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DuplexFields

Ask me how the FairTax proposal works. All four Political Compass quadrants should love it.

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joined 2022 September 05 05:51:34 UTC
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DuplexFields


								

								

								
								
								

								
							
					
 
				


				
Ask me how the FairTax proposal works. All four Political Compass quadrants should love it.

				
				
				

				

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					joined 2022 September 05 05:51:34 UTC
				


				
					

					
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				Friday Fun Thread for May 22, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Gemini was cleverer:




Walking over is a great option if you just want to grab a detail spray, buy a voucher, or stretch your legs, but if you're planning to actually wash the vehicle, walking a block over leaves you with one minor logistical problem: your car is still in the driveway!




It went on for a couple of paragraphs about car washes, and gave me a fun tip about letting rain wash my car: spray it down with a hose after a storm before the rain dries completely to clear the dust dissolved in the rain.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for May 22, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Which, ironically, makes his the most likely to have been genuinely attributed to a scribe writing out the memories of a Galilean fisherman.


I personally take the traditional attributions at face value. Between AD 30 and the destruction of the Temple, the movement (and the Jerusalem church in particular) swelled to such size that good scribes and decent writers would have been readily available to help the Apostles write out their recollections of the Master’s teachings, and their letters to other cities’ bodies of believers.


As for who wrote Hebrews, since we don’t know which human wrote it, we can call it the book of the Bible in which the authorial guidance of the Holy Spirit is most transparent.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for May 22, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I mean, Hart already did that.




The New Testament: A Translation by the Eastern Orthodox theologian and philosopher David Bentley Hart, first published in 2017.






Hart explicitly stated that his goal was to provide a "pitilessly literal translation" that preserves the distinct linguistic talents—or lack thereof—of each individual writer, rather than smoothing them out into an artificial, uniform majesty.




I’m planning on grabbing a copy soon.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for May 22, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Yes, my process was thoughtful and my choices are specific. Translation teams tend to homogenize their output across authors, not deliberately but by unconscious bias. My goal was to make it truly feel like an anthology written by different authors with different thought processes.


The 1978-2011 NIV is a Bible for everyone, with the most vulgar (low grade level) contemporary plain English. This matches the low phrasing of Mark, widely believed to have been Peter’s scribe. Thus, the Gospel of Mark and Peter’s letters.


JB Phillips translated the New Testament in the 1950’s with an eye for digestibility and teasing out a sense of meaning and spirituality. Thus, the Gospel, Revelation, and letters of John, the Apostle of light and love.


The 1990s’ ESV is a retranslation of the KJV, ASV, and RSV, consistent and clear in translated word choices, and suitable for Bible study and doctrine. It’s the one I’ve spent the longest time reading, 18 years of weekly Bible study. Doctor Luke, Paul’s Greek scribe, compiled the accounts and anecdotes in Luke and Acts as two volumes of faithful and accurate testimony for Paul’s trial in Rome.


The 1903 Weymouth translation is an attempt by a master translator to write as if the authors natively thought and spoke in British English, like Dickens or Doyle. “Translated from the original Greek text into modern English, Weymouth's goal was to produce a Bible version without theological or ecclesiastical bias.” - Google. Lately I’ve found unique phrasing in Weymouth’s Paul’s letters that makes them a good match for Paul’s lawyerly writing.


The 1999 HCSB New Testament has a deliberate focus on adding a Hebraic flavor to the New Testament; for example, by using Messiah instead of Christ in many places. It also has higher phrasing than the ESV with a similar translation philosophy. I find it a delight to read, my current favored translation, and a match for the Hebraic (Jewish) focus of both Matthew and Hebrews.


James and Jude, believed to have been the sons of Joseph, and thus Jesus’ half brothers, are given two translations favored by groups of denominations. “While the NASB is favored by independent conservative evangelicals, the REB was a massive collaborative effort sponsored by virtually all major mainline Protestant and Catholic bodies in the UK and Ireland.” - Google


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for May 22, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
A New Testament That Actually Feels Like an Anthology:



Most of these translations are available on BibleHub, except Phillips, and BibleGateway, except Weymouth. The REB is available on neither.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of April 27, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Who is John Galt?


