What are you doing today?

[Gutwrench]

The last batch of smoked cheese turned out really well. So I’m spending the afternoon doing a larger batch along with some hard boiled chicken and quail eggs.

Since it’s turned chilly I’ll make hot buttered rum batter while going between a cab and Old Fashioned.

 

[lizkat]

After redoing the tile around my shower drain, and cleaning the marble floor tile/grout with hydrogen peroxide, today I am doing some grout touch up and tomorrow, I’ll apply some sealer to it.

Translating "grout touchup" to the unrenovated state of my bathroom...

Let's see.. another go at getting that tile right w/ duct tape should hold it for awhile.

 

[Alli]

Took out some Beyond burgers for dinner, did some laundry, cleaned up the kitchen (won’t be the last time today), and read my class stuff for the week. Now I’m preparing for a relaxing evening of football.

 

[lizkat]

The last batch of smoked cheese turned out really well. So I’m spending the afternoon doing a larger batch along with some hard boiled chicken and quail eggs.

Since it’s turned chilly I’ll make hot buttered rum batter while going between a cab and Old Fashioned.

I misread that at first and wondered what hardboiled chicken is like.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I've been doing my French homework (and revision) on and off for much of the day, and reading papers, and browsing and paying what should have been fleeting visits to two fora, (this and The Other Place), also.

 

[Alli]

So far a reasonably productive day. Completed discussion for class 2. Will have Live session tonight for class 1 and then I’ll be able to do the discussion for that class. Tomorrow I’ll work on the major assignments for both classes, and have the the Live session for class 2. I did manage to go to Whole Foods for a little shopping after a stop at Walgreen’s and PetSmart.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Now, browsing two fora.

I must say that I haven't enjoyed a thread in PRSI in The Other Place so much in an absolute age.

 

[Alli]

Now, browsing two fora.

I must say that I haven't enjoyed a thread in PRSI in The Other Place so much in an absolute age.

You must be reading the taxes thread over there.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

You must be reading the taxes thread over there.

I haven't enjoyed a thread in The Other Place so much in an absolute age.

Perhaps @PearsonX & I can take our - wholly accidental - discussion on the K&K (Austro-Hungarian Empire) to a thread somewhere here; I cannot conceive of anyone over there having much interest in such matters.

 

[User.45]

I haven't enjoyed a thread in The Other Place so much in an absolute age.

Perhaps @PearsonX & I can take our - wholly accidental - discussion on the K&K (Austro-Hungarian Empire) to a thread somewhere here; I cannot conceive of anyone over there having much interest in such matters.

Nobody ever cares about the topic But I think the history of the AHE is kinda misconstrued, because Hungary was actually forced into the empire after numerous Austrian invasions, and a very serious Hungarian revolution in the mid 1800s the Austrians had to call in some outside help to quell.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Nobody ever cares about the topic But I think the history of the AHE is kinda misconstrued, because Hungary was actually forced into the empire after numerous Austrian invasions, and a very serious Hungarian revolution in the mid 1800s the Austrians had to call in some outside help to quell.

Russian outside, help, quite notoriously, and utterly unforgivably, if memory serves, in 1848.

It is a fascinating topic, and unfortunately you are quite right; few people care much about it, and I also think it has been bedevilled by a sort of retrospective history - the sort of stuff that argues, blithely - "it was inevitable it was going to fail".

Actually, I don't think it was inevitable, by the early 20th century the polity was developing in an interesting direction, and one thing many historians & observers overlook is the fact that the Austro-Hungarian Empire had introduced universal male suffrage in 1907 (well before the UK, for example), and - by then, at least, and had been heading in that direction from the time of the inception of the Dual Monarchy in 1867 - was very much a constitutional monarchy, one where the parliament had become increasingly powerful from the late1860s.

Now, of course, Habsburg monarchs conceded all of this belatedly and with great reluctance; it took several ferocious military defeats for them to adapt to the 19th century, let alone the twentieth.

Nevertheless, ever since one of their Kings drowned in the 1520s, the Hungarians had been equivocal - and conditional and at times, very reluctant, - subjects of the Habsburgs; of course, - and this is where it does get interesting - the coronation oath sworn by whatever Habsburg took the throne as King (or Queen, Maria Theresa managed to win the somewhat reluctant loyalties of the Hungarians in 1740) of Hungary was quite different to the authority a reigning Habsburg wielded as Emperor (or Empress) of Austria.

 

[User.45]

Russian outside, help, quite notoriously, and utterly unforgivably, if memory serves, in 1848.

It is a fascinating topic, and unfortunately you are quite right; few people care much about it, and I also think it has been bedevilled by a sort of retrospective history - the sort of stuff that argues, blithely - "it was inevitable it was going to fail".

Actually, I don't think it was inevitable, by the early 20th century the polity was developing in an interesting direction, and one thing many historians & observers overlook is the fact that the Austro-Hungarian Empire had introduced universal male suffrage in 1907 (well before the UK, for example), and - by then, at least, and had been heading in that direction from the time of the inception of the Dual Monarchy in 1867 - was very much a constitutional monarchy, one where the parliament had become increasingly powerful from the late1860s.

Now, of course, Habsburg monarchs conceded all of this belatedly and with great reluctance; it took several ferocious military defeats for them to adapt to the 19th century, let alone the twentieth.

Nevertheless, ever since one of their Kings drowned in the 1520s, the Hungarians had been equivocal - and conditional and at times, very reluctant, - subjects of the Habsburgs; of course, - and this is where it does get interesting - the coronation oath sworn by whatever Habsburg took the throne as King (or Queen, Maria Theresa managed to win the somewhat reluctant loyalties of the Hungarians in 1740) of Hungary was quite different to the authority a reigning Habsburg wielded as Emperor (or Empress) of Austria.

