Gorth

Yesterday I found out that one of my old favourite Commodore 64 games (Psi 5 Trading Company) came out in two versions. The later version has 4 missions. Now they (generic 'they') tell me.... Like 35 years after the fact. I feel robbed 😢

I'll have to save this one for tomorrow... but then I'll do my best to answer.

Wow... IQ is really through the floor in some places Edit: He would make a good Trump voter Melbourne... what are we going to do with you? Things have just gone south... so to speak. Everyone else can have fun, just not the poor Victorians. From the BBC: "Victoria has detected 288 new infections in the past 24 hours - the highest daily tally for an Australian state since the pandemic began. New South Wales had previously seen the greatest number with 211 in March, when travellers returning from overseas were Australia's biggest concern. The current outbreak, centred in Melbourne, has worsened dramatically due to local transmissions in the past three weeks. "I know and understand there will be concern across the community to see that number," Premier Daniel Andrews has just told Victorians. "It was always going to get worse before it got better. We are doing more testing than has ever been done - not by a small margin - but by a massive margin." More than 37,000 tests were carried out yesterday, he added. Melbourne's five million residents were ordered back into lockdown yesterday amid fears the city's outbreak could spread elsewhere. Other states have seen relatively few recent infections. Australia has recorded about 9,000 cases and 106 deaths."

Most likely. I just wouldn't put it past Trump to not give a damn about Stone and commute the sentence because he knows it riles up people. After all, chaos is his element. It could also be a bit of both. After all, It doesn't cost him anything to do so (he can't really lose any credibility that he doesn't have)

Sorry, can't tell you much there (about the figures), as I don't know. But they never barred citizens from returning to Australia. Just about everybody else. Edit: Just speculating, but it's a possibility that a returning citizen from overseas brought more than just some camera snapshots with them. But at the moment, nobody knows (and claims to the opposite is just guess work at the time of writing)

I don't live there anymore, so I only have Discord and Whatsapp chats with friends down there to go by, but it looks grim. Despite military deployment (to enforce quarantines) and reintroduction of the most severe lockdown measures, it's exploding in numbers. The other states have now completely closed their borders to Victoria. As for numbers, comparing my own home state (Queensland) with Victoria:: QLD https://www.covid19.qld.gov.au/ VIC https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/coronavirus The reasons or of course never simple, but it looks like the flare ups began in social housing areas where people flaunted the social distancing rules and a college named Al-Taqwa College (I know little to nothing about the latter other than the numbers) Edit: A bit of info about the Al-Taqwa outbreak: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-09/al-taqwa-college-coronavirus-covid19-cluster-melbourne-truganina/12437584

A bit late... but it looks like someone still thinks old treaties and promises should be kept: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53358330 "US Supreme Court rules half of Oklahoma is Native American land"

I don't know about horses mate.... they are more deadly than all the spiders and snakes combined! https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-38592390 Edit: "Horses killed more people in Australia in recent years than all venomous animals combined, research has shown."

When will the Amish party run?...

A bit more Rammstein. Sort of rock, sort of metal, all industrial. Touchy subject too (pun unintended) about the rampant sexual abuse of children in the church. Song is close to 20 years old and they (the church) still have to get their **** together and do some internal reckoning. Lyrics translated: He is pious and very sensitive A picture of the Lord on his wall He wipes the stains from the bible He likes to distribute the sacrament He loves the choir boys They keep their souls clean But the tenor worries him That is why he must be closest to him Quiet and silent on his bedside table A picture of the lord He turns it over slowly When the tower clock strikes twice Hallelujah He folds his hands in prayer Hallelujah He lived without a woman Hallelujah So he has to love his next one (literal translation, I think the bible says love thy neighbour) Hallelujah The young man can stay with him Sin nests over my legs He is happy to help drive them out With music and candlelight When the tower clock strikes twice Hallelujah He folds his hands in prayer Hallelujah He lived without a woman Hallelujah So he has to love his next one Hallelujah When the tower clock strikes twice Hallelujah He takes the boy into prayer Hallelujah He is the real Christian Hallelujah And knows what charity is Hallelujah Turn around slowly turn around

How the heck does he do that guitar playing without his fingers bleeding... 🤔

Some very old Rammstein... ❤️ "Heirate Mich" (Marry me)

Hmm.... one for the science thread. Is the killer a real cop or not. Does observing the killing change the status from a cop in name only to a real cop. Shroedingers Cop!

