Miftan posted:

That's super interesting, thanks. I was taught in high school that the reason the German invasion of France went so well is that they built the Maginot line, patted themselves on the back, and then were completely blindsided when the Germans just ignored it and invaded through the Netherlands/Belgium. I haven't had any reason to ever apply even the smallest amount of critical thinking to the subject so it's just something that has sat in the back of my brain for over a decade for absolutely no reason, despite it being really really loving stupid. Obviously the French would notice if the Germans invaded Belgium/the Netherlands, and people in the 30s weren't much dumber than they are today, they definitely would have prepared for that.

Miftan posted:

Wouldn't surprise me. The UK probably had a few of those as well, not to mention the 'Actually the nazis are pretty great' crowd, so roughly the same as today as well.

OwlFancier posted:

It's not a word you would generally use as a verb, when was the last time you said quizzed outside of a news story?

Bloodly posted:

Hm? I didn't realize 'quiz' was somehow a poor word?

Miftan posted:

That's super interesting, thanks. I was taught in high school that the reason the German invasion of France went so well is that they built the Maginot line, patted themselves on the back, and then were completely blindsided when the Germans just ignored it and invaded through the Netherlands/Belgium. I haven't had any reason to ever apply even the smallest amount of critical thinking to the subject so it's just something that has sat in the back of my brain for over a decade for absolutely no reason, despite it being really really loving stupid. Obviously the French would notice if the Germans invaded Belgium/the Netherlands, and people in the 30s weren't much dumber than they are today, they definitely would have prepared for that.

Josef bugman posted:

It really does feel that for a lot of people in charge teh 90's never stopped. It's just the same old people in charge and refusing to change or grow in any way.

quote:

James Daly was a theatre manager in Dublin in 1782. He once had a bet with a friend that he could introduce a new word into the English language in a day. He then chalked the word "Quiz" on the walls of the city. Daly won the bet, and a useful word came out of it - in terms of vocabulary AND Scrabble.

OwlFancier posted:

It's not a word you would generally use as a verb, when was the last time you said quizzed outside of a news story?

None of the words are technically incorrect but used together they form a particular cant unique to the british press.

sebzilla posted:

https://youtu.be/Xnh8pLKXJB4

Starmer is "apolitical" and has been calculating his path to the top job for years, according to Sienna Rodgers

goddamnedtwisto posted:

The Belgians had their own defensive fortifications, not quite as good as the Maginot Line, but still something that would have stopped most armies in their tracks.

Unfortunately someone went and invented the shaped charge and they were taken out in one night by a handful of paratroopers. It was this that panicked the Allies into really throwing everything they had in the way of the diversionary attack, because nobody had expected the Germans to get into Belgium quite so easily, it had been assumed they'd have a week or two of taking potshots at them from the fortress before they'd actually have to fight. It's a pretty classic example of trying to fight the last war, despite the Germans clearly telegraphing in Spain and in Poland that they weren't playing that game any more - the Allies assumed that they were still fighting an army that moved at walking pace.

I've always thought the popular perception of the Battle of France was arse-covering by the British - it's easier to just call the French a bunch of cheese-eating surrender monkeys than face up to the woeful leadership and complete collapse of the BEF - but at the same time the French leadership really didn't help with that perception. As it became clear the Germans had completely wrong-footed them they sacked the general in charge of the defence and replaced him with Weygand, who cancelled the plan for a counterattack that would have probably smashed the Germans who were badly stretched by the rush to Calais, then spent three days in Paris visiting various dignitaries to be congratulated on his promotion, then decided to try a counter-attack against the German line that had had almost a week to reinforce itself. When this failed, there were basically only two divisions between the Germans and Paris, and the French basically had no choice but to surrender.

Two things I will grudgingly concede - the southern French armies fought like bastards in that counterattack, and almost certainly gained enough time for Dunkirk to be evacuated, and the French weren't uniquely blindsided by the Ardennes because the Americans made the *exact same mistake* just 4 years later, completely ignoring the Ardennes and allowing a massive German counteroffensive (which, notably, was eventually turned back using an almost identical counterattack to the one Weyand had cancelled before going off to Paris to swan about a bit).

peanut- posted:

Reject the fiction that centrist managerialism is apolitical.

quote:

Lichcraft is a rules-light tabletop RPG set up to be played with 2 or more players. The play is inspired by Forged in the Dark systems, with a simple D6-pool resolution mechanic. Instead of choosing classes or players, characters begin by choosing their politics, hobby, day job, and magical source, and use attributes from these to add to their dice rolls.

