality

There is that "never argue with an idiot" quote. If I was Biden I'd avoid debating Trump too. Trump is great at debates because he takes it down to that idiot level he thrives in.

Old but gold shows like The Wire, Sopranos, Deadwood and Rome as well.

@Guard Dog I don't know if I agree with point 3. State enterprises CAN be very profitable - but it's hard if politicians do their best to make them fail so they can score political points. "We need to dismantle State Enterprise X! It doesn't generate profit!" "...well yeah, you underfunded it, appointed your incompetent friend as its leader and sacked half of their workers, duh." Besides, a state enterprise has the advantage of not necessarily needing to be profit-based, giving huge potential for quality if not hindered by politics. As a wine nerd I'm thankful for our state-owned wine monopoly stores that are in another league than 99% of all wine shops in the world. There's also our national oil fund...another example of how privatization isn't always the smart move. There is no set rule here. It can work. (But possibly not in a country where everyone largely distrusts the government, I'll concede that!)

What's up with that blue-green filter? Looks ridiculous.

Went on a 15 minute hike with my son, up to the nearby Stave Church. My (soon-to-be) 2 year old son loves to yell "KIRKE!" (church) whenever he sees one, and can stare at them for minutes. Fun fact: The stave church is a reconstruction, after previously being burnt to the grown by the infamous Varg Vikernes. For the curious: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stave_church https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantoft_Stave_Church

Installing The Old Republic. Haven't tried it since release pretty much. Which classes have the most RPGish/fun storylines?

Isn't the point that Disnleyland IS affordable, thus being extra hurtful that they can't afford it? The contrast being the higherups enjoying their family holiday there, while they had to postpone getting kids.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-03/blizzard-workers-share-salaries-in-revolt-over-wage-disparities?srnd=technology-vp Based on the last decade of Blizzard greed in World of Warcraft, this doesn't surprise me at all. I guess it's similar to the top restaurants in the world where so many people will apply, and want to work there that they can justify paying such low wages. Still feels rotten though. @Keyrock Crusader Kings 2 is probably my most played singleplayer game of all time. I keep finding new ways to challenge myself in it. I just hope CK3 won't require tons of patches and DLCs to be as good.