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Lērisama
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Post by Lērisama »

Richard W wrote: Wed Mar 25, 2026 7:06 am
bradrn wrote: Wed Mar 25, 2026 6:32 am
Lērisama wrote: Wed Mar 25, 2026 3:18 am ⁸ If the school has no religious character, it must put on daily Christian-ish worship, get special permission not to, or break the law.
Seriously??
Well, I don't recall the requirement being repealed for England.
It's not been repealed, but it isn't enforced and mostly ignored, although various secular groups are very annoyed about it. I actually don't mind it that much, given that basically no non religious school actually follows it, and mind a lot more about the very large number of Christian schools, because in many places every state school in the area, especially primary schools, are Christian, and so it's very difficult to avoid indoctrination¹.

¹ Many primary schools aren't that good at making it clear that X is a matter of belief, and 5 is quite young to work this out yourself. I know someone brought up in an atheist household who went to one that took its Christianity particularly seriously and was Christian until their mid teens because of this. Once you get a bit older they get better at explaining this, but it's precisely when the children are youngest that the most damage is done.
LZ – Lēri Ziwi
PS – Proto Sāzlakuic (ancestor of LZ)
PRk – Proto Rākēwuic
XI – Xú Iạlan
VN – verbal noun
SUP – supine
DIRECT – verbal directional
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Glenn
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Re: Random Thread

Post by Glenn »

malloc wrote: Tue Mar 24, 2026 9:45 pm Planning on attending a No Kings protest this weekend and just need to decide what my sign should say. I think something simple and specific like "No war with Iran".
Given the attack on Iran, I was tempted to make a sign quoting The Princess Bride: "The first one is, never get involved in a land war in Asia!" That seems a bit glib, however.

For the last No Kings protest, I made a sign that read "Compassion - Not Cruelty; Knowledge - Not Ignorance; Laws - Not Kings!” It's probably too wordy for a protest sign, but it expressed what I was feeling at the time.

We will be attending our local protest this weekend; I wanted to make a new sign, but I don't have much time to spare, so we may bring our previous signs and/or make new ones when we get there (since the organizers provide some sign-making materials - posterboard, markers, etc.).
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Raphael
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Post by Raphael »

Glenn wrote: Thu Mar 26, 2026 5:52 am
For the last No Kings protest, I made a sign that read "Compassion - Not Cruelty; Knowledge - Not Ignorance; Laws - Not Kings!”
Wow, that's really great! How could you sum up my worldview so well?
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linguistcat
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Post by linguistcat »

malloc wrote: Tue Mar 24, 2026 9:45 pm Planning on attending a No Kings protest this weekend and just need to decide what my sign should say. I think something simple and specific like "No war with Iran".
Glad you're taking action! This is a good sign (pun intended).
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Ahzoh
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Post by Ahzoh »

Trying to argue/gaslight that empathy is evil and toxic is perhaps one of the most insidious things the far right is doing.

I saw once in my youtube feed some person trying to use philosophy bullshit to explain why empathy isn't always good and that it can be "toxic" and "manipulative"

And of course there is that book "Toxic Empathy"

I don't think they understand empathy.

It just all sounds like excuses for why you don't want to care about people being killed en masse. Trying to justify selfish apathy or downright antipathy.
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Raphael
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Post by Raphael »

Ahzoh wrote: Thu Mar 26, 2026 1:31 pm Trying to argue/gaslight that empathy is evil and toxic is perhaps one of the most insidious things the far right is doing.

I saw once in my youtube feed some person trying to use philosophy bullshit to explain why empathy isn't always good and that it can be "toxic" and "manipulative"

And of course there is that book "Toxic Empathy"

I don't think they understand empathy.

It just all sounds like excuses for why you don't want to care about people being killed en masse. Trying to justify selfish apathy or downright antipathy.
That's part of why I think stopping these people is so fucking important. They're trying to declare pathological sociopathy the normal state of mind.
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alice
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Post by alice »

Ahzoh wrote: Thu Mar 26, 2026 1:31 pm Trying to argue/gaslight that empathy is evil and toxic is perhaps one of the most insidious things the far right is doing.

I saw once in my youtube feed some person trying to use philosophy bullshit to explain why empathy isn't always good and that it can be "toxic" and "manipulative"

And of course there is that book "Toxic Empathy"

I don't think they understand empathy.

It just all sounds like excuses for why you don't want to care about people being killed en masse. Trying to justify selfish apathy or downright antipathy.
It's easily explained: empathy is for weak snivelling people, not Proper Masculine Manly Men Who Deserve To Rule.
"But he had reckoned without my narrative powers! With one bound I narrated myself up the wall and into the bathroom, where I transformed him into a freestanding sink unit.

