What is Political and Mod Direction

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For the record, I'd be entirely in favour of banning the term "culture war" entirely outside of mods having to go "stop talking about the culture war".

I can think of no legitimate reason for its use out of that.

All you will get is circumlocutions which make it pretty obvious what they're referring to.

Also, about your second sentence: I guess it was my post in the "What are you watching" thread which was being referred to. The capital sin of mentioning it was in this sentence:

I understand nowadays it's all about drawing lines and taking sides in The Culture War (TM), but what the hell happened to artistic value?

Now, the overall concept is this: Rings of Power is crap, and not because of the skin color of the actors, but because it's genuinely crap. But apparently you can't say that because both sides of the fence are using the "political argument" to shut down the opposition and reduce the evaluation of artistic merit to taking a political stance.
Honestly, I don't see how you can avoid this if you're commenting on the series, given the overall context.

[EDIT] Just to make it clear: you can certainly avoid the words "culture war", but the point is, you'll use either some other variation or some kind of "the thing which cannot be named" and the resulting effect will be the same i.e. everyone will know what you're talking about.
 
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Now, the overall concept is this: Rings of Power is crap, and not because of the skin color of the actors, but because it's genuinely crap. But apparently you can't say that because both sides of the fence are using the "political argument" to shut down the opposition and reduce the evaluation of artistic merit to taking a political stance.
Honestly, I don't see how you can avoid this if you're commenting on the series, given the overall context.

See, this is something I found very frustrating in out-of-Pub discussions of this topic. The despicable trolls that won't shut up about how it's woke to make a black elf or whatever the hell are so loud. Now, I like the show, but it is not without its flaws and I am all for people hating the show because of (in their opinion) shitty writing or bad lore or any other reason at all. But outside of here it has been loud racists and people saying that they feel like they cannot dislike the show because they are being called racists (not true).

I would love to be able to have a normal human discussion about the show with normal humans (or at least as normal as the Pub gets). You are not racist for hating the show unless you hate it for racist reasons, right? I was so happy because we were getting more Middle Earth and I was so eager to talk about it with people. I don't care if their opinion is that it's a shit TV show. We can surely come to some common ground. But everywhere else this discussion is basically loud reactionaries. :sad:
 
To be entirely honest, I'm not sold on black dwarfs or black hobbits, but the main reason I'm not planning to even give RoP a chance is the much simpler "people whose opinion closely aligns with mine have told me that it is crap anyway and I've got better things to do in my spare time":thumbsup:.
And no, it's not just Lundgren. That's the dominant opinion in my friends' circle.

So the show is basically losing to me reading Lankhmar lore, Goblin Slayer TRPG, Delta Green lore, and watching instructionals with the goal to actually apply them in practice:shade:.
 
All you will get is circumlocutions which make it pretty obvious what they're referring to.
The hope at least is that by banning the word it will help remind people to try and avoid the subject more generally.,
Also, about your second sentence: I guess it was my post in the "What are you watching" thread which was being referred to. The capital sin of mentioning it was in this sentence:



Now, the overall concept is this: Rings of Power is crap, and not because of the skin color of the actors, but because it's genuinely crap. But apparently you can't say that because both sides of the fence are using the "political argument" to shut down the opposition and reduce the evaluation of artistic merit to taking a political stance.
Honestly, I don't see how you can avoid this if you're commenting on the series, given the overall context.

[EDIT] Just to make it clear: you can certainly avoid the words "culture war", but the point is, you'll use either some other variation or some kind of "the thing which cannot be named" and the resulting effect will be the same i.e. everyone will know what you're talking about.
Fair. I missed that completely because of not being a Tolkein fan.

Honestly, I think the best solution is to try and avoid discussing the context of other discussions entirely, difficult though that can be with the latest Internet controversy tm. There's nothing to be gained by referencing those here. Obviously, the flipside is that people should be assuming good faith. If you say that Rings of Power is crap because it's poorly acted I'd expect people to take that at face value as your view, rather than looking for some kind of hidden malign agenda.

Which can be frustrating. I'm not really able to discuss Fables or my love of George Orwell here because of how intertwined with poltiics both are. But I think that's probably better than the alternative.
 
I think best practices for discussions of any media that is controversial here on the Pub is

1) don;t ascribe or hypothesize on the motivations of other people,especially theorizing why they hold an opinion. You can debate the opinion itself in good faith and without assuming the worst.

2) Dont attempt to argue with people who aren't at the Pub. They don't matter, you can't have a conversation or debate with them here, so it's just talking about people or hypothetical people behind their backs, which serves no purpose.

3) Don't ascribe people to groups, treat them like individuals. Lkewise, don't ascribe to your personal experiences the assumption of universal experiences.
 
To answer an earlier question, no we aren't seriously even considerig banning discussion of Rings of Power. That was purely a joke on my part, because I'm continuig to do my best most of the time to ignore its existence.

