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🇺🇸 Fiat justitia ruat caelum

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🇺🇸 Fiat justitia ruat caelum

				
				
				

				

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					joined 2022 September 05 01:56:25 UTC
				


				
					

					
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				Friday Fun Thread for March 13, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
In development does not mean in production.  He has approval from the rights holder (20th Century Fox/Disney) and the original show runner (Wheadon).  He has the original cast and one of the show runners from Dollhouse on board.  He has a script for at least the first episode of season 2. He has an animation studio that has declared interest.


It doesn't sound like he has money.  Or as he puts it, "a home."  But really it's the money needed to begin production which would be provided in the place where it will be distributed (these days a streaming service).  Disney has first dibs, but would somewhere like Apple or Amazon pick it up?  One thing that would encourage such a move would be to prove there are still fans out there, in sufficient quantities to make it worth it. Hence the hype campaign right now.


If the hype does not explode, this will go nowhere.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for March 13, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
That's why it's an animated series, I expect.


But like I said, I thought a podcast audio drama would be the best possibility.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for March 15, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I think there is value to knowing the words the author selected.  Consequence is a word that shows it's not just "class" and that class is more than just how comfortable your life is.  Consequence means that these character's lives are considered more significant through the means they get their bread.  The word choice is an introduction and an education into a mindset that is unlike ours.


With about 40-80 hours of practice, you can accustom yourself to the vocabulary and grammar differences.  The number of words you will need to look up will go down to maybe a dozen a book.  This is very different from requiring everyone read all novels in their original language, because learning a whole language takes 1000s of hours.


Also modern people write like that sometimes.  Pick up This is Happiness by Niall Williams for example.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for March 13, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Nathan Fillion announced on Instagram that a second Firefly season is in development.  It's a cult classic/niche hit.  Has at least a million dedicated fans, which is an unfortunate amount.  Disney Plus, which holds the rights at the moment, would probably need the number of fans to be in the 10s of millions to consider beginning production.  It sounds like Disney was open to Fillion bringing the rights somewhere else so maybe he could manage a low budget thing on Crunchy roll but I don't feel like that's his goal.


I always felt that Firefly would make a good fan-funded high-quality podcast serialized story, like The Magnus Archives.  This is a little ambitious but we will see how it goes.  If you think Firefly has more than 1 million fans, prove it by liking the Instagram post.  We will see how it shakes out.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 9, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I'm confused.  How many people in the US would be actually surprised/outraged if we got into a hot war and someone bombed a military base, which also had a school on it?  We'd be upset about getting bombed at all, but I don't think the fact that a school on the base also got hit would add to the upsetness.  It seems like a legit strike would also harm people at the school.


Schools on military bases are probably really convenient and the risk is low right now because we are unlikely to have people attacking us on the continental US.  But it is a risk that they probably had to assess and accept.  If an attack on US soil seemed more likely, the schools would probably be moved.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 2, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Trump claimed credit for stopping the executions




And then Iran kept rounding up people who were involved with the protests.




The Iranian authorities have carried out sweeping arrests across the country in recent days, seizing people during night‑time home raids, at checkpoints, in workplaces, and from hospitals. In addition to protesters, among those arrested are university students, human rights defenders, lawyers, journalists, and members of ethnic and religious minorities.




30 of whom still face the death penalty.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 2, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Israel didn't make America bring half its military assets to Iran.


Rubio's full remarks make it clear - the US was going to attack on its own, but at a different time.  Israel changed the timing when it discovered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take out all of Iran's leadership. It did not drag us into a war we weren't prepared to fight.


