Off-Topic / Funniest stuff said on PF! Please post the funniest convos, remakes, responses, name calling or whatever. [93]

@AntV

No need to pay crazy money, the whole reading list is accessible online. What's missing of course is the classroom discussion, but that can be overcome if one is curious enough:

college.columbia.edu/core/core

@AntV

Re: being currently unfashionable, ours was created more than a century ago in the wake of the shock of The Great War. Our campus has two prominent monuments to students that died in WWI. Our graduates contributed a disproportionate amount of officers to the American war effort. Thousands died. Whatever they call a Core Curriculum in the rest of America has nothing to do with ours, though it served as the template for many other such programs at other places.

Off-Topic / Funniest stuff said on PF! Please post the funniest convos, remakes, responses, name calling or whatever. [93]


The only way to read the Bible, IMHO. No Standard Revised Version for this atheist.

I actually only became familiar with the Bible through college. At Columbia we're very proud of something we call the "Core Curriculum", which is basically a quick walkthrough of Western Civilization's foundations. We start with the Iliad, go on to Plato and Socrates, then the Aeniad, Cassius Dio, etc. From there, it's a quick jump to Thomas Aquinas, Machiavelli, Dante. Then comes my favorite part with Montaigne, Rousseau, Vico, Hume, Smith, Hobbes, Luther. It keeps going through Hegels and Kants, but the key is that to be able to read any of it and make sense of it, you typically need a good working understanding of the Bible. Otherwise all the allusions, allegories, etc don't make sense (even Yerofeev, is inaccessible without the Bible, Kania). So that is where we start typically, and then always come back to through the first two years of study. Many, many hours spent debating scripture between Jews, orthodox, Catholics, Muslims. This truly was special.

As literature, the Bible is the greatest achievement of mankind. Just because it's written by people with a ridiculous outlook by my standards, doesn't mean I can't appreciate the enormous depth of wisdom in the proverbs or the beatitudes.

We also read the Bhagavad Gita, the Koran, and the Annals of Confucius.

Off-Topic / Funniest stuff said on PF! Please post the funniest convos, remakes, responses, name calling or whatever. [93]

@AntV

Proverbs 15:1

A soft answer turneth away wrath: But grievous words stir up anger.

History / POLISH AND RUSSIAN FRIENDSHIP WILL LAST FOREVER [513]


Do something then? You think telling me I'm an orc and a baby rapist will count when you meet St. Peter at the pearly gates?

Jon says I'm a Russian troll, on a mission to discombobulate the good people of neighboring Poland. Novichok says I have Buddha levels of patience in the face of constant abuse.

The answer is simple. I'm here to try to show people the Russian perspective, no more, no less. It's why I don't abuse posters, though many are deserving. I want you to see that there are thinking people on both sides, and I think being nice is the better approach in this department. The reason I don't care when I get abused is because these people are nobody to me, just as I am to them. Nothing elitist, or snobby - it just doesn't matter to me what they think or who they are. I am a thousand times grateful, however, when I come across a person that treats me with respect, and I try to reply in kind. These people I care about, and what they say does have the potential to adjust my thinking.

If you really wanted to change Russians, even in your own little way, you wouldn't be behaving the way you are Paulina.

History / POLISH AND RUSSIAN FRIENDSHIP WILL LAST FOREVER [513]


It's a very specific club though, isn't it? It consists pretty much of Poland and Israel.

The Baltics are quietly happy that no one seems to bring up that they were the cruelest Jew-killers of them all.

Russia, which lost 26M people to Germany, is constantly being accused of being in bed with Germany.

Ukrainians stick German shoulder patches on to their uniform, for whatever reason. Enough said.

America is 30% German, so there's that.

Off-Topic / Funniest stuff said on PF! Please post the funniest convos, remakes, responses, name calling or whatever. [93]


Wow. What a sentence :) Someone has a way with words.

History / POLISH AND RUSSIAN FRIENDSHIP WILL LAST FOREVER [513]

@Bratwurst Boy

As Stalin said, "Hitlers come and go, but the German people and the German state remain". It's important to separate the innocents from the perpetrators, regardless of how comfy those innocents were.

