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After a series of foreign wars, a dysfunctional republic finds itself wracked by economic inequality, with property and wealth increasingly monopolized by greedy elites. A leading politician, newly elected on a platform of redistribution, social welfare, and political reform, bypasses Senate obstruction with a legislative loophole -- only to find his ambitious agenda blocked by a former ally on behalf of special interests. The leader: Tiberius Gracchus, tribune of the plebs. The year: 133 BC. What happened next would shatter longstanding norms, introduce political violence to the Roman forum, and lay the groundwork for the bloody collapse of the Republic, more than a generation before the birth of Julius Caesar and the rise of the Empire. [So much more inside]
posted by Rhaomi to MetaFilter on Dec 30, 2024 at 1:44 PM
80 users marked this as a favorite

Essential tools to make the modern web more bearable – Because a lot of the internet is controlled by a very small number of companies, people have created tons of tools to make using services that lack viable competitors more bearable ... [Here] are a few tools that I think are pretty accessible and could make your internet experience a lot more enjoyable.
posted by Wolfdog to MetaFilter on Jan 6 at 7:04 AM
57 users marked this as a favorite

My Friend Chooses How and When to Die, by Jeannette Cooperman for The Common Reader
posted by latkes to MetaFilter on Dec 31, 2024 at 1:53 PM
55 users marked this as a favorite

Ann Telnaes has quit the Washington Post. "As an editorial cartoonist, my job is to hold powerful people and institutions accountable. For the first time, my editor prevented me from doing that critical job. So I have decided to leave the Post. I doubt my decision will cause much of a stir and that it will be dismissed because I’m just a cartoonist."
posted by jenfullmoon to MetaFilter on Jan 3 at 6:26 PM
44 users marked this as a favorite

The Militia and the Mole Outraged by the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, a wilderness survival trainer spent years undercover climbing the ranks of right-wing militias. He didn’t tell police or the FBI. He didn’t tell family or friends. The one person he told was a ProPublica reporter.
posted by adamvasco to MetaFilter on Jan 4 at 7:14 AM
44 users marked this as a favorite

Against Access, an essay by DeafBlind author John Lee Clark about the Protactile movement and the pitfalls of focusing on accessibility: "Companies, schools, nonprofits, and state and federal agencies approach me and other DeafBlind people all the time, demanding, “How do we make it more accessible?” Such a frenzy around access is suffocating. I want to tell them, Listen, I don’t care about your whatever. [...] The arrogance is astounding. Why is it always about them? Why is it about their including or not including us? Why is it never about us and whether or not we include them?"
posted by vibratory manner of working to MetaFilter on Jan 1 at 7:00 PM
38 users marked this as a favorite

The Story of Sudan. In the 1950s, Sudan was ranked 4th in Africa in GDP per capita. As of 2024, Sudan has the largest population of internal refugees, the highest number of people facing famine and it is the country which has the most mass death in the modern day. In four posts (links in the FPP), learn about the history of Sudan from pre-colonial times to the modern day. Learn how it has led to the current crisis.
posted by storybored to MetaFilter on Jan 4 at 5:06 PM
37 users marked this as a favorite

Cloudhiker was created to bring back the nostalgic thrill of the classic Web 2.0 exploration era. You'll encounter completely random websites. If possible, the website will be shown directly to you, allowing you to dive in and engage with it firsthand. Here, you won't come across clickbait from Buzzfeed or lackluster blog articles; instead, you'll discover sites that are genuinely captivating, unconventional, mind-blowing, or geared towards learning. Some will tickle your funny bone, some will stimulate your thoughts, and others may prove invaluable for your work with their exceptional tools.
posted by chavenet to MetaFilter on Jan 1 at 4:57 PM
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Palestinian children killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza
posted by ginger.beef to MetaFilter on Jan 3 at 8:46 AM
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THIS WEEK IN FANFARE... New release movies under discussion this week: HBO's Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary, chronicling the history of that smooooooth West Coast sound; the 2024 remake of Nosferatu from filmmaker Robert Eggers (The VVitch); Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan in the new biopic A Complete Unknown; Clint Eastwood's Juror #2; Saturday Night, a behind the scenes comedy/drama about the launch of SNL; the New Zealand oddball family comedy Bookworm; the queer rodeo drama National Anthem; and Amy Adams turning into a dog in Nightbitch . TV shows under discussion include: Star Wars spinoff Skeleton Crew on Disney Plus; Apple TV's post-apocalyptic Silo; the new season of Netflix's Squid Game, and Soulsville USA just got a series post.
posted by DirtyOldTown to MetaFilter on Jan 6 at 1:46 PM
35 users marked this as a favorite

