Random Thoughts XII - Floccinaucinihilipilification

[Valka D'Ur]

Just go to another forum, I'd say.

Note the past tense. I haven't belonged to that forum for several years. Apparently that wasn't enough to let the grudge go, and more crap happened.

So yeah, I've got low tolerance for bullying. After all, I go to forums for fun, not stalking and abusive PMs.

 

[amadeus]

Matt Drudge would have made a better Inspector Gadget than Matthew Broderick.

You wouldn’t even need to change his outfit that much.

 

[warpus]

Looks like cultural appropriation is alive in Poland and maybe even spreading

 

[Rg339]

I think a Mongol invasion of Western Europe would’ve failed.

It’s the forts. In the 1st invasion of Hungary, the Mongols never took a stone fort. Unfortunately for Hungary, they didn’t have many stone forts(they would reform and in later mongol invasions they’d stumble because of said forts). If they went into Western Europe, they would’ve ran into thousands of stone forts from the get-go.

The popular perception is, the Khan kicked the bucket, sparing West Europe, and rather than invade Germany, the Mongols went back to politically influence the succession. Nah. The Mongol generals realized the easy loot had all been had and that they were looking at long, expensive sieges for which they lacked infantry. They probably made a pragmatic call that advancing further was not a militarily wise move, bogging down their forces in sieges with rival Khanates on the borders, not smart. Better to not bother. Better not to risk your reputation for fast, decisive success in what would probably be an indecisive campaign with little territorial gain.

 

[Takhisis]

It's not that they couldn't have taken fortified places because they had done so and would do so again in the future. Maybe it was just that the calculus between ‘how long would it take us to conquer all these myriad forts one by one and how would that affect the fact that we have an election at the back’ directed their movement in a certain way.

It's counterfactual by now.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Were there any stone forts in China?

 

[Rg339]

Were there any stone forts in China?

Yes. The northern Chinese dynasty at the time suffered a political collapse, and so the majority of their territory surrendered without sieges.

Note the different course with the Southern Song Dynasty, which put up resistance for generations using a defensive strategy based around strong fortifications(which were not comparable in quality to the ones in West Europe). Mongols had to use tons of infantry and reorient their whole approach(which took generations).

If Batu and his guys rolled in without that reorientation towards infantry, their gains are very limited at best. If they do reorient, I would expect their gains are still pretty limited. The same risk/reward isn’t there. Even in comparison to Southern China, West Europe is 5x the forts for 1/2 the loot.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Yes. The northern Chinese dynasty at the time suffered a political collapse, and so the majority of their territory surrendered without sieges.

Thanks, but my question was rhetorical. I am well acquainted with Chinese history.

 

[Terxpahseyton]

So apparently the word "church" has its root in reigning by force. A dominion.. is about domination and subjugation. Those are the kind of terms a man such as Kissinger thinks. They are not the way of Love. For you can only dance with what is divine. Not... own it. Certainly with a lead. Someone always must lead any dance. But without subjugation.

My sword is a feather. The sword only had me fall flat on my face any time I got up. Feathers on the other hand open whole new horizons.

And to not fall on your face but simply to fall or to ascend... all a matter of perspective. The same river, flowing to the same sea.

 

[Terxpahseyton]

That said, it seems to be possible to not own, but be love. By surrendering to it. Which at least from some perspectives is not much different than to surrender to ones own soul. Or what one always had been, deep down.

However, certainly, it is fair and fine to treat careful before allowing for such a thing. Trust is to be earned. And nothing as risky or dangerous as love.

But at some point, one must let go. Or have never known, what it even means to be alive. And it is true what they say: Intelligence is the ability to adapt. To change in accordance to the demands and challenges of your world. Be it inner or outer.

 

[Aiken_Drumn]

I have just achieved the "I Love It"

which is achieved for "Content you have posted has attracted 500 likes."

With 1100 posts so far.. that's a pretty tasty ratio if I do say so myself!

 

[Takhisis]

1100 posts

Right.

 

[Kyriakos]

At least Elon Musk used the correct name for Constantinople. I like the effect ^_^

 

[Takhisis]

He's a byznessman.

 

[Kyriakos]

He's a byznessman.

Right...

 

[Takhisis]

Constantly.

 

[amadeus]

I was looking at the Holland America line for ways to sail to the USA (no, I’m not planning on it.) Anyway, they have a casino onboard.

Do they even have a craps table?
Does anyone even know how to play craps?
Are these four people going to be there?

Do I have to dress up? When I’m gambling, I look like a bum. Besides, I don’t want these people around me. I’m in the budget room, maybe steerage class. Next to some Peruvian frog or TV tube factory rejects.

Is that guy feigning interest in the game because he just wants to bone? I’m assuming that’s why he’s so… insufferably lower-upper class looking. Their teeth are all too white.

If I’m going on a cruise ship casino, I want a Salvadorian woman in her late fifties next to me, maybe in some kind of muumuu. At least then we can bond over being at the $3 minimum table.

Of course, that also means I’d have to leave the room. If it’s just a bed and a shower, with at least one outlet for plugging in my PC, I’d be alright.

I just don’t want to bump into this guy who is probably an accountant or middle manager. If he was a real bigshot, he’d have his own ship, and his own floozies.

 

[Aiken_Drumn]

Is your priority to bone, or to throw dice?

 

[amadeus]

Is your priority to bone, or to throw dice?

My priority is to play blackjack, win or lose, just so I can feel something.

 

[Kyriakos]

My priority is to play blackjack, win or lose, just so I can feel something.

If you like to gamble, I tell you I'm your man.