I highly recommend everyone watch the full 12 minute video because it is the clearest explanation of the US's rationale the leadership has given yet.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 2, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I don't know what they intend, nor do I expect to guess.  We could probably pull it off with fewer people, but a long term base of 100,000 troops right up against Russia's butt wouldn't be a bad outcome for the US.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 2, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Trump first explicitly called it a regime change war and said it was Trump fulfilling his promise to intervene if the government of Iran started killing protestors.  He's also said it's not a regime change war and governing Iran isn't his responsibility.  This contradiction seems to be Trump's typical MO: https://scholars-stage.org/on-bombing-iran/


Recall that in my story, I said the guy with the gun is threatening the police, not just the battered wife.  America also is tired of putting up with Iran and their proxies threatening shipping and launching ballistic missiles at American bases every year. It can be tired of Iran providing weapons to Russians and oil to China. And maybe, the thought of stopping these irritants while being able to be the big damn hero, riding up to rescue the battered wife, gave it the self-righteous push it needed to get the job done.


Things can have more than one cause - it can be a preponderance of snowflakes that creates the avalanche.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 2, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
How do you know Japan will not develop nuclear weapons and attack the US?  Of all the countries in the world they have the most right.  But to suggest such a thing today is laughable.


It would not have been such a laughable thing in the 1940s.


Things can happen.  The world can change.  America made Japan the way it is now, we can do the same to Iran if we wanted.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 2, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I think those 80% of Iranians would be in favor of a government less focused on supplying their proxies with weapons and more focused on water conservation and management. Which in and of itself is a win for the US.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 2, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
In June 2024, "Only around 20 percent of respondents want the Islamic Republic to remain in power, according to the survey."  I think that number went even lower after the recent violent suppression of protests.


The US sees it more like intervening in a messy domestic dispute, where the male partner (Islamic Republic Government) keeps threatening to get a gun and shoot the police, the police (USA) keeps saying, "Don't do it or we'll have to come in there," and the wife and kids (80% of Iranian people) are hoping that the police intervene but are afraid of getting beaten up again.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 2, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
There are conflicting reports on if Iran was starting to concede it's nuclear stance during negotiations last week.


On the one hand, Oman said Iran was going to reduce it's stockpile.




“The single most important achievement, I believe, is the agreement that Iran will never, ever have a nuclear material that will create a bomb,” said Albusaidi, describing the understanding as “something completely new” compared to the previous nuclear deal negotiated under former US President Barack Obama.






He said the negotiations have produced an agreement on “zero accumulation, zero stockpiling, and full verification” by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), calling it a breakthrough that makes the enrichment argument “less relevant.”






On existing stockpiles inside Iran, Albusaidi said that “there is agreement now that this will be down-blended to the lowest-level possible … and converted into fuel, and that fuel will be irreversible.”






“I think we have agreement on that, in my view,” he added.




Wall Street Journal says the opposite though.  Laurence Norman, WSJ reporter in Germany, says, "My understanding comes from non-U.S. officials close to the talks as well as what Washington has said. This is what we have from 3 people."




Iran came to Geneva on Thursday with a draft text of a few pages as it had been asked. It did not permit the U.S. or others to keep the text. It was planning to do so Monday at the technical talks. But they talked through what was in it. But the draft text was not the key text






Attached to the text was a single piece of paper, which Iran described as its 10 year nuclear plan. The text was based around the idea that as Iran's enrichment needs expanded, it's enrichment should be permitted to expand. The paper set out an ambitious set of targets or expanding its civilian nuclear program. The new version of the Khondab reactor (formerly known as Arak heavy water reactor) would be completed. A number of other long-planned, never-built research and power reactors would be put into operation.






In order to fuel those supplies, Iran would need to run 30 cascades of IR-6 advanced centrifuges Tehran said. That's more than 5,000 advanced centrifuges. Iran would need to be able to enrich up to 20% to meet the demands. That is what Iran was proposing.






Let's compare that for a moment to JCPOA. For the first decade under that accord, Iran was permitted around 6.000 IR-1 basic centrifuges. For 15 years, its enrichment purity cap was 3.67%. In other words, Iran was saying the enrichment deal shld be weaker than the Iran deal.