But we are probably going to do two things:

1) move all dscussion of ROP fro the ongoing Tolkien thread to it's own thread in Other Media
2) start cracking down on people venting about politcal controversies/reactions to the show.


But at least no one here is talking about the Little Mermaid.
 
But at least no one here is talking about the Little Mermaid.
Oh that's it, Disney! Murder my childhood memories on the altar of Political-Correctness gone mad! If I wasn't pushing 50 and completely disinterested in any film made by you after 1987 and the kind of person who enjoys confected rage I'd...I...I don't know. It took all my effort to write these two lines.
 
It is clearly about what fowl creatures we can discuss. I mean, at first it was about geese. Lately, there have also been posts about ducks. If we don't cull this in time, what's next? Chickens? Magpies? Crows?
 
I think best practices for discussions of any media that is controversial here on the Pub is

1) don;t ascribe or hypothesize on the motivations of other people,especially theorizing why they hold an opinion. You can debate the opinion itself in good faith and without assuming the worst.

2) Dont attempt to argue with people who aren't at the Pub. They don't matter, you can't have a conversation or debate with them here, so it's just talking about people or hypothetical people behind their backs, which serves no purpose.

3) Don't ascribe people to groups, treat them like individuals. Lkewise, don't ascribe to your personal experiences the assumption of universal experiences.

This would be great advice for the general population. So much of the general rancor out there is people ignoring context and what someone "might" mean by their words rather than what was actually said.
So many of the hip phrases used in CW arguments are really nothing more than ploys to end discussions without any merit, woke, dogwhistle, mansplanning, none have any inherent value, they are just short cuts intended to shut people down without actually addressing their statements.

It is possible that saying I hate red hats, means I actually hate red hats with no further meaning behind it. But no these days everything has a hidden agenda.

It is clearly about what fowl creatures we can discuss. I mean, at first it was about geese. Lately, there have also been posts about ducks. If we don't cull this in time, what's next? Chickens? Magpies? Crows?

Clearly the Emu threat is growing.

My time is limited but there is a cabal of "flightless" birds, they already hold 3 continents the penguins have Antarctica, Ostrich Africa and Emus Australia. The flightless bird thing is a myth, they can fly they are just biding their time before launching their attack on Canada via the Antarctic -Arctic tunnel, from Canada the world.
 
No one does. Just post something and act like you know what you're doing.
Brownies
2/3 Cup Margrine
2 Cups Sugar
1/2 Cup Cocoa
1 1/2 Cups Flour
4 Teaspoons Baking Powder
1Teaspon Vanilla Extract
3 Eggs

Oven 375 For 15 - 20 minutes


Melt Margarine in sauce pan. Mix dry ingrediants. Add Margarine to dry ingrediants and stir. Add eggs and vanilla, you might want to wait for the margarine to cool a bit as, if it is too hot you'll get fried eggs in your mix. Bake in a greased14 x 9 x 2" baking pan until an uncooked spagetti noodle inserted in the middle comes out clean.
 
This would be great advice for the general population. So much of the general rancor out there is people ignoring context and what someone "might" mean by their words rather than what was actually said.
So many of the hip phrases used in CW arguments are really nothing more than ploys to end discussions without any merit, woke, dogwhistle, mansplanning, none have any inherent value, they are just short cuts intended to shut people down without actually addressing their statements.

It is possible that saying I hate red hats, means I actually hate red hats with no further meaning behind it. But no these days everything has a hidden agenda.



Clearly the Emu threat is growing.

My time is limited but there is a cabal of "flightless" birds, they already hold 3 continents the penguins have Antarctica, Ostrich Africa and Emus Australia. The flightless bird thing is a myth, they can fly they are just biding their time before launching their attack on Canada via the Antarctic -Arctic tunnel, from Canada the world.

It goes even deeper. Birds aren't real.
 
Bread
2 - 3 cups flour
1 package active dry yeast
1/4 teaspon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 Cup Milk
1 tablespoon margarine

oven 350 for 45 minutes

Combine 1 cup of flour and yeast in a mixing bowl. Heat milk, sugar, salt, and margarine in a saucepan until butter is nearly melted. Let cool a little, yeast are living organisms and you don't want to burn them to death yet. Add liquid to the mixing bowl and stir. Stir in as much flour as you can then turn the dough onto a floured surface and kneed until the dough is stiff and elastic. Butter a mixing bowl and put the dough in it and twist it around a couple times to grease the surface before flipping it over. Let rise in a warm place for an hour, then punch down and let it rest for ten minutes or so. Divide and put in loaf two loaf pans. Let rise one hour and then bake at 350 for 45 minutes until golden brown and slightly hard on top.
 
Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour

INGREDIENTS

  • 4 cups organic white rice or you can use 4 cups of organic rice flour
  • 1 cups organic potato starch
  • 1/3 cup organic arrowroot powder
  • 2/3 cup organic tapioca flour
  • 2 tsp xanthan gum

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Place the rice in a high powered blender such as a vitamix or blendtec and blend on low and gradually increase speed to high and blend for 30 seconds or until a fine flour forms.
  2. Add in tapioca flour, potato starch, arrowroot powder and the xanthan gum and pulse several times until combined, about 5 seconds.
  3. Use this in recipes that call for gluten free all purpose flour.
  4. Store in an air tight container in the pantry.