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Off-Topic / Funniest stuff said on PF! Please post the funniest convos, remakes, responses, name calling or whatever. [93]

Also I thought it was funny yesterday, when a character I'm not familiar with - Espana - arrived, and proceeded to immediately sh!t on everything Polish to great adoration from all locals. In the end, it seems Poles do have a sense of humor about themselves, and this is heartening.

I think the final exchange was something like:

E: the best source for learning Polish is a roll of toilet paper

A: welcome back you son of a b!tch!

Off-Topic / Funniest stuff said on PF! Please post the funniest convos, remakes, responses, name calling or whatever. [93]

@GefreiterKania

The simple fact that there is a thread called "Serbia etc. thread 2", with 56 pages of posts, while at the same time we have a moderator named Vincent who is very particular about what is germane to PF - is proof that Crow either owns this forum or has had his genius recognized unanimously. If you ask me, I think it is not likely that Crow owns this forum. Simply, he has defeated the system. He is like Neo, and Vincent is Agent Smith.

Remember the boy in The Matrix that could bend spoons? The trick is that, "there is no spoon". Crow managed this, not with spoons, but with something much deeper. "There are no Europeans, only Serbs."

Off-Topic / Funniest stuff said on PF! Please post the funniest convos, remakes, responses, name calling or whatever. [93]

The funniest conversations are when new people bump into Strelecz35.

Next is when Milo begins to argue with Crow about how Serbs are purveyors of genocide. I don't know how, but Crow always manages to strike perfect comedic timing in his response, with the help of his trademark "a bird told me", "all is well in the universe", and "have faith in Svetovid".

It is funny to watch people fruitlessly try to learn the rules of the forum after 3-7-10 years of being here.

It is funny to imagine how an amateur genealogy researcher feels, when they first open an account, look under the rotten old log that is "Random Chat", and see the wondrous contents of what is JR's very own thread.

It is funny when an Indian man from New Jersey tries to pretend that he is Jewish and has connections in the Italian Mob all the way up to top.

It is funny to see that a grand total of three women have stayed on this forum consistently, and this experience has made them into some of the most fire-breathing ladies I've encountered.

Many, many things are funny here without being necessarily quotable.

History / POLISH AND RUSSIAN FRIENDSHIP WILL LAST FOREVER [513]

A little news digest for the "Russia's Collapsing" team.

Yesterday, Putin participated in his first summit with foreign leaders since the start of the war. He joined the leaders of Brazil, India, China and South Africa at the annual BRICS summit. Link to article:

cnn.com/2022/06/22/asia/brics-summit-china-russia-beijing-2022-intl-hnk-mic/index.html

So much for isolation.

Special item for Jon, here:

bbc.com/news/world-africa-61802498

A BBC article titled "How Russia Outflanked Ukraine in Africa". Add another 50 countries to the list of nations that don't subscribe to the West's interpretation of events.

A funny article for the Witnesses of St. Javelin and the Pious Bayraktar. The title is "Turkey's Wartime Bridge to the West is Collapsing". The eggheads at the Atlantic Council ruefully observe that after what seemed a promising start in February, Turkey is now definitively tilting towards supporting Russia. The chance to get in the good books of the US and "on the right side of history" may be squandered, the analysts worry.

atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/turkeysource/turkeys-wartime-bridge-to-the-west-is-collapsing/

Finally to round things out, Pope Francis thinks this war may have been provoked (the news is a little old, but just in case).

theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/14/pope-francis-ukraine-war-provoked-russian-troops

Quote from article:
[...] the pontiff condemned the "ferocity and cruelty of the Russian troops" while warning against what he said was a fairytale perception of the conflict as good versus evil.

"We need to move away from the usual Little Red Riding Hood pattern, in that Little Red Riding Hood was good and the wolf was the bad one," he said. "Something global is emerging and the elements are very much entwined."

Heeeeey, maybe this Kania guy is onto something. The Pope seems to be reading his PF posts.