Because better things aren't possible, an enlightened centrist at The Atlantic tries to move liberals more to the right on the topic of RFK Jr, mask mandates, medication, MMR vaccines, flu vaccines, birth control, IUDs, vaccination incentives, "vaccine hesitancy is not the same thing as anti-vax", fluoride, and the FDA. (Side note: Here's how to cancel your Atlantic subscription.)
posted by AlSweigart to MetaFilter on Jan 2 at 1:02 PM
33 users marked this as a favorite

"Even quite simple Newtonian systems can harbor uncaused events and ones for which the theory cannot even supply probabilities. Because of such systems, ordinary Newtonian mechanics cannot license a principle or law of causality. Here is an example of such a system fully in accord with Newtonian mechanics. It is a mass that remains at rest in a physical environment that is completely unchanging for an arbitrary amount of time--a day, a month, an eon. Then, without any external intervention or any change in the physical environment, the mass spontaneously moves off in an arbitrary direction, with the theory supplying no probabilities for the time or direction of the motion." [John D. Norton, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Pittsburgh; via Up and Atom (YouTube, Nebula)]
posted by flabdablet to MetaFilter on Jan 2 at 9:02 PM
33 users marked this as a favorite

The portable crop that renters can take with them: crocus. [gift link] In case you'd like 2025 to be your year of living deliciously, growing your own crocus could be a lovely way to start...
posted by gusset to MetaFilter on Jan 2 at 6:03 PM
32 users marked this as a favorite

Are you learning Chess? Or do you want to watch someone with true mastery at something explain their thinking in detail? Or maybe you are simply frazzled, and need some low-peril calming content to stop you ruminating? For all this and more I recommend watching Chess 'Speedruns', or 'Rating ladder climbs'. Here's one by the gentle-voiced International Master Eric Rosen (Youtube). More after the link.
posted by Cantdosleepy to MetaFilter on Jan 4 at 9:33 AM
32 users marked this as a favorite

Laurie Anderson performing lyrics by C. P. Cavafy In November 2023, the Onassis Foundation organized a concert in St. Thomas Church, NYC, celebrating the great Greek poet C. P. Cavafy.
posted by mumimor to MetaFilter on Dec 31, 2024 at 2:30 AM
31 users marked this as a favorite

A true Italian grandmother or a skilled home chef from Rome would never need a scientific recipe for Cacio and pepe, relying instead on instinct and years of experience. For everyone else, this guide offers a practical way to master the dish.

Phase behavior of Cacio and Pepe sauce [PDF], a scientific paper in which a team of pasta-loving physicists investigate the factors that contribute to successful (ie, non-separating) Cacio e Pepe sauce, and conclude by presenting a scientifically-optimized recipe to enable "consistently flawless execution of this classic dish."
posted by Westringia F. to MetaFilter on Jan 4 at 7:36 AM
30 users marked this as a favorite

Requiring a driver's license for employment is now prohibited in California if driving is not reasonably expected to be part of the job duties. This is great - requiring a driver's licence for jobs that involve zero driving is used to discriminate against Disabled people including wheelchair users; Blind/Low Vision people; many people with Autism; many people with Anxiety.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries to MetaFilter on Jan 3 at 6:22 AM
29 users marked this as a favorite

