@mweir.bsky.social
Hallowed Hunt (set earlier, written later) establishes the shamans, which are important to some of the Penric tales. Paladin is a direct sequel to Curse.
I found all of them enjoyable, but they don't lend themselves to movie adaptation as much as Penric (and Desdemona, of course).
I found all of them enjoyable, but they don't lend themselves to movie adaptation as much as Penric (and Desdemona, of course).
December 25, 2025 at 9:15 PM
Hallowed Hunt (set earlier, written later) establishes the shamans, which are important to some of the Penric tales. Paladin is a direct sequel to Curse.
I found all of them enjoyable, but they don't lend themselves to movie adaptation as much as Penric (and Desdemona, of course).
I found all of them enjoyable, but they don't lend themselves to movie adaptation as much as Penric (and Desdemona, of course).
.... AND victims. There may be efforts to paint the victims as guilty ("... but she was a drug user / prostitute / bad person!", but that is almost always an effort to shield someone else who is guilty of (at best) ugly shit or (at worst) stuff that should jail them for decades.
December 25, 2025 at 3:19 PM
.... AND victims. There may be efforts to paint the victims as guilty ("... but she was a drug user / prostitute / bad person!", but that is almost always an effort to shield someone else who is guilty of (at best) ugly shit or (at worst) stuff that should jail them for decades.
This is well said. Also, remember that there are at least four groups of people involved: people who went to parties but didn't do anything (distasteful, not illegal); people who did things but legally (eg with 18+ folks, immoral/corrupt but not illegal); people who did undeniably illegal shit;
December 25, 2025 at 3:19 PM
This is well said. Also, remember that there are at least four groups of people involved: people who went to parties but didn't do anything (distasteful, not illegal); people who did things but legally (eg with 18+ folks, immoral/corrupt but not illegal); people who did undeniably illegal shit;
Lois McMaster Bujold's Penric & Desdemona series.
December 25, 2025 at 12:19 AM
Lois McMaster Bujold's Penric & Desdemona series.
Ah, no, I'm not saying anything like that.
To simplify it for you: there have been a large number of celebrations around the Solstice. Claiming that the only reason we have a party at this time of year is based on religion is unsupportable.
To simplify it for you: there have been a large number of celebrations around the Solstice. Claiming that the only reason we have a party at this time of year is based on religion is unsupportable.
December 24, 2025 at 11:50 PM
Ah, no, I'm not saying anything like that.
To simplify it for you: there have been a large number of celebrations around the Solstice. Claiming that the only reason we have a party at this time of year is based on religion is unsupportable.
To simplify it for you: there have been a large number of celebrations around the Solstice. Claiming that the only reason we have a party at this time of year is based on religion is unsupportable.
Saturnalia celebrated the return of the sun. It was a solstice event. FWIW.
Implying that Rome had a single unified set of religious beliefs is... courageous!
Implying that Rome had a single unified set of religious beliefs is... courageous!
December 24, 2025 at 11:44 PM
Saturnalia celebrated the return of the sun. It was a solstice event. FWIW.
Implying that Rome had a single unified set of religious beliefs is... courageous!
Implying that Rome had a single unified set of religious beliefs is... courageous!
That's not supportable. Constantine established Christmas as being on Dec 25th precisely because of Saturnalia *and* the other pagan midwinter festivals.
December 24, 2025 at 11:41 PM
That's not supportable. Constantine established Christmas as being on Dec 25th precisely because of Saturnalia *and* the other pagan midwinter festivals.
Tree = pagan. Queen Victoria's hubby did that bit of coopting!
December 24, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Tree = pagan. Queen Victoria's hubby did that bit of coopting!
Of course you can! That's like saying that non-observant Jews can't exist! Humanity in general is perfectly willing to pick and choose, and usually does it irrationally.
December 24, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Of course you can! That's like saying that non-observant Jews can't exist! Humanity in general is perfectly willing to pick and choose, and usually does it irrationally.
Not so. The midwinter Solstice is important to agrarian societies. There was always going to be something to mark the lengthening of the day, because farming requires daylight.
December 24, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Not so. The midwinter Solstice is important to agrarian societies. There was always going to be something to mark the lengthening of the day, because farming requires daylight.
It's the midwinter Solstice. The holidays (Christmas, Saturnalia, Yule, whatever) picked it, so "a different random day" would need major solar system re-engineering to support a different date.
December 24, 2025 at 5:56 PM
It's the midwinter Solstice. The holidays (Christmas, Saturnalia, Yule, whatever) picked it, so "a different random day" would need major solar system re-engineering to support a different date.
Fortunately that's not what I wrote. Rephrasing: Midwinter feasts predate the Seleucids whose defeat is commemorated by Hanukkah.
(And your assertion is debatable: it's unarguable that some folk treat the thing as a feast).
(And your assertion is debatable: it's unarguable that some folk treat the thing as a feast).
December 24, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Fortunately that's not what I wrote. Rephrasing: Midwinter feasts predate the Seleucids whose defeat is commemorated by Hanukkah.
(And your assertion is debatable: it's unarguable that some folk treat the thing as a feast).