Only of you fancy working from 8:30 to 2am during crunch times (which can be weeks)

RIP Ennio Morricone. My favourite movie music maker 😢

Melbourne... once part of Australia 😢 http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-53303317

Some of us grew up in countries where AC is something you look up in a dictionary

Google translate agrees

Because I like the sound of Spanish... not that I understand a word without translated lyrics

Isn't history more than just reciting past events? Part of the excitement I get from studying history is trying to discover causes. Sometimes by reading other peoples interpretations, sometimes by jumping to my own conclusions 😇 E.g. the Holocaust happened, but what caused it? The simpleminded answer would be "The Nazis". But that is just closing ones eyes and ignoring the parts of history that lead to that point. Few things happens in isolation. The better you understand the underlying causes and effects, they better you can work towards avoiding repeats of such events in the future. Even if trying to get an overview of all the threads of history that lead to it, results in your browser crashing from 4096 opened tabs.

Psssst Trump! This is how it's done.... https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53233386

I know I usually put my Rammstein posts in the metal thread.... But I don't think this is really "metal" 🤔 As is often the case with Rammstein, their lyrics have multiple meanings and interpretations. Lyrics translated We stick together We endure one another We hold onto one another No one holds us back We stay faithful to you We firmly hold onto that And obey the rules If you leave rules to us* And the shark, that has tears And they run from the face But the shark lives in water So no one can see the tears We keep our speed We keep our word If one can’t keep up Then we immediately stop We keep our eyes open We hold each other by the arm Six hearts that burn The fire keeps you warm And the shark, that has tears And they run from the face But the shark lives in water So no one can see the tears In the deep it is lonely And so many a tear is shed And it so happens that the water In the oceans is salty You can think of us Whatever you want We get compensation We never keep still And the shark, that has tears And they run from the face But the shark lives in water So no one can see the tears In the deep it is lonely And so many a tear is shed And it so happens that the water In the oceans is salty And the shark, that has tears And they run from the face But the shark lives in water So no one can see the tears Translation © Affenknecht.com

@BruceVC I agree that the whole statue thing is indeed an odd thing, because any single person is likely to be many things to many people. One mans villain is another mans hero and vice versa. Which is also why old things sometimes gets torn down to make room for new things (that's my inner anarchist speaking). What does people remember Churchill for? As you sort of hinted at, it depends on who you are. Would a 50%+ approval rate among all people being exposed to the actions of some figure justify a statue? A threshold of 25% if they are all locals (i.e. live in the UK)? And so on. There is no easy answer. I'm sure the Romans tore down a number of statues too when previous historical leaders fell out of favour with the current rulers. Maybe the Brits see him representing something they like to remember. Living in Australia, i think I can say he is more than anything associated with failed WWI campaigns, Gallipoli and tens of thousands of dead Aussies and Kiwis. To the people in India, I'm sure he is perceived in a different way to both the UK and the people down here. Was General Lee (US civil war) a particular bad and evil person? No idea. Did his exploits on the battlefield warrant a statue? Probably. But... his side lost and the climate has changed. As said above, sometimes what was once considered great falls out of favour. As long as history books keeps the deeds of people for posterity, does the world really need statues anyway? Other than to make pigeons happy that is. Edit: Another way of looking at is, the values of society keeps changing. Some day, a the values people attribute to the positive and the negative parts of a historical person changes enough to change the net sum?

I was thinking mostly of computer games. For table top games, I think the biggest time sink my younger brother and i played was a game called "Flat Top". For something more "fast" paced (not trying to be funny) we played Wooden Ships and Iron men. From Avalon Hill iirc.