Random-Interesting-Weird

[Sarex]

Clickbait title, but an interesting watch.

 

[Amentep]

Its a bit misleading comparing Amtrak (which owns only about 1,000 KM of the tracks it uses) with Switzerland (which has over 3,000 km of track) and then the amount of tracks in the US total (over 250,000 km).  Scale for national train travel is a big problem, hence why Amtrak is mostly reliant on renting time on shipping company's tracks.  The makes the biggest problem with Amtrak not that people wouldn't use it, but its not even a comparable option excepting in the NE US where commuting may be a 'short' time investment.  I once looked at visiting someone in the southwest US (about a 4 hour plane trip) and to get there on Amtrak would be a 3 day trip with an overnight stop in Washington DC and then another in Chicago.

That said, its not unfair to say that US people got led down the garden path in 1939 with respect to cars.  Our city recently spent a lot of money to install a short trip street car after 60 years earlier tearing up their original street car lines in favor of cars-cars-cars.  

[Gromnir]

2 hours ago, Amentep said:

Its a bit misleading comparing Amtrak (which owns only about 1,000 KM of the tracks it uses) with Switzerland (which has over 3,000 km of track) and then the amount of tracks in the US total (over 250,000 km). 

absence o' relative scale is also making us "city" maps misleading. show a map o' "chicago" rta which in reality is representing an area 'bout the size of 1/4 of england. illinois is 150k sq km. england is 130k sq. kilometers. most europeans we know has seen maps o' the US and they know it is big in terms o' the raw numbers, but once they live here or spend time traveling in the US they nevertheless express surprise 'bout the distances involved. 

even so, one thing we do miss 'bout having gone to school and having lived in the bay area is bart, and bart is hardly perfect or even great. the thing is, decent public transportation in a nation as large as the US is expensive. the interstate highways system in 2019 dollars were $530 billion and is widely considered one o' the better investments evar by the fed. talk 'bout costs o' infrastructure is reasonable and is no need to spend foolish or excessive, but often such complaints 'bout costs is painful myopic. tax cuts for the rich (regan and trump) as well as automaker and bank bailouts (obama) are known to be costly and do not result in long term benefits. infrastructure investment, on the other hand, as were the case with land grant universities and the aforementioned interstate highway system, do result in long-term benefits which marked outweigh costs. 'course poor spent infrastructure dollars benefits nobody. 

HA! Good Fun!

 

[Gfted1]

I wonder whats the over/under prop bet (in days) before someone litigates the "infrastructure improvement projects" into oblivion? Ill put 100 internet cookies on under 60 days of announcement. 

[Gorth]

Oh crab! The red horde is coming...

 

[Malcador]

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/software/winamp-prepares-a-relaunch-new-beta-version-almost-ready/

The llama's ass is ready

[Amentep]

2 hours ago, Gorth said:

Oh crab! The red horde is coming...

 

If they had some Green Crabs, it'd be really in the spirit of Christmas, on that island.

[Malcador]

2 hours ago, Gorth said:

Oh crab! The red horde is coming...

 

Communists coming for Christmas.

[Raithe]

Just for the quirky interest:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Once_upon_a_time

A list of the ritualised versions of "Once upon a time" depending on language and culture..

That reminder of the sheer universal nature of storytelling...

[Raithe]

Games Workshop actually had to put out an official statement explaining that you're not supposed to root for the fascists.

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2021/11/19/the-imperium-is-driven-by-hate-warhammer-is-not/

 

[Gfted1]

And hot liquid is hot. True story.

[Gorth]

I don't care. My Valhallan army shall cleanse the galaxy of the mutants, the aliens and the heretics!

 

[Malcador]

19 hours ago, Gfted1 said:

And hot liquid is hot. True story.

You'd be surprised how stupid some 40k fans are.  Well and how many have fallen into "fascism is cool, bro" territory.

[Sarex]

https://www.thewhoresofyore.com/katersquos-journal/dirtybertie-the-love-chair-of-edward-vii

[Raithe]

Octopuses, Crabs, and Lobsters are Sentient Beings, Says Updated UK Law (gizmodo.com)

[ComradeYellow]

On 11/21/2021 at 9:51 AM, Malcador said:

You'd be surprised how stupid some 40k fans are.  Well and how many have fallen into "fascism is cool, bro" territory.

Like The Brotherhood of Steel?  I mean the faction reeks of "path of least resistance" pansies hiding behind ridiculous OP weapons and armor and blowing **** up.

Also, never forget JFK

“The most powerful single force in the world today is neither communism nor capitalism, neither the H-bomb nor the guided missile – it is man’s eternal desire to be free and independent. The great enemy of that tremendous force of freedom is called, for want of a more precise term, imperialism – and today that means Soviet imperialism and, whether we like it or not, and though they are not to be equated, Western imperialism. Thus, the single most important test of American foreign policy today is how we meet the challenge of imperialism, what we do to further man’s desire to be free. On this test more than any other, this nation shall be critically judged by the uncommitted millions in Asia and Africa, and anxiously watched by the still hopeful lovers of freedom behind the Iron Curtain. If we fail to meet the challenge of either Soviet or Western imperialism, then no amount of foreign aid, no aggrandizement of armaments, no new pacts or doctrines or high-level conferences can prevent further setbacks to our course and to our security.”