Gluten-Free Bread

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 1/2 cups gluten free all purpose flour
  • 1 cup warm milk (about 110ºF) of choice (nut milk, fresh coconut milk or raw goat or cow’s milk)
  • 1/4 cup organic cane sugar
  • 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1/4 cup butter or ghee melted and cooled
  • 2 large eggs

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. In a small bowl, combine warm milk, sugar and yeast. Stir and dissolve the yeast and allow the yeast mixture to sit for 10 minutes.
  2. In a large mixer bowl that attaches to a stand up mixer, combine the gluten free all purpose flour and salt and turn the mixer on low and for a few seconds to blend.
  3. Add the yeast mixture to the flour and blend on low for 30 seconds.
  4. Add in butter and eggs and blend on low scraping the sides as needed. Blend until dough is well blended, about 30 seconds.
  5. Turn the mixer on high and beat for 3 minutes or until the batter becomes smooth.
  6. Cover the bowl with a towel and allow the dough to rise in a warm place for an hour. I heated my oven up to 100ºF and then turned the oven off and placed it in the oven for an hour.
  7. Grease a 8×4 or a 9×5″ bread pan with coconut oil or butter. Stir the dough after it has rose for an hour and gently place it into the prepared bread pan.
  8. Cover with a piece of greased plastic wrap and loosely lay it on top and allow the bread to rise in a warm place for another 20-30 minutes or until the loaf rises just to the top of the loaf pan.
  9. Preheat the oven to 350ºF and bake the bread for 40-50 minutes. The bread will be golden brown on top and have a hard shell.
  10. Remove from pan and completely cool before slicing into it. Once cool, slice and enjoy!
 
Now, the overall concept is this: Rings of Power is crap, and not because of the skin color of the actors, but because it's genuinely crap. But apparently you can't say that because both sides of the fence are using the "political argument" to shut down the opposition and reduce the evaluation of artistic merit to taking a political stance.
Honestly, I don't see how you can avoid this if you're commenting on the series, given the overall context.

By offering your critiques just as you would otherwise, and immediately reporting if anyone here calls you a racist for offering said critiques so the Mod can drop the hammer on them ASAP. The Pub is a respite from the ridiculousness inherent in conversations elsewhere online, and we both don't have to indulge that nonsense nor recognize it. Twitter gonna Twitter, none of our concern.
 
Just wanted to say, I very much appreciate the apolitical nature of these fora. I took a RL-related break from the hobby for a decade or so, and came back to find that the inmates were running the asylum at several of my old stomping groups. These few places are a respite from all that, so thank you all for keeping that stuff out of here.
 
My favorite cookies to make at home:

1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter
4 ounces good-quality unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

In a heatproof bowl set over simmering water, melt the butter and chocolate together, whisking until glossy and smooth. Alternately, the butter and chocolate can be melted in the microwave (in a microwave-safe bowl) in 25-second increments, whisking between each interval. Cool the chocolate mixture to room temperature.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a hand-held mixer), beat the brown sugar, granulated sugar, vanilla extract and eggs on low speed until well combined. Pour in the cooled chocolate and continue to mix until the ingredients are evenly distributed.

In a medium bowl sift together the flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, chili powder, baking soda, salt and cayenne pepper. Add the dry ingredients to the chocolate batter and mix on low speed until just combined and no visible flour remains. Fold in the chocolate chips with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon.

Working in two batches, scoop 12 balls of dough (preferably using a small ice cream scoop with a spring handle, about 1 1/2 tablespoon size) onto a parchment-lined sheet pan, leaving at least 1 1/2 inches of space between each cookie. Bake the cookies, one pan at a time, for approximately 14 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through cooking time. The cookies should be puffy and still fairly soft when removed from the oven.

Immediately slide the cookies, still on the parchment paper, onto a wire cooling rack. Cool just a bit before serving, 5 to 10 minutes. Cookies can be stored in airtight container for up to three days, but I prefer them on the day they are baked.

source
 
I didn’t like RoP for one real reason - the narrative seemed aimless. Normally this isn’t a problem as I’d be content to just hang out and watch Middle Earth be Middle Earth.

But - this isn’t Middle Earth. Not because there’s black elves, dwarves and hobbits, but because Galadriel, Gil-Galad and Elrond so far are so divergent from what we know of their history that this is almost a new setting.
 
I haven't been on here as much because of computer and health issues, but upon careful consideration I've decided the following:

I AM POLITICAL

I AM MOD DIRECTION

COOKIES ARE GOOD

FASERIP SEX GAME

I LOVE LAMP

and RINGS OF POWER PRETTY LADY COOL ORCS HA!
 
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