The strange case of Princess Caraboo
Sep. 4th, 2026 11:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
luzribeiroOn April 3, 1817, a strangely dressed young woman appeared near Almondsbury, Gloucestershire. She spoke an incomprehensible language that no one could understand. Eventually taken into the household of local magistrate Samuel Worrall, she attracted the fascination of his wife, Elizabeth.
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Friday off-topic: The strange case of Princess Caraboo
Sep. 4th, 2026 11:29 amluzribeiro posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
talkpolitics
On April 3, 1817, a strangely dressed young woman appeared near Almondsbury, Gloucestershire. She spoke an incomprehensible language that no one could understand. Eventually taken into the household of local magistrate Samuel Worrall, she attracted the fascination of his wife, Elizabeth.
Then a Portuguese sailor, Manuel Eynesso, supposedly translated her story: she was Princess Caraboo, a noblewoman from a distant island called Javasu, kidnapped by pirates and escaped by jumping overboard near England. It was a perfect Regency-era romance, and Britain fell for it.
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Planes over CT Stadium
Sep. 1st, 2026 11:27 pmnairiporterDramatically low flyby by passenger jets over packed South African stadium sparks safety debate
https://abc7ny.com/post/dramatically-low-flyby-passenger-jets-packed-south-african-stadium-sparks-safety-debate/19770376/
A pregame stunt involving two passenger jets flying dramatically low over a sports stadium in South Africa drew huge cheers from the estimated crowd of around 56,000 people, but also sparked a major debate over safety risks.
The flyby by two Embraer jets operated by local airline Airlink happened on Saturday before a rugby game between South Africa and New Zealand in Cape Town.
https://abc7ny.com/post/dramatically-low-flyby-passenger-jets-packed-south-african-stadium-sparks-safety-debate/19770376/
A pregame stunt involving two passenger jets flying dramatically low over a sports stadium in South Africa drew huge cheers from the estimated crowd of around 56,000 people, but also sparked a major debate over safety risks.
The flyby by two Embraer jets operated by local airline Airlink happened on Saturday before a rugby game between South Africa and New Zealand in Cape Town.
Monthly topic
Sep. 1st, 2026 09:26 pmabomvubuso posting in talkpoliticsHey everyone! Here's the monthly topic that you guys chose at the last poll:
The Politics of Artificial Intelligence
And here's the poll for October
What should be the next monthly topic?
1) The Age of Political Strongmen
2) The New Battle for Europe
3) The Politics of Population Decline
4) The War for the Global Narrative
5) Politicians We'd Least Like to Be Stuck in a Lift With
Feel free to suggest more...
The Politics of Artificial Intelligence
And here's the poll for October
What should be the next monthly topic?
1) The Age of Political Strongmen
2) The New Battle for Europe
3) The Politics of Population Decline
4) The War for the Global Narrative
5) Politicians We'd Least Like to Be Stuck in a Lift With
Feel free to suggest more...
Civilisation v.2.0
Aug. 28th, 2026 02:11 pmnairiporterImagine building civilisation again from the beginning. New laws, new cities, and a world untouched by human history. Which mistake from Earth should we leave behind forever?
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Friday offtopic: Civilisation v.2.0
Aug. 28th, 2026 02:11 pmnairiporter posting in talkpoliticsImagine building civilisation again from the beginning. New laws, new cities, and a world untouched by human history. Which mistake from Earth should we leave behind forever?
I mean, you're navigating a generational spaceship that finally reaches a habitable planet. Time to start over. How would you approach this differently, knowing what's been done so far on Earth?
I mean, you're navigating a generational spaceship that finally reaches a habitable planet. Time to start over. How would you approach this differently, knowing what's been done so far on Earth?
On-topic: Can democracy survive polarisation?
Aug. 26th, 2026 01:59 pmabomvubuso posting in talkpoliticsStraight to the topic, if I may. See, I don't think political polarisation is necessarily a bad thing. Political pluralism and all that, obviously. Sure, democracy is supposed to involve arguments. People are supposed to disagree about taxes, immigration, the economy, Europe, foreign policy, climate change and pretty much everything else. If everyone agrees with everyone, we don't really need elections. Or we get elections like those in Belarus or North Korea.
The REAL problem starts when politics stops being about what we believe and becomes about who we hate.
And you might have noticed that this seems to be happening in more and more countries. In the US for example, politics has become so tribal that for many people the question is no longer "Is my side doing the right thing?" but "How can I stop the other side?" Europe isn't immune either. Across Europe we've seen the rise of parties whose support is built partly on opposition to the political establishment, while the traditional parties increasingly define themselves by who they're fighting against.
( Read more... )
The REAL problem starts when politics stops being about what we believe and becomes about who we hate.
And you might have noticed that this seems to be happening in more and more countries. In the US for example, politics has become so tribal that for many people the question is no longer "Is my side doing the right thing?" but "How can I stop the other side?" Europe isn't immune either. Across Europe we've seen the rise of parties whose support is built partly on opposition to the political establishment, while the traditional parties increasingly define themselves by who they're fighting against.
( Read more... )