Search found 4049 matches

by Raphael
Tue Apr 30, 2024 3:28 am
Forum: Ephemera
Topic: War in the Middle East, again
Replies: 455
Views: 74927

Re: War in the Middle East, again

The points made in the back-and-forth between bradrn and Linguoboy illustrate fairly well why, while I absolutely don't support Israel, I'm not really interested in supporting the pro-Palestinian movement, either. No, I don't care if people think that that's the worst kind of bothsidism. When one si...
by Raphael
Tue Apr 30, 2024 3:15 am
Forum: Ephemera
Topic: The Computer And General Tech Thread - Software, Hardware, Questions, etc.
Replies: 557
Views: 271489

Re: The Computer And General Tech Thread - Software, Hardware, Questions, etc.

I don't really know enough about programming to follow this, but - wasn't the original point of zeptoforth to go back to the basics with a bare metal rather than higher level language?
by Raphael
Tue Apr 30, 2024 3:13 am
Forum: Ephemera
Topic: United States Politics Thread 46
Replies: 1424
Views: 445325

Re: United States Politics Thread 46

Linguoboy wrote: Mon Apr 29, 2024 5:27 pm All there really is is an obligation to pay that's funded out of current revenues.
The thing with the proposed alternatives is that they mainly just go to greater lengths to hide the same kind of thing.
by Raphael
Mon Apr 29, 2024 6:34 am
Forum: Almea
Topic: "Experiencer"
Replies: 40
Views: 4491

Re: "Experiencer"

Well, natural languages are nothing more than conlangs reworked by a very large number of fans, This is not true I rarely ever agree with xxx, but they have a point there. Natural languages were created by human beings, after all, so you could interpret them as a form of collaborative conlangs.
by Raphael
Mon Apr 29, 2024 6:32 am
Forum: Ephemera
Topic: Venting thread
Replies: 1923
Views: 15028244

Re: Venting thread

I was on vacation this week, to visit the Norman Music Festival (which runs from Thursday to Saturday). - Arrive on Tuesday. - Catch sick Wednesday night/Thursday morning. - Recover sufficiently by Saturday to do things. - This being Oklahoma, tornadoes and severe thunderstorms occur on Saturday, s...
by Raphael
Mon Apr 29, 2024 6:31 am
Forum: Ephemera
Topic: Do you think it will ever be possible to go back in time?
Replies: 43
Views: 1119

Re: Do you think it will ever be possible to go back in time?

If time travel were possible without requiring causality loops, how was Hitler never assassinated by a time traveler? One potential explanation is raised here - that the world as it exists actually is the best of all possible worlds... say in every timeline without Hitler we get Uber-Nazis or somet...
by Raphael
Mon Apr 29, 2024 6:27 am
Forum: Ephemera
Topic: United States Politics Thread 46
Replies: 1424
Views: 445325

Re: United States Politics Thread 46

But the real question is, what's the plan? How are old folks supposed to, y'know, eat? Is everybody super enthused at the idea of taking Grandma in? IIRC the idea is to have people invest money before they retire, and then live of those investments once they're retired. One of the many problems wit...
by Raphael
Sat Apr 27, 2024 5:41 am
Forum: Ephemera
Topic: War in the Middle East, again
Replies: 455
Views: 74927

Re: War in the Middle East, again

My impression is that the antisemitism and other extremism is mostly pushed top-down from the government; of course it’s hard to avoid picking up antisemitic beliefs in that environment, but at the same time people are able to recognise government propaganda for what it is. I suspect that, while ma...
by Raphael
Wed Apr 24, 2024 5:30 am
Forum: Ephemera
Topic: The Contradictory Feelings Thread
Replies: 666
Views: 753847

Re: The Contradictory Feelings Thread

Linguoboy: Wow, just wow. Sorry that you have to deal with such fucked-up shit.

doctor shark: Good luck, and I hope it all works out!
by Raphael
Wed Apr 24, 2024 5:29 am
Forum: Ephemera
Topic: Venting thread
Replies: 1923
Views: 15028244

