What are you reading?

Worldly and otherworldly topics
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Catoptric
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Re: What are you reading?

Post by Catoptric » Tue Nov 29, 2022 7:58 pm

Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia
https://archive.org/details/briefetruereport00harr

Secotan
Image


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Male clownfish change sex if their 'wife' dies: study

Read more at: https://www.deccanherald.com/content/62 ... their.html

And all this time, I thought it was atrazine? Who would have thought?


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Sound Engineer Accidentally Dosed With LSD While Cleaning 1960s Radio Equipment
https://allthatsinteresting.com/enginee ... -takes-lsd



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https://snewd.com/ebooks/crime-and-punishment/
https://snewd.com/ebooks/notes-from-the-underground/
https://snewd.com/ebooks/war-and-peace/
https://snewd.com/ebooks/beyond-good-and-evil/
Last edited by Catoptric on Wed Dec 07, 2022 8:07 am, edited 4 times in total.
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starjots
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Re: What are you reading?

Post by starjots » Sat Dec 03, 2022 7:52 am

Anabasis by Xenophon

The ancient Greeks wrote some amazing books about history that survived to this day. Herodotus' Histories (of the Persian Wars) and Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War are the best known, but another example is by Xenophon.

The Anabasis, or Persian Expedition, follows the events of 10,000 Greek mercenaries in 401 BC who are hired by Cyrus the Persian to overthrow the King of the Persian Empire. In the big battle, the Greeks are successful, but Cyrus is killed, ending the rebellion. The mercenaries find themselves deep inside the Persian Empire. Their officers are invited to a conference and massacred. And now they have to get home.

The entire plot sounds like a testosterone dream of a Hollywood movie, but it's just what happened. Fortunately, one of the generals the mercenaries elected was Xenophon, who was also a damn good writer and historian.

The Greek mercenaries aren't presented as good guys. They consider themselves braver and better soldiers than everyone else, which is usually true. They consider themselves freer than the subjects of the Persian Empire. They make decisions by voting, and their generals have to persuade their men. Common soldiers can voice their ideas at counsels of war. But they lived by 'might gives you the right.' They were at their best when they had to stick together, but when they didn't, their greed, ambition, and jealousy could get them in trouble. And for all their valor, they were in it for the loot, not any high ideals.

I got the feeling sometimes they were ransacking the world looking for a square meal.

I read most of this book in one night because I was thinking, well, this must almost be over. They'll reach the Black Sea and then they'll get home by ship. But no, they kept having to scheme, fight, look for food, allies, cross rivers and mountains, deal with Kings and Princess and maybe scariest of all, Spartan governors and admirals. It was like the Odyssey in a way, except with an army, and it happened.

Now Xenophon was one of the elected generals, so he's bound to be biased. But he's also very clear, detailed, and I think did his research. A cool glimpse at the warrior's life 2400 years ago.

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Catoptric
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Re: What are you reading?

Post by Catoptric » Fri Dec 09, 2022 11:06 pm

Lucian of Samosata's 'A True Story' is 2nd century "Sci-Fi" or a fantasy satire more similar to Gulliver's Travels?

https://archive.org/details/lucian_true ... 1/mode/2up
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_True_Story




MEAL KIT GIANT ACCUSED OF USING MONKEY LABOR TO SOURCE COCONUT MILK
https://futurism.com/the-byte/meal-kit- ... nkey-labor


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Mad Magazine 1-100
https://archive.org/details/mad-magazin ... on_202106/

Mad Magazine 101-200
https://archive.org/details/mad-magazine-collection2/

Mad Magazine new online versions 1-20~24)
https://archive.org/details/mad-magazin ... sue-01-20/


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12 Signs You’ve Experienced Narcissistic Abuse (Plus How to Get Help)
https://www.healthline.com/health/narci ... m-syndrome



(Mostly bullshit)
The COVID-19 Genocide of 2020 - Action Network (doc)
https://actionnetwork.org/user_files/us ... _COVID.doc



alamut - vladimir bartol pdf (1920-30's Historical Fiction which Influenced Assassins Creed)
https://ia800208.us.archive.org/28/item ... Bartol.pdf
Last edited by Catoptric on Mon Jan 09, 2023 4:23 am, edited 1 time in total.
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avolkiteshvara
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Re: What are you reading?

Post by avolkiteshvara » Sun Jan 08, 2023 5:39 pm

Wanting

Pretty good. About how we're subconsciously in competition with our peers and looking to scapegoat people in times of turmoil.



Yesterday
Posts: 332
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Re: What are you reading?

Post by Yesterday » Mon Jan 09, 2023 6:31 am

ENTP

"Our truest selves exist within the observational incongruencies among general first impressions and further analyses of the finer details."
- from my Ph.D. thesis in psychobabble

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Catoptric
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Re: What are you reading?

Post by Catoptric » Mon Jan 09, 2023 5:15 pm

I'm tempted to look for these books (though mostly the last one. . .)

