In my case, they are overall nice and caring people with, sometimes, a bit of a blind spot. I was very glad when they came around on the climate change issue, that was the only sore spot between us.
This gives me flashbacks to the one time in my life I really wanted to answer “okay boomer”
My father in law was supporting the claim the climate change might exist, but it’s nothing we have to concern ourselves about because it’s going to take decades to do anything.
And I was like: you have grandkids, they will be there in decades! And: you just experienced the first drought of your country, how is that not climate change??
After half an hour going in rounds I gave up and bit my tongue to not torpedo our relationship. Two years later he admitted that maybe there was something about climate change nowadays…
Thanks for the clarification
Honestly nothing unexpected. Also: night ÖBB trains have showers and room options (and are slow because if you take a night train you only care about arriving by tomorrow). And have similar furnishing dating from last century.
Main takeaway: I want serious night trains in EU!
Wild Robot!
I cried so hard watching it. Told a friend, they lightly made fun of me but accepted the suggestion. They cried the whole movie too.
On a practical level, what would it mean to make food a human right?
Water is a human right, and there is a somewhat vague statement that, if you have access to a tap and someone asks you for drinking water you have to give it. Already the applications are confusing, since most local laws impose such burden only on public spaces (with varying definitions of public spaces).
For food, what would that mean? How could that ever be implemented? Or is the vibe good enough?
I reasonably liked it, but I agree. For me, the series had built enough suspension of disbelief that I was able to accept the explanations, but it did feel overly complicated, with flashbacks and flashforwards and what not… not on par with the rest
My partner was a GOT fan. He was so utterly disappointed by the ending that still nowadays he would randomly stop doing whatever he was doing to look at me and say “I am still mad”. He is such a peaceful person this is honestly the only thing he has ever been genuinely mad about… so I always know what he is referring to.
Even more far fetched: Italian fascism considered itself the continuation of the Roman Empire (the middle ages did not count, somehow). Does it mean that they were 2000 years old for a bit? But then, nowadays Italy consider itself the descendant of fascism (with a tinge of shame) but not of the Roman Empire. Can we pick and choose our lineage?
China consider itself ti have been a consistent country since (handwave) basically forever. Is that enough?
Ah, I misunderstood. Yeah, that’s common, but not a choice, they are different types of positions, with different fundings usually. You can’t switch between them
While I mostly agree with you, the grading on a curve idea comes from two factors On one hand, the idea that knowing some topics very well can absolve you from knowing other topics at a sufficient level. On the other, people making the exercises for the exams are experts and can easily overlook the hidden difficulties of an exercise. So it happens way too often that a professor would think “this exercise is super easy” and miss that it uses concepts from other courses the students are not super familiar yet.
Plot (minimal spoilers)
In the 1800, at the hight of the English colonial empire, a Chinese boy called Robin is taken away from his motherland to study translation at Oxford, where translation is the key to the magical silver works. At Oxford, he is confronted with deep-rooted discrimination. There, he finds friendship and, after all, a sense of belonging. But the Empire's greed knows no bounds, and Robin will have to make difficult choices.
Commentary
This book is a masterpiece, a tapestry of words woven with many theme, each complementing and expanding the others. The recurring theme is language, but that’s just the beginning. This book talks about friendship, about happy days, dedication and success, it talks about exploitation, capitalism, colonisation and deep-seated rage. It uses an empathic, charming writing to talk about harsh truths that are hard to confront. As a reader, you get lulled in, starting the story with a fairly standard beginning for a coming of age story with a steam punk setting, but you soon find yourself in a very different literary landscape, a landscape rarely explored with this much talent.
You know one snippet of my father in law. Is it really sufficient for you to judge the whole man? I sure hope never to be judged so harshly!