(Context: the question is the focus of the first chapter of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. It's meant to be asked with world-weary cynicism, with the undertone of "Why would you expect anything nowadays to not be rotten, falling apart, or incompetently handled?" Nobody in the setting even knows who John Galt is, and they still ask it.)


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of April 27, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
For context, Allen made his reservation after the President announced he'd attend. Guy checks into the hotel before the event with his weapons, is surprised he's never once searched, and not obviously surveilled.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 2, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Thanks! Of course, re Trump, that was predicated on him not winning the Presidency.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for April 5, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I thoroughly enjoyed Robert Harris’s Cicero trilogy (Imperium, Lustrum, and Dictator), the great orator’s professional life and the waning of the Republic seen through the eyes of Cicero’s scribal slave.


Your recommendation for post-Roman Britain is now on hold in my library audiobook app.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 30, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I started in on Gravity’s Rainbow, but it was in no way a book I enjoyed. After three pages I returned it to the library.


I want to enjoy reading. My flavor is more in line with Weymouth’s Veddy British translation of the New Testament. His St. Paul is a true philosopher.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 9, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Iran is run by an ethnic supremacist Arab ruling class forcing (at pain of death or worse) the native Persian populace to bow to their god. The tens of thousands of protesters they killed are more legibly a genocide than the fog-of-war deaths of far fewer non-Hamas Palestinians.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Wellness Wednesday for March 4, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Have you attempted changing the color filter accessibility feature to deuteranopia, and then looking at scenery pictures?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Wellness Wednesday for March 4, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I just discovered that everything looks better with the color filter in the Windows accessibility features, and I may have very slight sub-clinical deuteranopia, weakness of the green cones. I was just playing around with the feature and realized the desktop wallpaper on my second monitor looked a lot better!


So I took the https://www.colorblindnesstest.org test. Apparently there aren't supposed to be any "hard" guesses on the Ishihara plates (bubble numbers), but four of the plates took me more than five seconds to decipher.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 23, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I wondered why the attack happened on a Sabbath, but it being the week of Purim makes sense. Per Google:




Shabbat Zachor: The Shabbat immediately preceding Purim is known as Shabbat Zachor ("Remember"). During this service, a special Torah portion (Deuteronomy 25:17-19) is read, commanding the remembrance of Amalek, an enemy who attacked the Israelites from behind, specifically targeting the weak and elderly. This connects directly to the villain of the Purim story, Haman, who is considered a descendant of Amalek.




Trump’s team is doing a Pascal’s Wager that it’s worth supporting Israel religiously, as well as politically. This will make the anti-Zionists and antisemites “big mad” as the kids say. I do wonder if this strike counts under the original Persian decree of Xerxes that the Jews be allowed to defend themselves; in the Book of Esther, a decree written in the king’s name and sealed with the royal signet ring cannot be revoked.


As for the direction of the Middle East and Levant going forward, I want to see Iranian blood money dry up and see the region incentivized to peace by the siren song of capitalism.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 16, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
The FairTax prebate (flat “precalculated rebate”) of >$250/mo could be direct-deposited in a real bank account or dropped onto an EBT-like card.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 16, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
There are people who will never understand dysphoria and cannot bring themselves to believe such modes of mind can exist.


To me, this is like the aphantasic disbelieving I can actually have a picture in my mind of a horse spinning in three dimensions while galloping.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 16, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
When I was somewhat deep in the furry fandom, circa 1997-2003, therian was the new fancy word for “furry lifestyler,” and otherkin was for non-furry species dysphorics who felt they should have been born elves, hobbits, or other fantasy/D&D species/races.