Overall, I don't think we can take it for granted that Iran was capitulating during talks.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 23, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Isn't "Not my president" bad too?  This reminds me of when the Red Tribe was cheering like mad for the Figure Skater and all the leftists were saying, "She's progressive, she'd hate you, why are you cheering for her?"  And the Red Tribe was just, "USA! USA! USA!"


As crazy as it sounds, I like to think we have an actual country that has more in common than divides.  I believe we should support our troops always.  Our troops.  Even if we are worried about their current orders.  If they aren't your troops, if he's not your president, then you aren't in the same country as I am.  I don't see how we could be.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 23, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
She word for word said, "Both the U.S. and genocidal Israel doesn't care about the laws. This is who they are."


https://x.com/RashidaTlaib/status/2027755832742416584


Grammatically it has flaws, for sure.  But the referent to "They" is "the US and genocidal Israel."  She does not consider herself one or the other, otherwise she would use "We."


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 23, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Culture war aspects:


    

  • 

    10 minutes before Trump announced we started military operations in Iran, there were already organizations putting out calls to protest.  Americans protesting against the attacks while the Iranian people are celebrating the death of Khamenei. Several online people saying they are hoping that the US military gets annihilated to teach us a lesson.
    

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  • 

    US Congresswoman Tlaib said, "This is who they are", where "they" refers to Americans, while the normal pronoun to use would be "we."  She doesn't think of herself as American despite serving as a US Congresswoman.
    

    • 

  • 

    Early polling showed that the war was massively unpopular with independents and Democrats, but the vibe online seems to be changing as it looks like we took out 40 of their top leaders while taking 0 casualties.  How much can we trust initial polling data?  What does this mean for Trump's approval going forward?
    

    • 

  • 

    Iran lashed out at neutral countries, attacking hotels, shopping malls, and apartment complexes in UAE, Saudi Arabia, etc.
    

    • 

  • 

    School in Iran was hit, many deaths.  Arguing over whether it was Israel/Americans or Iranians misfiring.
    

    • 



				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 23, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Mods, can we get a mega thread on this?  Else I fear it will be like the Charlie Kirk thing, or just devolve into dozens of bare links which you will have to keep moderating.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for February 27, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I think you have to listen to the story to get it.  Everyone took the law into their own hands.  Yes, legally he shouldn't get the money.  But ethically, I don't think anyone took it back from him.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for February 27, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
We don't know because it wasn't written in the article and it happened over a hundred years ago. But his car was bought from him at gunpoint and then wrecked later, and I don't think they had great insurance plans back then.  He might have been allowed to keep the money out of pity..


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for February 27, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Reminds me of this story, starts at 42:54.  Bank heist in a small town, everyone in Indiana turns into Batman and joins in to stop the criminals.  It would make a great movie.


There is a part where the thieves' car breaks down and they pay a bystander for their car with the stolen  money.  Question is, does he get to keep the money afterwards?  We do not know.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 23, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Yeah, also with a CCNA he has a potential of joining a Network Team, which will pretty much always be needed and can't be offshored.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 23, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
The press will do what the press will do, but that might not be a terrible message for Republicans heading to the midterms with Trump's popularity ratings being where they are.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 23, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
If you end up looking for a job again, my recommendation is to look for Desktop Support roles in Hospital IT.  You can get some weird hours, but after a year or so if you keep up certifications you can possibly swing to other parts of the IT organization.  The first year of Desktop IT actually helps you get a full breadth of the IT environment, so that when integration issues arise you have a high level understanding of it already.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 23, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
If I were a Republican representative, I'd have no issue standing to such a question because i don't self-identify as a fascist.  It would actually be great for all the Republicans to stand for such a question because it exposes how ridiculous the Democratic framing of the current political situation is.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 23, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
The parallels with Greek stories would be more intriguing if there weren't the same allusions/foreshadowing from the Hebrew Scriptures which were written earlier than the Greek Stories.