(And your assertion is debatable: it's unarguable that some folk treat the thing as a feast).
This is historically inaccurate. The religion coopted the holiday, not the other way around. People have been celebrating and exchanging gifts at the midwinter festival for millenia: Saturnalia, yule, winter Solstice (with or without cats), etc.
December 24, 2025 at 5:32 PM
This is historically inaccurate. The religion coopted the holiday, not the other way around. People have been celebrating and exchanging gifts at the midwinter festival for millenia: Saturnalia, yule, winter Solstice (with or without cats), etc.
There is an argument that the the current set of theological clothes on the holiday don't define the thing anymore than the Roman religious beliefs defined it when it was called Saturnalia. Whatever you call it, there's been a midwinter feast longer than Xmas or Hanukkah have been around.
December 24, 2025 at 4:38 PM
There is an argument that the the current set of theological clothes on the holiday don't define the thing anymore than the Roman religious beliefs defined it when it was called Saturnalia. Whatever you call it, there's been a midwinter feast longer than Xmas or Hanukkah have been around.
One of the differences I found between towing behind my own vehicle and towing behind a U-Haul truck is that you _know_ how your own vehicle handles normally, but with a trailer it's going to be different, so try to forget all you know and recalibrate on things like passing distances!
December 23, 2025 at 9:35 PM
One of the differences I found between towing behind my own vehicle and towing behind a U-Haul truck is that you _know_ how your own vehicle handles normally, but with a trailer it's going to be different, so try to forget all you know and recalibrate on things like passing distances!
It is now obligatory to reference Flanders and Swann's Madeira m'dear:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPk0...
(yes, it suffers from much the same sort of problem as "It's cold outside", so perhaps it's in poor taste 65 years later).
www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPk0...
(yes, it suffers from much the same sort of problem as "It's cold outside", so perhaps it's in poor taste 65 years later).
Madeira M'Dear?
YouTube video by Flanders - Topic
www.youtube.com
December 22, 2025 at 10:17 PM
It is now obligatory to reference Flanders and Swann's Madeira m'dear:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPk0...
(yes, it suffers from much the same sort of problem as "It's cold outside", so perhaps it's in poor taste 65 years later).
www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPk0...
(yes, it suffers from much the same sort of problem as "It's cold outside", so perhaps it's in poor taste 65 years later).
I have a theory that part of the reason for lengthy process is that the anti-DEI crowd has fostered the notion that there is an objectively best candidate as opposed to a group of "good enough" folks. We all know there's no One True Recruit, but waste a lot of time hunting for one!
December 20, 2025 at 4:34 AM
I have a theory that part of the reason for lengthy process is that the anti-DEI crowd has fostered the notion that there is an objectively best candidate as opposed to a group of "good enough" folks. We all know there's no One True Recruit, but waste a lot of time hunting for one!
I like the idea of responding with the exact time and date of her release: sometime in August 2033...
December 16, 2025 at 5:44 AM
I like the idea of responding with the exact time and date of her release: sometime in August 2033...
You're being inductrinated!
December 13, 2025 at 6:45 AM
You're being inductrinated!
Anyone have a link to the actual pardon's text?
December 12, 2025 at 1:16 AM
Anyone have a link to the actual pardon's text?
One of the less appreciated aspects of single payer is that it makes private healthcare cheaper, because the private providers don't have to worry about funding catastrophic or long term care. It also enables "top up" plans that provide schedule convenience and better menus, etc.
December 12, 2025 at 1:13 AM
One of the less appreciated aspects of single payer is that it makes private healthcare cheaper, because the private providers don't have to worry about funding catastrophic or long term care. It also enables "top up" plans that provide schedule convenience and better menus, etc.
President George W Bush literally left President Barack Obama advice to have Purell or the like constantly on hand because of the amount of handshaking and the need to avoid disease transmission!
December 11, 2025 at 8:47 PM
President George W Bush literally left President Barack Obama advice to have Purell or the like constantly on hand because of the amount of handshaking and the need to avoid disease transmission!
Hmm... I think 94 Justices is a good number.
(One per judicial district.)
(One per judicial district.)
December 8, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Hmm... I think 94 Justices is a good number.
(One per judicial district.)
(One per judicial district.)
And then follow that with Coming To America...
December 7, 2025 at 12:59 AM
And then follow that with Coming To America...
'ang on, ein minuten bitte...
Who got confirmed by the United States Senate? To put some name other than the name that was voted through the Senate is legally incoherent: Section II minions don't get to second-guess Section I decisions...
Who got confirmed by the United States Senate? To put some name other than the name that was voted through the Senate is legally incoherent: Section II minions don't get to second-guess Section I decisions...
December 6, 2025 at 7:24 PM
'ang on, ein minuten bitte...
Who got confirmed by the United States Senate? To put some name other than the name that was voted through the Senate is legally incoherent: Section II minions don't get to second-guess Section I decisions...
Who got confirmed by the United States Senate? To put some name other than the name that was voted through the Senate is legally incoherent: Section II minions don't get to second-guess Section I decisions...