History / POLISH AND RUSSIAN FRIENDSHIP WILL LAST FOREVER [513]

@pawian

I am curious - what age group do you teach? Do you have any opportunities to share with your students the full breadth and depth of your love of Russia? Do you tell them about Russian ethnogenesis in the Gobi Desert?

Just wondering if Polish kids even get a chance before they are programmed to view Russians as ubermenschen.

News / Polish Lithuanian Diplomatic War? At last. [533]


Good! Now Gregoris Bzhecicikevichas can again be Grzegorz Brzęczyszczykiewicz!

History / POLISH AND RUSSIAN FRIENDSHIP WILL LAST FOREVER [513]


Nothing can ruin Russia.

History / POLISH AND RUSSIAN FRIENDSHIP WILL LAST FOREVER [513]

@jon357

I appreciate your defense Kania, but I'm at peace with my conscience. Better to be complicit than to be a traitor.

History / POLISH AND RUSSIAN FRIENDSHIP WILL LAST FOREVER [513]


It is too important to US, Russians, to make it hostage to the whims of a single man - no matter how much we adore him.

For example, if the West said - get rid of Putin and we will lift any and all sanctions - I think that would be a fast discussion internally in Russia. Maybe even the Big Man himself would be on board with this plan. The results would probably not be what the West had hoped for, however.

History / POLISH AND RUSSIAN FRIENDSHIP WILL LAST FOREVER [513]


How about this:

1) Putin is not Russia

2) Russia is not Putin

3) If Putin's and Russia's interests stop being aligned he will be promptly taken out to the trash heap of history.

4) Russia's fate cannot be made hostage to one man, regardless of how prominent a historic role he's played until now. Russia is simply too important.

History / POLISH AND RUSSIAN FRIENDSHIP WILL LAST FOREVER [513]

@Cojestdocholery

How is it a "dumb expansionist plan" to take historic Rus lands, populated by Orthodox and Russian-speaking people, from a bunch of Baltic oompa loompas that had attached themselves firmly to the Polish teet?

Look at Lithuania today. Despite its microscopic size it's still an enormous pain the ass for everyone who has the misfortune to live next to them. They almost fcuked all of the EU's exports to China with their stupid Taiwan embassy policy. Now it bans logistical transit from within Russia to another part of Russia, risking this conflict splashing out from within the confines of Ukraine. Even you - the Poles - their only friends, they managed to **** off with their Apartheid policies of having second class Polish and Russian citizens.

Do you really think a country of such idiots deserves to run a territory that includes Belarus, Ukraine and most of Western Russia?

History / POLISH AND RUSSIAN FRIENDSHIP WILL LAST FOREVER [513]


For someone who calls himself Tacitus, you surely have an interesting take on history. In the history books I read, and I suspect most people, Austria is still a godforsaken part of Charlemagne's Empire 900 years before Peter the Great. Even 900 years before the present day, Austria was still a hereditary fief of the Elective Kings of Germany. The Habsburgs, and Austria with them, were only elected to the imperial throne in the mid 15th century. So perhaps it had 250 years of a head start on Russia, but not more. Certainly not your absolutely ludicrous 900 years.

Comparing Austrian emperors to the Holy Roman Emperors of the Carolingian, Ottonian, Salian lines - is again to compare an assh0le to a finger. The early emperors came close to replicating the power of the Roman Empire, while the latter ones still controlled enormous territories through centralized states. Meanwhile, Austria managed the HRE through a period of terminal decline, one that some observers called "neither Holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire". Charlemagne would turn over in his grave seeing who occupied the imperial throne in 1438.

Love / What cities have most blonde girls? [26]

@pawian

That is an distinctly un-blonde woman. Plus you can see the dark roots.

History / POLISH AND RUSSIAN FRIENDSHIP WILL LAST FOREVER [513]


Keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better, doesn't make it true! A French person or a Spanish one really couldn't give a **** about you - you might as well be Romanian, while Russians will always treat you with genuine brotherly curiosity.