Max Miller of Tasting History has a new video, "Making School Cafeteria Pizza from the 1980s & '90s" (with pourable crust). Includes a history lesson about U.S. school meals, including how the Black Panthers started the free breakfast program and how J. Edgar Hoover hated it.
posted by ShooBoo to MetaFilter on Jan 1 at 10:51 AM
28 users marked this as a favorite

Film critic and author Jude Doyle got in an online fight with Moira Donegan about transmasculinity and feminism. It inspired him to write an intense and absorbing essay about how "the patriarchal binary is deeply impoverished when it comes to ways of describing, naming, or thinking about gender"--and how lumping two (or three or infinite) different mechanisms under the one term "gender" leads to startling consequences. TERFs, Trans Mascs, and Two Steve Feminism: In which A Man has an Opinion about Feminism, with Mixed Results.
posted by mittens to MetaFilter on Jan 4 at 9:31 AM
28 users marked this as a favorite

As of last month, the United States Government Printing Office has soft-launched a new search tool and seeks feedback: DiscoverGov, which "provides simple, one-stop searching across multiple U.S. Federal Government databases". This includes what's currently available in GovInfo plus the Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (CGP). Sample search: "dragon". (Other resources include the United States Code, which one can browse and download.)
posted by brainwane to MetaFilter on Jan 3 at 9:51 AM
28 users marked this as a favorite

[more posts]

It's extremely obvious why an infiltrator wouldn't notify law enforcement at any level: I would wager that even among the DC cops attacked, if you'd asked them before the coup attempt itself, you would find a very large majority in favor of the coup. Cops love Trump. Local cops. FBI. Secret Service. Cops are the backbone of... [more]
posted by tclark to MetaFilter on Jan 4 at 7:39 AM
62 users marked this as a favorite

I spent several weeks in Sudan around 1990 or 91 -- driving in a truck from Wadi Halfa, through Khartoum and Nyala, to the Central African Republic. I remember beautiful sights, like the pyramids at Meroe and the general loveliness of the Nubian Desert. But what I remember most of all is just how insanely friendly everyone was. These were terrible... [more]
posted by BlahLaLa to MetaFilter on Jan 4 at 6:44 PM
57 users marked this as a favorite

I remember hearing about this book a few months ago, and I laughed audibly when I read the title was We Who Wrestle With God. It's so incredibly pretentious I sort of have to give him credit for just going there. The Times of London review of the book is a :chefkiss: masterpiece of writing. It's pay walled, so I'll just quote the best... [more]
posted by fortitude25 to MetaFilter on Jan 2 at 3:52 PM
56 users marked this as a favorite

As a good corporate citizen and a senior manager I am very curious about how this went down. So much corporate authoritarianism is proactive, several levels below the top: it's middle managers "reading the room" and deciding "some things aren't done." A lot of my life as a director has involved processing directives from a... [more]
posted by A forgotten .plan file to MetaFilter on Jan 3 at 7:01 PM
55 users marked this as a favorite

What matters for Peterson is not the historical or ontological truth of the Old Testament, but the supposed practical efficacy of its lessons. There is nothing inherently wrong with such an interpretation of Scripture. In his Lectures on the Philosophy of Religion, G. W. F. Hegel, perhaps the greatest of “idealist” thinkers, also presents... [more]
posted by A forgotten .plan file to MetaFilter on Jan 2 at 3:47 PM
53 users marked this as a favorite

This was repulsive 15 years ago and it hasn’t got any better. [view]
posted by The River Ivel to MetaFilter on Jan 2 at 9:47 AM
50 users marked this as a favorite

Also, I find it disheartening that even ProPublica uses the sanitized "Capitol riot" language that became house style everywhere within a week afterward for the specific reason of downplaying the reality of it as an auto-coup attempt. That very bowdlerization of the reality of an attempted overthrow of legitimate government as a... [more]
posted by tclark to MetaFilter on Jan 4 at 7:48 AM
49 users marked this as a favorite

