subatomic guildhouse tier
Have you heard of this meme that men can't sit cross-legged because of their genitals? Are you possibly affected by this problem yourself?
I used to sit cross-legged all the time in school and got bullied by some kids who took it as proof that I have no testicles. I also heard men complain in earnest about how they can't sit cross-legged without hurting themselves.
Is underwear the issue here? I have always worn boxer briefs that cup my balls nicely, maybe they never get in the way of sitting because of that. Do loose boxer wearers have this problem? Or is something else the issue here? Individual anatomic differences, sitting technique...
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What's your opinion about the greatness of Alexander? Do you think his epithet is justified?
After finishing my extensive readings, it's clear to me that he distinguished himself through unparalleled ambition and drive. This same fiery character (as Plutarch describes it) might be the cause of some of his unforgivable acts - principally the murder of Cleitus, a close friend and companion who had saved his life once, in a fit of drunken rage
>Alexander seized a spear from one of his guards [...] and ran him through.
but from his actions on the whole it's clear hat he was also open to reason and prone to forgiveness. His magnanimous treatment of prisoners, soldiers and royal subjects played a large part in his success according to the chroniclers. He typically spearheaded assaults and charges during battles, sharing in the success as well as in the suffering of his men at all times. And when Darius heard of Alexander's restraint towards his imprisoned family members, Darius is supposed to have said:
>If the fated time is at hand when the rule of the Persians must cease [...] grant that no other man but Alexander shall sit upon the throne of Cyrus.
Still, I wouldn't say that Alexander showed extraordinary skill as a statesman, diplomat, or strategist. I think it's commonly believed that he did, as we are prone to judging men by their results more than their actions. Cultured Bernds are already aware that the rise of Macedon was an accomplishment of Alexander's father. Philip II inherited a kingdom surrounded by enemies and demoralized by defeats, but left Alexander a hegemonic state with a well-drilled army, of which an expeditionary force of 10,000 in Asia Minor was already preparing for an invasion of Persia. Funnily enough, part of Alexander's rage against Cleitus came from Cleitus belittling his achievements as merely satisfactory in light of what Philip left him (per Arrian).
My second point is one that even cultured Bernds may not be familiar with. The execution of a Persian expedition was almost expected by the time Philip got to it. From Cimon's expedition in Egypt to Xenophon's successful retreat after Cunaxa, Greeks were to Persia what Germanic hordes were to Western Rome, and everyone knew it, to the point where much of Darius' army consisted of Greek mercenaries. But the main character of interest to me is Agesilaus II, one of the two Spartan kings of the first half of the 4th century B.C. His small coalition of Peleponnesian allies ravaged Asia Minor and met with continuous successes. He ultimately was forced to retreat not by arms, but by Persian bribes to statesmen in rival cities such as Thebes and Athens.
>Persian coinage carried the design of an archer, and as he departed Agesilaus declared that the Great King was driving him out of Asia with 30,000 archers. This was the sum of money which had been sent to Athens and Thebes and distributed to their popular leaders.
In truth, all that kept the city-states of inland Greeks from conquering Persia were these internal rivalries. In fact, there's an obscure passage in Xenophon's Hellenika where he praises Jason of Pherai for his achievements in uniting the Thessalians (the people just south to the Macedonians, who provided Alexander with much of his elite cavalry) under his rule and expertly drilling their military forces. His life was cut short by an assassination, so who knows - couldn't he have been the Philip to his son's Alexander? I believe that a Greek conquest of the east would have been a matter of time - Alexander or not. All it took was one skilled despot with enough time and a bit of fortune to unite the Greeks, and I'm sure a slight deviation in historical events would see us praising an entirely different man for his greatness.
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I don't think Alexander wasn't great, but reading more about him nuanced my views a lot and I wanted to play devil's advocate and introduce Bernd to some little-known facts about him. People often like to talk about what sort of different turn history could've taken if Alexander had lived just a little longer and proceeded with conquering the Arabs. But he also had designs on Carthage, like Alcibiades before him. Maybe a Greek conquest of Carthage wouldn't have been so destructive and we'd be familiar with their historians and playwrights and whatever else they had...
>it's very late to reply
Not on this board
>could those letters and/or the diary be fabrications?
I'm just an amateur historian, but I checked it out and there doesn't seem to be a scholarly consensus. So you're right to point it out. Looking back to my own sources, it seems that Plutarch and Arrian were not quoting directly from the diary, but merely citing their own source's quotes from the diary. All works about Philip, Alexander and the Diadochi by contemporary historians were lost which makes it impossible to say for sure...