Impressive. There is another major factor in the equation: the Ottoman invasion that gave an opportunity for the Habsburgs to invade

 

[Huntn]

After redoing the tile around my shower drain, and cleaning the marble floor tile/grout with hydrogen peroxide, today I am doing some grout touch up and tomorrow, I’ll apply some sealer to it.

I’m finished and pleased with the result. ​

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Impressive. There is another major factor in the equation: the Ottoman invasion that gave an opportunity for the Habsburgs to invade

Yes, that is true, and a well made point.

And one which gave them (the Habsburgs) - furnished them with - a valid strategic reason for existing, for they defined themselves very much in terms of "opposition to" (and "protection from") whatever threat was presented by the Ottoman Empire to that part of Europe where the two Empires (there, if you include the Russians) collided, or intersected, or simply, met.

 

[User.45]

Yes, that is true, and a well made point.

And one which gave them (the Habsburgs) - furnished them with - a valid strategic reason for existing, for they defined themselves very much in terms of "opposition to" (and "protection from") whatever threat was presented by the Ottoman Empire to that part of Europe where the two Empires (there, if you include the Russians) collided, or intersected, or simply, met.

But in reality, Hungarians and Croats (yellow) did the legwork.

 

[lizkat]

View attachment 578
But in reality, Hungarians and Croats (yellow) did the legwork.

That map is fascinating. The related discussion deserves its own thread.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I have been binge watching episodes of Forged in Fire these past few days.

Given that I am a political nerd (by profession as much as by persona preference), the fact that I felt a need to step back - even if briefly - from watching political stuff and sought refuge in something so gloriously and insanely (but addictive) downright weird (with a format not unlike that of the Great British Bake-Off, but for knives, swords, and other weapons, instead if baking.)

You couldn't script the events of this year, not even if you were a writer with a talent for conjuring up improbable and bizarre plots.

And, as for Mr Trump, - even when he falls ill - somehow, it still leaves everyone else exhausted.

 

[lizkat]

You couldn't script the events of this year, not even if you were a writer with a talent for conjuring up improbable and bizarre plots.

I've been figuring if you put it over the transom'd as a dime novel script they turn it back for requiring too much suspension of disbelief.

And, as for Mr Trump, - even when he falls ill - somehow, it still leaves everyone else exhausted.

And yes, everything related to Trump is exhausting. It's exhausting even to have to wonder if Trump actually has it or not, and how sad to imagine he might choose for any reason to say he does have it if he does not.

In what normal world would the President feign an illness while in good health? Especially this one who made such a mockery of Clinton having become ill w/ the flu and not immediately taking a few days off the trail in 2016. And yet we know there's no 180º flip he won't make on anything in his perceived interests at a given moment.

Part of the exhaustion with Trump though has to be just a normal reaction to being gaslighted all the time by that crew of vandals in the Trump administration. Add to that the palpable anxiety of the media in still not having found a routine way of handling the speech and behavior of such an unreliable leader, one who insists on being the sole narrator of what America is and what we stand for (in this half hour?). No wonder it gets harder to sift through the newspapers and TV shows.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I've been figuring if you put it over the transom'd as a dime novel script they turn it back for requiring too much suspension of disbelief.



And yes, everything related to Trump is exhausting. It's exhausting even to have to wonder if Trump actually has it or not, and how sad to imagine he might choose for any reason to say he does have it if he does not.

In what normal world would the President feign an illness while in good health? Especially this one who made such a mockery of Clinton having become ill w/ the flu and not immediately taking a few days off the trail in 2016. And yet we know there's no 180º flip he won't make on anything in his perceived interests at a given moment.

Part of the exhaustion with Trump though has to be just a normal reaction to being gaslighted all the time by that crew of vandals in the Trump administration. Add to that the palpable anxiety of the media in still not having found a routine way of handling the speech and behavior of such an unreliable leader, one who insists on being the sole narrator of what America is and what we stand for (in this half hour?). No wonder it gets harder to sift through the newspapers and TV shows.

I mean, I'm a political nerd, or geek, not that I knew those terms when I first developed an interesting politics in my early teens; obsessing over the minutiae of politics has been my profession, personal interest and private preference.

And now, if possible, I sometimes try to skip whole days of news, just to get away from - escape from the exhausting nature of this awful presidency - presided over by this malignant narcissist, his monumental self-regard and the compulsive and relentless nature of his bottomless and boundless appetite for attention.

Seeking refuge in a - sword show - (and once upon a time, I used to describe myself as a pacifist).....well, yes.

With Trump, gardening and cookery programmes (travel shows - which my mother and I both used to love watching together - are off the agenda, for other reasons) just don't cut it, alas.

 

[User.45]

I've been figuring if you put it over the transom'd as a dime novel script they turn it back for requiring too much suspension of disbelief.



And yes, everything related to Trump is exhausting. It's exhausting even to have to wonder if Trump actually has it or not, and how sad to imagine he might choose for any reason to say he does have it if he does not.

In what normal world would the President feign an illness while in good health? Especially this one who made such a mockery of Clinton having become ill w/ the flu and not immediately taking a few days off the trail in 2016. And yet we know there's no 180º flip he won't make on anything in his perceived interests at a given moment.

Part of the exhaustion with Trump though has to be just a normal reaction to being gaslighted all the time by that crew of vandals in the Trump administration. Add to that the palpable anxiety of the media in still not having found a routine way of handling the speech and behavior of such an unreliable leader, one who insists on being the sole narrator of what America is and what we stand for (in this half hour?). No wonder it gets harder to sift through the newspapers and TV shows.

This is real:

Past 21H: 3 tweets.