Sheep farmer here, raising pedigree Shetlands for fleece quality. The garment wool industry is almost entirely captured by Australian Merinos these days, so they are profitable for wool production but your ordinary commercial breed sheep is not. Specialty pedigree breeds like my Shetlands are mildly profitable catering directly to handspinners... [more]
posted by Rhedyn to MetaFilter on Jan 4 at 2:55 AM
41 users marked this as a favorite

And this problem—like the vast majority of environmental problems—will not be solved by individual action at the end-user level. Never, ever, ever. [view]
posted by Faint of Butt to MetaFilter on Jan 3 at 5:33 PM
40 users marked this as a favorite

Yep. That's exactly what that one-panel comic was doing. /s dude, do better [view]
posted by ginger.beef to MetaFilter on Jan 3 at 8:19 PM
40 users marked this as a favorite

As a good corporate citizen and a senior manager I am very curious about how this went down. So much corporate authoritarianism is proactive, several levels below the top: it's middle managers "reading the room" and deciding "some things aren't done." A lot of my life as a director has involved processing directives from a... [more]
posted by jonp72 to MetaFilter on Jan 3 at 8:13 PM
39 users marked this as a favorite

post title A++++ [view]
posted by gwint to MetaFilter on Jan 4 at 1:26 PM
38 users marked this as a favorite

In one of the news stories that came out overnight, anonymous Liberals were quoted as saying JT had taken the party too far to the left. This is a party that had its biggest election success of this century on the back of a progressive platform in 2015, only to spend the next decade walking back on those promises to revert to their... [more]
posted by thecjm to MetaFilter on Jan 6 at 7:25 AM
37 users marked this as a favorite

I am a Park City local. I am a Epic Pass holder (chose your poison Ikon or Epic), but have not crossed the picket line to ski PCMR over the holidays, and have donated to the PCPSPA’s fighting fund. Living in a ski town is amazing - and Vail Resorts are a fucking blight on this community. Seeing them getting their asses handed to them by a ragtag... [more]
posted by inflatablekiwi to MetaFilter on Jan 5 at 4:01 PM
36 users marked this as a favorite

I'm rooting for that bit player from Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. You know the one. [view]
posted by DirtyOldTown to MetaFilter on Jan 2 at 10:03 AM
36 users marked this as a favorite

When I read these types of things, I often think about my father. He spent 25 years in journalism, writing and then managing a widely-respected subscription-supported publication. For decades, their strategy of catering to their base (people involved in military, aviation and space industries as well as enthusiasts) was profitable. They were and... [more]
posted by mathjus to MetaFilter on Jan 5 at 7:27 AM
35 users marked this as a favorite

An accounting that is sickening, necessary and obviously insufficient. "Side with the child over the gun every single time, no matter whose gun and no matter whose child." - Naomi Klein [view]
posted by lalochezia to MetaFilter on Jan 3 at 9:09 AM
35 users marked this as a favorite

I don't have even the thimble of sympathy for Peterson as the author does; I've always considered Peterson a lazy right-wing whack job just like the rest of the grifters. There's a flippant Xavier: Renegade Angel meme mashup with a Jordan Peterson quote (CW: animated gun violence) that takes the piss on Peterson's mealy-mouthed religious stance.... [more]
posted by AlSweigart to MetaFilter on Jan 2 at 3:57 PM
34 users marked this as a favorite

The problem with the whole conservative movement is that in order to keep believing that oppressive systems of the past were better and we should go back to/reinvent them, you have to ignore many, many truths (logical, ethical, scientific, medical, etc.). This used to be easier. You used to be able to just get away with saying... [more]
posted by emjaybee to MetaFilter on Jan 2 at 6:31 PM
33 users marked this as a favorite

Look, if your "wrestling with God" involves him telling you that you're just the most superior boy and everyone who doesn't like you is just a hater, you're not wrestling with him, you're fantasizing about him giving you a handy. [view]
posted by praemunire to MetaFilter on Jan 2 at 5:08 PM
31 users marked this as a favorite

[more comments]