History / POLISH AND RUSSIAN FRIENDSHIP WILL LAST FOREVER [513]


Lies. Western Europeans have been using Muscovy and Russia interchangeably since the 15th century. When the English established the first chartered overseas trading company, the Muscovy Company, Queen Elizabeth knew she was dealing with the Russian Czar (though she did not recognize his imperial status, and refused his marriage advances).

Hey genius, how do you explain this map from 1525 of RUSSIA:


I only ask him if he's safe, and not doing anything stupid like getting caught by the people issuing conscription notices. He's an idiot, and he's stayed in the city proper to "watch the apartment". I've been telling him to set up camp in the summer house, but he won't listen. His mom is already in Belgium on a refugee permit.

Not a whole lot to discuss TBH.

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History / POLISH AND RUSSIAN FRIENDSHIP WILL LAST FOREVER [513]


Well, to me it's strange that you sincerely think Latin countries have more in common with Poland than you do with Russia. Curiously, Russians, Poles, and Ukrainians seem to stick together in New York. I'm sure it's not much different in Jakarta, Nairobi or Rio De Janeiro. The Poles don't seem to join their Latin "brothers" from France or Italy with the same frequency, for some very strange reason.

You could say it's just the inherited need for healthy helpings of distilled spirits, compared to those fairy Latin wine drinkers. You could say's it because the only people that can tolerate disco polo are Russians. Really, who knows :)

Love / What cities have most blonde girls? [26]

@ImSEAguy

Person is 16 (or so they claim), so logic not exactly their forte.

History / POLISH AND RUSSIAN FRIENDSHIP WILL LAST FOREVER [513]


It took some time. Marriage to a relative of the Byzantine emperor did not help the situation as much as we thought it would. Adopting their double-headed eagle also didn't help. In the end, however, everyone recognized the Russian Czar's equivalency to an Emperor. The Austrians were necessarily late, but everyone acknowledged it - a full century before everyone it became the default nomenclature after we defeated Napoleon who dismantled your HRE. Meaning that when everyone recognized us as emperors, the Holy Roman emperor didn't even exist any more. Who won that? Hmmmm?

History / POLISH AND RUSSIAN FRIENDSHIP WILL LAST FOREVER [513]


If Russians did not exist, Poles would have to invent them. What else could motivate you so much to be better and morally superior?

History / POLISH AND RUSSIAN FRIENDSHIP WILL LAST FOREVER [513]


With apologies to Schroedinger and Mozart - the greatest contribution of Austrians in the twentieth century are Hitler and Red Bull.

Some countries just are not consistent.

History / POLISH AND RUSSIAN FRIENDSHIP WILL LAST FOREVER [513]

@Lyzko

... and what you think Austria's history can be compared against Russia's global history? Let's leave the conquest of space and the atom outside the brackets here.

History / POLISH AND RUSSIAN FRIENDSHIP WILL LAST FOREVER [513]


Comparing Austria to Russia, is as we say in Russia, to compare an ******* (sphincter) to a finger. When Austria was trying to elevate itself to the level of Archduchy, Russia was already a kingdom of many centuries under the control of a legendary dynasty. Our princesses married French and Danish kings, meanwhile they groveled before the Bavarians on their knees.

While they were building their dysfunction of an HRE we were building a unitary state of durable power.

While they needed the entirety of Europe to stop the Ottomans, we wiped the floor with the Turks single handedly - so much so the Brits and French decided they need to help the Turks.

Their famous diplomat, Metternich, was good at negotiations with Napoleon, on the back of Russian manpower.

When they lost their place to the Germans, we took note, and carried on to be one of the two superpowers of the twentieth century.

Comparing Austria and Russia, is almost like comparing Ukraine and Russia. Hahahahah.

BTW, forget the Turks - did I mention we stopped the Mongols, and then defeated them and digested them? So much for Austria as the "Shield of Europe".

History / POLISH AND RUSSIAN FRIENDSHIP WILL LAST FOREVER [513]


Ok smartass - explain to me what the hell this would mean? What does it mean if I tell you I am a "Muscovite"?

The most logical answer would be "an ethnic Russian living within the territorial jurisdiction of the former Grand Duchy of Muscovy". What does it make the people living inside? RUSSIAN!