The Drama of the Gifted Child: The Search for the True Self, Revised Edition
https://www.amazon.com/Drama-Gifted-Chi ... 0465016901


The Body Never Lies: The Lingering Effects of Hurtful Parenting by Alice Miller
https://www.amazon.com/Body-Never-Lies- ... 1-6137628

The True “Drama of the Gifted Child”: The Phantom Alice Miller — The Real Person by Martin Miller (Alice's son)
https://www.amazon.com/True-Drama-Gifte ... B07C83QYGQ
Last edited by Catoptric on Mon Jan 30, 2023 10:46 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Societal egress and ennui
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Yesterday
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Re: What are you reading?

Post by Yesterday » Tue Jan 10, 2023 3:50 pm

ENTP

"Our truest selves exist within the observational incongruencies among general first impressions and further analyses of the finer details."
- from my Ph.D. thesis in psychobabble

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Catoptric
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Re: What are you reading?

Post by Catoptric » Wed Jan 11, 2023 2:10 am

Earliest Superman comics
https://archive.org/details/action-comi ... Empire%29/

Also, Watchmen and V for Vendetta is on archive.

Also, I've not looked at these much. . . Crumb comics.

https://archive.org/details/the-complet ... 5/mode/1up

Mr. Sweet Potatoes and Other Stories
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/45768/4 ... 5768-h.htm


Theodore Kaczynski Bibliography - ISAIF, Technological Slavery, Anti-Tech Revolution
https://archive.org/details/industrial- ... %20Future/

Personally, I blame Timothy Leary. . . Kaczynski might have been left in an incubator when an infant, and subject to a psychological experiment by Henry Murray, but Timmy's Key to the Universe might have been too much for him. . .




Also, Books by Simak, Clifford D.
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/25185

City
http://entropy.tmok.com/~bmo/Clifford%2 ... ak%20City/
Audiobook
http://entropy.tmok.com/~bmo/Clifford%2 ... 0-%20City/

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NSA document file - Adam and Eve story (Someone posted a video claiming it had to do with lost human civilizations; it clearly doesn't!)
https://www.nsa.gov/portals/75/document ... am-eve.pdf

The government has a lot of crap in their files, most of which isn't even sourced from them but rather plays into stuff they keep as a record of various eccentrics. The page is less than 3 pages long. . . Not exactly anything special.

It seems to also correspond to this book
https://media.defense.gov/2022/Sep/29/2 ... 0BOMBE.PDF

The amount of dipshits that jump on the 'Ancient Aliens' bandwagon and misattribute their ignorance to knowledge, is mind-numbing. It's basically a document about cryptology cipher, and they attribute it to ancient civilizations? ? ? How the fuck do they do that?

Update: I rediscovered the document mentioned, looking over old pdfs:
https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CI ... 0001-8.pdf




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Worlds in Collision by Immanuel Velikovsky
https://archive.org/details/B-001-014-474/mode/1up



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The Terrible Optimism of the Hippies
https://www.mmowen.me/the-terrible-opti ... he-hippies

Why Utopian Communities Fail
https://areomagazine.com/2018/03/08/why ... ties-fail/

Trouble in Utopia (Auroville in India, riddled with crime.)
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_ ... ption.html

I was just reading over how hippies settle interpersonal conflict, and one of them was asked if they wanted to use boxing gloves to fight her abusive boyfriend, who hit her as hard as he can after she decided she didn't need gloves.
https://steemit.com/life/@saramiller/a- ... den-part-4

You could argue that this was a dystopian version of a utopian idealism. . .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitol_H ... ed_Protest

Seattle’s ‘autonomous zone’ belongs to a grand tradition of utopian experiments
https://grist.org/justice/seattles-auto ... periments/


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How Fear of Communism Led to the Rise of Hitler, Nazism and World War Two
https://thewire.in/books/how-fear-of-co ... and-nazism
Last edited by Catoptric on Fri Feb 10, 2023 9:58 am, edited 7 times in total.
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Madrigal
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Re: What are you reading?

Post by Madrigal » Tue Jan 17, 2023 8:21 pm

starjots wrote:
Sat Dec 03, 2022 7:52 am
Anabasis by Xenophon
Thanks, I'll remember this one.

I just finished reading Stephen Fry's trilogy on Greek Mythology and it was great (Mythos, Heroes and Troy). I hope to read some of the Greeks again soon.

I also read this book

Image

It's okay but I was hoping for a bit more theory. I now got myself 'The Translator's Invisibility: A History of Translation' by Venuti.

I also got the first volume of the "My Brilliant Friend" series in Italian. I realized I need to read fiction if I really want to expand my vocabulary.

Yesterday
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Re: What are you reading?

Post by Yesterday » Sat Jan 28, 2023 12:57 am

I'm reading and learning about precedence of HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript on an IDE so I can make pertier web pages. The author is like the Martha Stewart of web design who's taught me to always ask," Are my webpages perty and could they be pertier?"

Learning Web Design: A Beginner's Guide to HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Web Graphics-Jennifer Robbins
ENTP

"Our truest selves exist within the observational incongruencies among general first impressions and further analyses of the finer details."
- from my Ph.D. thesis in psychobabble

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