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amphibian, on 14 November 2023 - 05:45 PM, said:

Noted. Thanks Amph.

Deleted all the recent posts with articles and otherwise. Was not trying to cause any burnout in people here. Was just trying to speak up for the relatively voiceless civilians in Gaza, but perhaps I'm not going about it right.

@ Cause: I've deleted my longer reply. You dispute the source, I understand that. Let's leave it at that.

As noted in the politics thread, there is a VERY good recentish documentary by American filmmaker Abby Martin on Gaza, the struggle of the Palestinians for freedom and what Israel has been doing to them. It's entirely free on YouTube and is well worth a watch as it dives into most areas of knowledge on the subject. I know some people aren't on that thread, so I figured I'd post it here as it's very relevant to the world right now and very educational. Called GAZA FIGHTS FOR FREEDOM. It focuses down on the unarmed, peaceful Great March of Return in 2018 where so many Palestinians lost their lives for doing nothing but protesting for their freedom, but also dives into things like the Nakba, the Irgun, and other elements of the struggle against their occupier.

One of the things it so clearly laid out was that the American news spewed Israeli propaganda the whole time, CNN, Fox, everyone....that this was a Hamas riot/attack attempt...when it was organized by students who just approached the border fences to protest their captivity...Hamas had nothing to do with it....but that's the line the Israelis fed the Americans and that's the line they spewed on mainstream news for weeks leading up to it....the footage and stories of the actual lead up to the event and the event itself prove how much those news outlets were lying through their complicit teeth. It was super eye opening to see them juxtapose a lying media against the truth in actual video footage.

EDIT: I'd say there are SOME trigger warnings here as you do see more than one sniper shots of people in the second half during the protest.

Macros, on 13 November 2023 - 05:43 PM, said:

I've been. Depends on where you mean firstly.

Athens is nice, but in the mid-2010's when I was there it was still in the throes of the post-collapse of their financial crisis...so lots of closed up shops and boarded up areas....old Olympic venues that might have drawn a crowd allowed to go to seed sadly. The Parthenon was wonderful, if busy. So if you're planning to visit only for Athens, you might not find much to do beyond the typical touristy stuff like the ruins? We had some good food, and the locals could not have been nicer...so I'm not warning you against going there, but be aware that it MIGHT not be as bustling as years past.

If you mean the islands, like Santorini, or Mykonos, well that is a different and more enjoyable story with caveats.

Santorini is the tourist island. Any boats that land there will drop you at the bottom of a switchback trail that takes 45 minutes to traverse on foot, is steep, and hard work (your can pay for a donkey ride...don't....and steer clear of them of you walk past them as they WILL kick out...or you can take the tram if you don't want to walk)...and note that if you tell your wife "It will be fine, we are active, we can manage it no trouble"...she WILL shout at you later and not let you live it down in the * checks watch * nine years since then. Just my experience. LOL. We paid for the tram to go back down. We were in Oia. You know all those pictures of the cluster of white homes and hotels with blue roofs? That's Oia, on the north end of the island. It's lovely, but go see it early as once the tourists show up in force it's a write-off. On the other side of the island (the one that's not facing the caldera of the extinct volcano that makes up that archipelago of islands), there's lots to do. You can rent dune buggies and rip around on trails and whatnot. The shops and restaurants on the island are lovely and the people even lovelier. For what it's worth, Santorini is nice but touristy so just be aware.


Mykonos is much MUCH less busy, but it's also less interesting if you're a sight seeker....big rich people yachts park in the harbour and use the island for getaways....there are similar little white stone villages and streets to walk through, big windmills to see....but it felt like a place to be LAZY more than anything else. If that makes sense? Like if you want a place to chill, have nice food, good drinks and a cozy atmosphere and don't mind that there's not a TONNE else to do....you'll be good.

Greece, especially the islands were warm, sunny, and generally a lovely few days to spend in a place.

EDIT: Oh and time of year, We were there in the early summer (May) and it was pretty hot even in Athens...so spring would probably be good? I would expect mid-to-late summer might be unbearably hot? Just a guess.

I'm finally getting around to reading this...and um....4 chapters in and this is FAR too bleak for me. Karsa's rape causing trauma to a human woman that she passes onto their son, born of rape, she then rapes him....and then they talk about drakes raping ducks....WHAT THE FUCK AM I READING?

This is awful.


Spindle is great, but we've missed whatever happened to take him from comic relief in the MbotF, to the Fiddler insert. The marines are mostly fine, but there is far too much pointless banter going nowhere.


I'm going to put this down for now....either I'm too old to stomach how dark some of this is, or I'm not vibing with it....ugh.