[Gorth]

52 minutes ago, Raithe said:

Octopuses, Crabs, and Lobsters are Sentient Beings, Says Updated UK Law (gizmodo.com)

I think this would have pleased Paul... (which was a famous Octopus oracle from the Fifa 2010 World Cup)

From Paul's wiki page:

 

Paul's accurate choices for the 2010 World Cup, broadcast live by German news channel n-tv, endowed him with celebrity status.[3] Paul predicted the winners of each of the seven 2010 FIFA World Cup matches that the German team played, against Australia, Serbia, Ghana, England, Argentina, Spain,[22] and Uruguay. His prediction that Argentina would lose prompted Argentine chef Nicolas Bedorrou to post an octopus recipe on Facebook.[3]

    There are always people who want to eat our octopus but he is not shy and we are here to protect him as well. He will survive.
    — Oliver Walenciak (Paul's keeper)[23]

Paul correctly predicted the outcome of the semi-final, by choosing the food in the box marked with the Spanish flag. German supporters drew hope from his incorrect choice for the Germany versus Spain match in the UEFA Euro 2008 but were disappointed.[24] The prediction led to German fans calling for Paul to be eaten.[25][26] In response, the Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero offered to send Paul official state protection, and the Industry Minister Miguel Sebastian called for Paul to be given safe haven in Spain.[27][28]

Paul's notoriety attracted criticism from the President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who accused him of being a symbol of Western decadence and decay.[29]

 

Maybe Spain is the most octopus friendly country in Europe? The place where they don't eat their prophets

 

[ComradeYellow]

Does Gorth follow my every post?  Everytime I post in a thread he immediately posts right after quoting another poster and adding his own stupid dorky insight, like an attempt at one upping or something.

[Zoraptor]

1 hour ago, Gorth said:

Paul's notoriety attracted criticism from the President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who accused him of being a symbol of Western decadence and decay.

 

Classic Mahmoud. Pronouncements on the imminent collapse of western civilisation just haven't been the same since he left the presidency.

And of course, the most random weird and interesting thing about that World Cup was not Paul but which team went through it unbeaten

Spoiler

No, not Spain the eventual winners who lost in the group stage. It was the magnificent New Zealand All Whites* who drew all their group games and finished 3rd in their group ahead of the previous world cup winners Italy. Feel free to thank me when it randomly comes up in a pub quiz or whatever.

*Indeed glorious New Zealand was last defeated at a world cup in... 1983.

 

[Pidesco]

7 hours ago, Gorth said:

I think this would have pleased Paul... (which was a famous Octopus oracle from the Fifa 2010 World Cup)

From Paul's wiki page:

 

Paul's accurate choices for the 2010 World Cup, broadcast live by German news channel n-tv, endowed him with celebrity status.[3] Paul predicted the winners of each of the seven 2010 FIFA World Cup matches that the German team played, against Australia, Serbia, Ghana, England, Argentina, Spain,[22] and Uruguay. His prediction that Argentina would lose prompted Argentine chef Nicolas Bedorrou to post an octopus recipe on Facebook.[3]

    There are always people who want to eat our octopus but he is not shy and we are here to protect him as well. He will survive.
    — Oliver Walenciak (Paul's keeper)[23]

Paul correctly predicted the outcome of the semi-final, by choosing the food in the box marked with the Spanish flag. German supporters drew hope from his incorrect choice for the Germany versus Spain match in the UEFA Euro 2008 but were disappointed.[24] The prediction led to German fans calling for Paul to be eaten.[25][26] In response, the Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero offered to send Paul official state protection, and the Industry Minister Miguel Sebastian called for Paul to be given safe haven in Spain.[27][28]

Paul's notoriety attracted criticism from the President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who accused him of being a symbol of Western decadence and decay.[29]

 

Maybe Spain is the most octopus friendly country in Europe? The place where they don't eat their prophets

 

In Spain people eat octopus. Because it is really, really tasty.

Anyway, I don't see what's the deal with sentience. Of course octopi and lobsters are sentient. So are cows, lambs, pigs, chickens, turkeys, frogs, snails, elk, pheasant, all sorts of fish. And

[Amentep]

2 hours ago, Pidesco said:

In Spain people eat octopus. Because it is really, really tasty.

Anyway, I don't see what's the deal with sentience. Of course octopi and lobsters are sentient. So are cows, lambs, pigs, chickens, turkeys, frogs, snails, elk, pheasant, all sorts of fish. And

I think UK's recognition is a step towards requiring ethical slaughter for food animals before cooking or preparing for consumption. 

So it'd eliminate tossing a lobster in the pot while still aware.

[Pidesco]

I have no idea what I was going to write after that "And"

Old age.

[Gfted1]

I never had the heart to throw live crabs into a pot. Just imagine inhaling boiling water! *shudder* I mean, Ill eat the hell out of them, I just dont want to be the trigger man.

[Gromnir]

For Decades, Southern States Considered Thanksgiving an Act of Northern Aggression

have never been a big fan o' pumpkin pie, but am thinking o' making it an essential part o' our thanksgiving meal prep henceforth. 

HA! Good Fun!

[Malcador]

Sherman should have kept on burning.