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Wow. Scyld Shiefling. We’re hearing more and more about him these days. They’re all talking about the things he’s done. Now that was a king. They’re saying he’s a lot like me. Great king, everyone feared him. Armies, entire armies, just throwing down their weapons, begging him not to fight them. Tough guy, Scyld.

King Hrothgar, close friend of mine. He’s being invaded by the spawn of Cain. Cain isn’t sending his best people. Cursed by God, real loser. He’s coming in, crossing into the mead hall illegally. You can’t even go into the mead hall anymore. You used to be able to, the most beautiful mead hall. Horns, so many horns, the finest warriors, brave warriors, all drinking mead, until Grendel, I call him Sleepy Grendel, shows up. It’s so terrible. He eats them. He puts them in his bag. There’s a bag, nobody remembers the bag, but I remember the bag. You used to be able to go there, but now you can’t. So I tell him I’ll go.

China intervened in the annual Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), insisting Pacific leaders remove any mention of Taiwan from their communique on the forum.

The secret sauce is the real world.

The post Why Physics Is Unreasonably Good at Creating New Math appeared first on Nautilus.

Pithy turns of phrase for dysfunctional personalities Tim Miller of The Bulwark appearing the other day on MSNBC used the phrase “emotional support cougar” to describe the over-made-up groupies who decorate Donald Trump’s Mar-al-Lago resort. The term seems not to have originated with Miller, but perhaps with comedian Carla Collins. Miller deployed the phrase to reference Trump’s regular need to run home to them in his Florida safe space. But the desperation behind the need is broader than Trump, his sons, and his hangers-on. Over at The Garden of Forking Paths, Brian Klaas explores the epidemic of toxic masculinity embodied by Trump and guys like Elon Musk. The day after Gov. Tim Walz modeled a healthier masculinity in addressing the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, a professional purveyor of the destructive kind, Andrew Tate, was placed under house arrest by a Romanian judge for human trafficking in minors.

'You do not respond to genocide with gestures; you do not continue to treat a state that is suspected of committing genocide as an ally; and cancelling a number of export licences does not cancel Britain’s complicity'

Yes, long ago, I dreamt of being a novelist. Two ancient manuscripts packed away in a distant corner of my closet attest to that (ir)reality, as does one novel focused on the world of publishing (in which I’d been an editor) that made it into print, even if it was barely noticed. Still, from time to time, I’ve thought about trying to write fiction again. These days, however, when I consider that possibility, I find myself smiling, however grimly. After all, how could you truly write fiction in a world — and I’m not just thinking of Donald Trump (though I most distinctly am thinking of him) — that seems ever more fictionalized? How could you write fiction in a... Read more

Source: Trumptopia and Beyond appeared first on TomDispatch.com.

Tim Walz on Labor Day The Labor Day clip of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaking in Milwaukee (“very good at this” below) went viral on Monday. After I transcribed and posted the gist of it on several platforms, it went nuts on Mastodon. (Don’t ask me why, but I seem to get more traffic on Mastodon than on X, Blue Sky or Threads.) As a teacher and coach for years, Walz said, “I was a dues-paying member of my union.” When Republican critics accused him of being “in the pocket of organized labor,” he said, “That’s a damn lie. I am the pocket!” Want to attack him for standing up for collective bargaining, for fair wages, safe working conditions, for health care and retirement, have at it. Democrats have to run for something, Walz continued, not just against the other guys. Fair wages and safe working conditions, expanded health care and addressing climate change, etc. are on Democrats’ agenda. Just one vote made the difference in moving Minnesota forward. “That’s our vision for the country,” Walz said in asking the crowd to give Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and President Kamala Harris working majorities.

Sufyan Gulam Ismail offers some advice on how Labour can win back British Muslim voters after losing so many over the issue of Gaza

In Doctor Who, a new companion entering the TARDIS for the first time is their "rite of passage" - so why do they always seem chill about it?

“So there I am, horns caught in the thicket. This Abraham fellow starts eyeing me, and I know this can’t be good. He just tried to ice his own flesh and blood. What’s he gonna do to a ram?”

“Let’s back up,” the police officer said. “What did you say you were doing on the mountain?”

“My client doesn’t have to answer that,” the ram’s lawyer interrupted.

The ram nodded. The policeman rolled his eyes.

“Okay, just start from the beginning,” said the officer, “you’re on this mountain. Then what?”

“I’m minding my own business, then these two guys waltz up. Look like a father and son. And I get it, y’know? It’s peak season, everyone wants a view. But they immediately start piling up wood, and there’s no way these clowns have a burn permit.”

“Okay, okay, but you said the older man was violent?”

“No, he was a real man of God, a peacemaker, it’s just that… oh, what was it… that’s right, he was about to murder his own child.”

“Just answer his questions,” the lawyer snipped.

The discovery of the bodies in a Hamas tunnel has set off a chain reaction in Israel

How a radical secret memo went from idea to reality.

The debate over the future of the 9-5, five-day working week, ever-present since the pandemic’s shake-up of established working norms, shows no sign of letting up. This week, the news that the government plans to strengthen the rights of workers to demand a four-day week as part of their New Deal For Working People dominated […]

The Government's constant attempts to second guess its critics are only disappointing its supporters and emboldening its opponents

For Indians to be truly free, Gandhi argued they must take up traditional crafts. Was it a quixotic hope or inspired solution?

- by Benjamin Studebaker

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