Re: Venting thread

In my family, it's one main financial hit after another right now.
by Raphael
Wed Apr 24, 2024 5:28 am
Forum: Ephemera
Topic: War in the Middle East, again
Replies: 455
Views: 74927

Re: War in the Middle East, again

What about the law of return? Okay, fine, we repel it. Let's say then that France elects fascists and immediately dusts off the anti-Jew laws (that's more likely than you'd think). What happens to the French Jews? Less dramatically, France declares it illegal to wear a yarmulke and generally makes ...
by Raphael
Wed Apr 24, 2024 5:22 am
Forum: Conlangery
Topic: Exploring the diversity of constructed languages
Replies: 6
Views: 402

Re: Exploring the diversity of constructed languages

You're right about conlanging in general - but specifically here on the ZBB , there traditionally seems to be a focus on "naturalistic" conlangs, that is, conlangs that might plausibly be spoken by humans from Earth, or a fantasy or science fiction species very similar to humans from Earth...
by Raphael
Sun Apr 21, 2024 6:32 am
Forum: Ephemera
Topic: Venting thread
Replies: 1923
Views: 15028244

Re: Venting thread

Raphael wrote: Tue Apr 16, 2024 9:37 am An elderly friend of the family is in the hospital after a stroke. I don't know her that well personally, but I know her husband fairly well.
Turns out the husband of the couple had a stroke a day or two after his wife did. He's in the hospital, too. When it rains...
by Raphael
Sun Apr 21, 2024 3:56 am
Forum: Ephemera
Topic: Do you think it will ever be possible to go back in time?
Replies: 43
Views: 1119

Re: Do you think it will ever be possible to go back in time?

The one thing we can say about our current physics is that it does not yet completely model the universe, so if we discover new physics, it is conceivable that that might tell us it is possible to go faster than light. But I consider it exceedingly unlikely. And I'm not sure that even that would ma...
by Raphael
Sun Apr 21, 2024 2:45 am
Forum: Ephemera
Topic: British Politics Guide
Replies: 1936
Views: 1019103

Re: British Politics Guide

Trivial note: a few days ago, I noticed that the word "laboratory" contains the names of both of the major British parties (yes, I know about the missing "u"), and now I can't unsee that.
by Raphael
Sun Apr 21, 2024 2:41 am
Forum: Ephemera
Topic: Happy things thread!
Replies: 1211
Views: 716460

Re: Happy things thread!

Nice to see something good happening to you once in a while!
by Raphael
Sun Apr 21, 2024 2:38 am
Forum: Ephemera
Topic: Venting thread
Replies: 1923
Views: 15028244

Re: Venting thread

Just yesterday my brother and my other brother's girlfriend got into a pretty serious car crash. My brother sustained a concussion and a minor injury to his spleen while my brother's girlfriend sustained two broken limbs, a shattered pelvis, marrow on her lungs and a more serious concussion. Both w...
by Raphael
Fri Apr 19, 2024 12:38 pm
Forum: Ephemera
Topic: War in the Middle East, again
Replies: 455
Views: 74927

Re: War in the Middle East, again

I wish the solution to global antisemitism was as simple as "give the Jews a nation-state", but it really isn't. Without the support of the USA, would Israel even still exist? And if that's the case, then for Jews to be safe in Israel they have to be safe in the USA as well. An antisemiti...
by Raphael
Fri Apr 19, 2024 12:28 pm
Forum: Ephemera
Topic: Random Thread
Replies: 3731
Views: 451550

Re: Random Thread

Travis B. wrote: Fri Apr 19, 2024 10:34 am
Man in Space wrote: Fri Apr 19, 2024 4:31 am - Not just one, but two 1:6-scale Mr. Clean action figures (still in their boxes)
Did anyone actually specify how tall Mr. Clean is?
The text that came with those figures, perhaps?
by Raphael
Fri Apr 19, 2024 3:17 am
Forum: Ephemera
Topic: Random Thread
Replies: 3731
Views: 451550

Re: Random Thread

It's now been about ten years since I bought the first handful of DVDs that eventually grew into a fairly large de facto DVD collection. I say "de facto" because I never set out to collect DVDs, the way people set out to collect sports cards or action figures. I just thought it would be ni...