The first time I remember it leaking out into normie culture was the Na’vikin inspired by James Cameron’s Avatar.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 2, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I would love to find out someday that Bashar al-Assad was the temporary Emperor of Tamriel for a month in Elder Scrolls Online, holding the city against all attackers through keen tactical plans and good structural strategy.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 26, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
slow clap


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 26, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
It’s that NPR/New Yorker slice of life tone. It’s part of the blue tribe sensemaking apparatus. If they were forced to describe things as the red tribe do, all action and import, they feel they’re betraying a vital part of themselves.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 12, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Treating America as a store where you can “buy” jobs with your promise of labor, someplace where you can earn money to send home, may have some “capitalistic” feel to it, but even conservatives, libertarians, and capitalists like to have a Real Home For My People like anyone else. And to have the “customers” pushing us out is untenable.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 5, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Don’t forget “both sides” being egged on by their preferred media, social media, and private group chats and meetings. “Tomorrow we enter the Capitol!” “Drive, baby, drive!”


Don’t forget the policy wonks claiming “Defection!” on “both sides,” citing the constant denial and dismissal of court cases seeking to reexamine the 2020 vote totals, and the international law re refugees and immigrants from Somalia.


But also don’t forget Statuary Hall and the peaceful televised procession between velvet ropes. The chaos was mostly left outside.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for January 4, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
The villains were based on the Communists ruining the Russia she grew up in and escaped. They’re not unrealistic because choices that absurd and worse happened, and are happening.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for January 4, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Her earlier novel, The Fountainhead, was what awoke me to the realization of how my codependency (that very specific people pleasing behavior) was crushing my soul. It was my first breath of fresh air in a long journey of recovery. Iron Man 1 was my second.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for December 26, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Have  you ever played Cadavre Exquis (Exquisite Corpse)?


It's a drawing game played by artists, both the Surrealists and inspired schoolchildren. Someone folds a sheet of paper into thirds, as one would when preparing to mail a letter, and the first artist draws on the top third the head of a character, monster, person, etc. He makes sure to extend the lines of the neck briefly into the middle third, and passes the paper to the second artist. The second artist, without viewing the top third, draws a torso, extends the connecting lines of the waist into the bottom third and gives it to the third artist to draw the pelvis and legs.


Someone at Adult Swim (formerly Cartoon Network) had the grand idea of having three or four of their most famous cartoon producers create an Cadavre Exquis, animated by different production companies, with none of the three knowing what the others would be creating. Pendleton Ward (Adventure Time), a duo of Rebecca Sugar (Steven Universe) & Ian Jones-Quartey (OK, K.O!), and Patrick McHale (Over the Garden Wall) collaborated blindly.


The result is neither disjointed nor meaningless.


As a lifelong fan of cartoons and other forms of animation, I found it a fascinating and compelling half-hour of artistry. You can watch the entire thing if you have a cable TV provider, a satellite dish subscription, or an HBO Max account. The documentary is freely available on YouTube, but I highly recommend watching the actual show both before and after you see the documentary, first to prevent spoilers and later to find themes and symbols you missed on the first watch.


What I found interesting on my second watch was how politically tribal it is. I don't mean in the culture war sense! (Except that a character named Donald wields a gun at one point, but that's expected CW claptrap at this point.) I mean that the shared language of symbols shared by the artsy blue tribe at the pinnacle of the corporate art-making world became obvious on my second viewing. This, more than anything, is what makes it feel like a single piece planned collaboratively from the start.


All three segments share a focus on identity, since the main characters of each are directly based on Exquisite Corpses drawn by these three famed animators. There are elements of body horror and bodily integrity throughout, and an undercurrent of the expectation that being embodied includes the fragility of death.


All three segments share oppression as the primary physical threat to the main character: antagonists, the alienation of fame, and one's own existence are each, in turn, seen as oppressive.


This "tribal hive mind" aspect is why it feels like a unified whole instead of the disaster that was the Star Wars sequel trilogy, which is itself considered a Cadavre Exquis by some reviewers. This is the tribe that communicates asynchronously what the media story of the day and The Latest Discourse will be, acting separately and alone but toward a shared goal, surviving as a group mind by winnowing out and excommunicating members who don't get the memo.