We washed our hands of him, and lived happily ever after."
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malloc
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Post by malloc »

linguistcat wrote: Thu Mar 26, 2026 11:45 amGlad you're taking action! This is a good sign (pun intended).
Hopefully the weather is good. Today was astonishingly hot, around 36°C or 97°F, which is incredible considering it's only March.
Travis B.
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Post by Travis B. »

malloc wrote: Thu Mar 26, 2026 6:47 pm
linguistcat wrote: Thu Mar 26, 2026 11:45 amGlad you're taking action! This is a good sign (pun intended).
Hopefully the weather is good. Today was astonishingly hot, around 36°C or 97°F, which is incredible considering it's only March.
Wait a second, you got that kind of weather today? Here in southeastern Wisconsin we got 40's F and rain.
Yaaludinuya siima d'at yiseka wohadetafa gaare.
Ennadinut'a gaare d'ate eetatadi siiman.
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Raphael
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Post by Raphael »

Travis B. wrote: Thu Mar 26, 2026 7:47 pm
malloc wrote: Thu Mar 26, 2026 6:47 pm
linguistcat wrote: Thu Mar 26, 2026 11:45 amGlad you're taking action! This is a good sign (pun intended).
Hopefully the weather is good. Today was astonishingly hot, around 36°C or 97°F, which is incredible considering it's only March.
Wait a second, you got that kind of weather today? Here in southeastern Wisconsin we got 40's F and rain.
Spring can be weird.
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malloc
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Post by malloc »

Raphael wrote: Fri Mar 27, 2026 12:28 am
Travis B. wrote: Thu Mar 26, 2026 7:47 pm
malloc wrote: Thu Mar 26, 2026 6:47 pm

Hopefully the weather is good. Today was astonishingly hot, around 36°C or 97°F, which is incredible considering it's only March.
Wait a second, you got that kind of weather today? Here in southeastern Wisconsin we got 40's F and rain.
Spring can be weird.
Quite. This morning it was only 5°C or 40°F.
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/ˌnɐ.ˈɾɛn.dɚ.ˌduːd/
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Post by /ˌnɐ.ˈɾɛn.dɚ.ˌduːd/ »

malloc wrote: Fri Mar 27, 2026 9:22 am
Raphael wrote: Fri Mar 27, 2026 12:28 am
Travis B. wrote: Thu Mar 26, 2026 7:47 pm
Wait a second, you got that kind of weather today? Here in southeastern Wisconsin we got 40's F and rain.
Spring can be weird.
Quite. This morning it was only 5°C or 40°F.
we got a light snow over lunch break here in northeastern Wyoming. it didn't stick, (probably because it was 10°C / 50°F,) but it nonetheless came as quite a shock after the past week of 25°C / 80°F.
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lëtzeshark
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Post by lëtzeshark »

/ˌnɐ.ˈɾɛn.dɚ.ˌduːd/ wrote: Fri Mar 27, 2026 7:36 pm we got a light snow over lunch break here in northeastern Wyoming. it didn't stick, (probably because it was 10°C / 50°F,) but it nonetheless came as quite a shock after the past week of 25°C / 80°F.
We got snow on Thursday here in Luxembourg, though the temperatures haven't been as warm (more ~16-17ºC the week before). But spring is often a strange season wherever you go: temperamental weather and roller-coaster temperatures. (And where my mother lives, pollen out the wazoo.)
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Random: I recently applied for (and got) a Luxembourgish passport (my first one after acquiring Luxembourgishness). Compared to applying for my last US passport (a renewal), the process was quite a bit easier and cheaper.
US Passport (renewed in Amsterdam)
  • Book an appointment online, normally about two to three months in advance
  • Find a photographer who takes US-size passport photos (fee: ~€15)
  • Go online, fill out the PDF application form, and print it out
  • Buy a pre-paid return envelope from DHL (~€5), because there is also no option to collect the passport
  • Travel to the consulate (€10 by train + €3 for the Amsterdam metro)
  • Queue at the consulate building at least 15 minutes before the appointment
  • Enter, go through security, and enter yet another queue
  • Pay the fee in cash at one window (~€115)
  • Finalize the application at another window
  • Receive the new passport in the mail, along with my canceled old passport, about four weeks later
Total cost: €160-ish for a 10-year passport

Luxembourgish Passport
  • Pay the €50 fee online
  • Go to the municipality without an appointment with my current IDs and the proof of payment
  • They take the photo and fingerprints on the spot
  • I sign the application there, and they then give me a receipt
  • Return to the municipality office two weeks later, give them the receipt (and surrender my carte de séjour), then collect the passport
Total cost: €50 for a 5-year passport
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Man in Space
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Re: Random Thread

Post by Man in Space »

If your logistics provider for a purchase is SpeedX, select another option or go elsewhere. I ordered something that shipped 67 days ago and it’s been sitting in Illinois for almost two months; I initiated a dispute and the merchant hasn’t been able to get in contact with them for weeks.
Travis B.
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Post by Travis B. »

Man in Space wrote: Sat Mar 28, 2026 1:19 pm If your logistics provider for a purchase is SpeedX, select another option or go elsewhere. I ordered something that shipped 67 days ago and it’s been sitting in Illinois for almost two months; I initiated a dispute and the merchant hasn’t been able to get in contact with them for weeks.
And you're not the only person with trouble with SpeedX either...
Yaaludinuya siima d'at yiseka wohadetafa gaare.
Ennadinut'a gaare d'ate eetatadi siiman.
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naz
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Post by naz »

https://youtu.be/3lAKdU_RsJY

A review of Hangul for French!
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malloc
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Re: Random Thread

Post by malloc »

Happy hundred and eighth birthday to Elemtilas. That is quite a remarkable achievement.
Travis B.
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Post by Travis B. »

malloc wrote: Wed Apr 01, 2026 8:35 pm Happy hundred and eighth birthday to Elemtilas. That is quite a remarkable achievement.
A good question is whether phpBB allows people to be older than 126 years old.
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Ennadinut'a gaare d'ate eetatadi siiman.
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Raphael
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Post by Raphael »

Today I learned that Albert Hammond, though he's lived in the States for a very long time, is originally Gibraltarian of all things. Really, I could have sworn that the lyrics of "It Never Rains In California" and especially "Free Electric Band" were written by someone who grew up in the USA.
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