Give this game a try if you like dystopian settings, collaborative world-building and play, magic wielding queer characters, interesting and individualistic ways of spellcasting, and undeath as a metaphor for... something.

Premise

In this game, you play trans characters in dystopian Britain, 50 years in the future. You have been trapped at the bottom of a waiting list for vital gender affirming healthcare. The list is far longer than a mortal human lifespan.

As a result you have decided to pursue lichdom. Over the course of the game you will gather all the components for the ritual necessary to become an undead creature of great arcane power, at which point you may either transform yourselves however you choose, or wait things out in your new immortal bodies- you have all the time in the world.

This is a game about spite, necromancy, being trans, and a 300 year long NHS waiting list. Although the game itself deals with serious themes, it is set up to be tongue-in-cheek, satirical, super queer, and intimate.

Camrath posted:

I am sad to report however that I’m currently not able to ship outside of the UK. I know there are several fudge fans on the mainland, and I’m deeply sorry that our government has hosed up your fudge supply. As soon as I find a solution, I will let you know

Happy fudging, guys and gals

Jaeluni Asjil posted:

Communist Thoughts posted:

sounds like race science to me m8

Guavanaut posted:

Ok which of you did this?

Ms Adequate posted:

tbh I just continue to be blown away by how utterly useless Starmer actually is. When it looked like he'd take the leadership I was annoyed because I'd definitely rather have had Rebecca "Three day week and a four day bender" Bong-Daily and he won, so, fine, the membership has spoken, let's see what he can do. I feared that he'd have bad centrist takes and melt policies, I hoped he'd keep at least a few Corbyn policies that had been particularly popular, what I expected was somewhere in between.

I genuinely didn't expect he would be so thoroughly useless in every single regard. I thought we'd be getting mad at him for not going far enough when he called for the government to do something, or suggesting some shite like "We must protect the NHS and ensure it is fully funded, but Labour also recognizes that there is an important role for private entities to play in delivering healthcare" or whatever. I honestly did not think he was going to just be "Exactly what the government suggests 20 minutes after Downing Street has announced it" on every. single. issue.

Ms Adequate posted:

tbh I just continue to be blown away by how utterly useless Starmer actually is. When it looked like he'd take the leadership I was annoyed because I'd definitely rather have had Rebecca "Three day week and a four day bender" Bong-Daily and he won, so, fine, the membership has spoken, let's see what he can do. I feared that he'd have bad centrist takes and melt policies, I hoped he'd keep at least a few Corbyn policies that had been particularly popular, what I expected was somewhere in between.

I genuinely didn't expect he would be so thoroughly useless in every single regard. I thought we'd be getting mad at him for not going far enough when he called for the government to do something, or suggesting some shite like "We must protect the NHS and ensure it is fully funded, but Labour also recognizes that there is an important role for private entities to play in delivering healthcare" or whatever. I honestly did not think he was going to just be "Exactly what the government suggests 20 minutes after Downing Street has announced it" on every. single. issue.

BalloonFish posted:

I thought that, at worst he'd be another Ed Miliband in terms of policy, and that I'd probably end up thinking "It's annoying how far to the right he's gone but before Corbyn I'd probably be all over this platform since I had never known anything better!"

But he's not only worse from a policy perspective (judging from the few times when he has actually stated a position on something) but he's just useless at even playing the political game. Worse than JC, and he wasn't very good at it and had the entire media out to get him.

suck my woke dick posted:

starmer should be deputy head of accounting at bae

justcola posted:

https://twitter.com/thesundaysport/status/1357253781705138181

bump_fn posted:

https://twitter.com/hendopolis/status/1357083184039616515

goddamnedtwisto posted:

I mean... yeah? Just because people with calipers have interesting ideas about the inherent superiority of the Nordic Race, doesn't mean that there *aren't* actual genetic differences across populations that tend to track with the geographical origin of your ancestors. Tendency towards sickle-cell anaemia is as much an actual genetic characteristic as melanin production.