Even some works of Plutarch and Arrian were lost. I was reading a Byzantine summary of Arrian's Events after Alexander this evening, written by a patriarch no less (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photios_I_of_Constantinople). I would describe it an elaborate book review, lacking in detail by design. The little author critiques he finishes with are amusing though, some excerpts from his reviews:
>second to none of the best historical writers
>The style is more careless than it should be, and the phraseology often descends to the commonplace
>clear, agreeable, concise, and full of charm
>His style is distinct, euphonious, and terse, characterized by a combination of smoothness and loftiness
>foolish and preposterous, [...] these eight books are so much study and labor lost
He could be a professional reviewer in this day and age tbh
Cyberpunk 2077 was developed by a Polish studio and features an American city with German manhole covers (pic rel).
lörs reacciones?
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Two covid mutations are rapaciously spreading delight across the Uk, South Africa and apparently it has entered the Netherlands.
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>“If the new variant was going to have a big impact on disease severity, we would have seen that by now,” said Ewan Birney, deputy director general of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory and joint director of its European Bioinformatics Institute in Cambridge.
> Birney said the vaccines have been tested with many variants of the virus circulating. “So there is every reason to think that the vaccines will still work against this new strain, though obviously that needs to be tested thoroughly.”
Worries werent
>I recently started college, and it feels impossible to connect with anyone.
>I can substitute my need for socialization with gondola
I know the feeling, but please don't. Go to all the clubs and student organizations that interest you. Talk to people during lectures. Form study groups, do things with people, have fun. You will feel like not a piece of shit, and you will be more motivated to do well in school. In the first year I was the most active and outgoing, and it was also the year I did the best academically. The year (second year) when I was shut in that didn't talk to people was also the year that I failed courses and felt miserable. By third year, I finally made some friends that I could connect with, but by that I time I had already fugged my schooling up. I would go to my friend's place and they would work on file systems, kernels, neural networks in group projects, and I would sit there awkwardly because I was repeating a course from the year before. I dropped out 4 years ago and now work at a shitty dead end job.
From one Bernd to another, I am giving you the advice I would give to my past self. Become involved; give yourself a reason to wake up every morning. Also, study groups are very important, please join one! They sound lame, but they are not! You will dutifully study and make friends in your field. It is the same principle as going with a gym partner. Much better than anhedonia and wanted to kys, anyway.
Couldn't agree more. I went through college without really making any good friend, just having a few people I'd study with and I regret not getting involved so much.
To try to put it another way, in 20 years you're not really going to give a shit if you got an A or B in class X (neither will your employer btw) but you will remember good stories and hold them dear
t. Not OP
Why does Donald Trump hate dogs so much?
Did you ever notice that he always uses the phrase "like a dog" to describe the most negative thing? When the Americans killed that Iranian general he said "He died like a dog." I mean really, just google "Trump like a dog" and see.
The other thing that stuck out to me is when I heard he talked about Mike Pence's family in a bad way when he learned they had a dog as a pet. Apparently he thought they were "lower class yokels" or something like that because of it. (Can't find the story right now.)
Apparently he also refused to touch a military dog when they did a photo-op.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/like-a-dog-trump-has-a-long-history-of-using-canine-insults-to-dehumanize-enemies/2018/08/14/d0c67fb8-9fce-11e8-83d2-70203b8d7b44_story.html
https://www.spin.com/2019/11/donald-trump-melania-trump-avoid-conan-dog/
have you ever tasted pet food? they're perfectly safe to eat (the exceptions are those edible chewing-sticks for teething puppies, which are very hard and present a choking hazard). there are stories of people eating stuff like cat food during hard times.
earlier today, i tasted a dog treat (took a small bite). they were training treats, little brown pellets designed to be a reward for good puppies.
to be honest with you, it wasn't that bad. it tasted like a concentrated barbeque sauce compressed into a pellet, that is to say, it had a very intense smokey flavor. texture-wise, i will describe it as dense but soft, it crumbles rather than crunches when you bite down on it. it left a strong and unpleasant aftertaste for a very long time, even after i drank coffee and water.
overall: better than i expected, just a bit too much flavor added to the pellets. that persistant aftertaste turns me away from the idea of eating it during starvation.
on a related note, cat food is designed to be bland because cats can't handle strong flavors, whereas dogs evolved to eat our leftovers
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I’m tired of waiting, I want a pet ferret now, this is war!
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I'm making this thread again now that this board appears to be shlightly more active
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2020-11-23/psychedelic-drugs-are-fueling-a-mental-health-revolution-video
Would you be willing to medicate against trauma or other sufferings with psychedelics? Any narcobernds have experience with this?
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>is the problem resolved pretty much completely?
No, not at all. Even the mighty plans I crafted in the confident afterglow of my successful trip didn't last the night's sleep. But everything was so different after. I no longer prevented myself from living life. I hardly ever felt truly depressed since, and all the small things I've done to change my life for the better would make it unlikely for me to now, even though I no longer feel the benefits of an opened mind after all those years passed.