The Haradrim swore allegiance to Sauron after long years of oppression by the Númenóreans and conflict with Gondor, during which Sauron worked to seduce them to his side. However, not all of them joined Sauron. Many sided with the blue wizards. You could draw parallels to modern times; not all Russians support Putin, and not all Iranians support Khomeini.

It’s worth mentioning Dunlendings also went the same way after excessive Númenórean exploitation of their natural resources and resulting wars. They fought for Saruman (Sauron by proxy) alongside Uruk-hai in Helm’s Deep.

Of course the Haradrim were dark-skinned - they were from the southern hemisphere of Arda, the huge landmass south of Gondor and Mordor. Most of it is on or below the equator.

Which evil characters? Azog, Radbug, Morgoth, Sauron, Saruman. Not even remotely Germanic or Arab-sounding. Linguists have drawn comparison between Black Speech and ancient Mesopotamian languages, specifically Hurro-Urartian languages, which originated in what is now the Armenian Highlands. Again, not remotely Arabic, which is Semitic language. The only comparisons to Germanic languages I can think of in the Tolkien universe are dwarves and men.

If you’re gonna accuse a dead person of something awful, have your facts straight.

Visit Oslo Camping in Møllergata for beer and crazy golf. Good times. For nice nature walks or skiing, you can take the subway or local trains to Nordmarka, Østmarka or Lillomarka. Holmenkollbanen to Frognerseteren, T-banen (subway) to Skullerud or bus 56 to Solemskogen. There’ll be a Christmas market in Spikersuppa, between Stortinget (Parliament) and the Royal Castle.

Sorry to hear about the veganism, can’t help you there - have you seen a specialist? 😆

And drivers will happily navigate those streets at 40mph, not unusual that they’re heading home after a couple pints at the pub.

Obligatorisk bidrag fra fjellapene i nord. Klem. :) https://youtu.be/ykj3Kpm3O0g

They were people. There were good ones and bad ones. Some might help with the laundry, some might blow a gasket for being reminded to clean up after dinner, some would be cried over and missed because they went out to sea and never came home. Generalising any culture or group in one direction or the other isn’t encouraging informed discussion. Nazis, however, are unequivocally bad, 'mkay?

Tumblr user scottbaiowulf wrote this phrase as a parody of over-sexualization of female characters in literature.

“Cassandra woke up to the rays of the sun streaming through the slats on her blinds, cascading over her naked chest. She stretched, her breasts lifting with her arms as she greeted the sun. She rolled out of bed and put on a shirt, her nipples prominently showing through the thin fabric. She breasted boobily to the stairs, and titted downwards.”

Oh, Manila is so noisy that there’s no need to scream. The meat’s surroundings will scream the meat into submission for me.

Filipino barbeque pork (recipe from Panlasang Pinoy):

Ingredients

▢4 lbs. pork shoulder sliced into thin pieces

Marinade ingredients

▢¾ cup soy sauce ▢½ cup juice extracted from calamansi or lemon ▢¾ cup banana ketchup ▢4 tablespoons dark brown sugar ▢2 tablespoons garlic powder ▢1 teaspoon ground black pepper ▢2 teaspoons salt ▢1 ½ cups lemon or lime soda (7up/Sprite)

Instructions

• Arrange the pork slices in a large bowl.
• Add all the marinade ingredients. Mix well. Cover the bowl and marinate for at least 3 hours. Note: I strongly suggest marinating overnight for best results.
• Fasten the marinated pork together using bamboo skewers.
• Heat-up the grill. Start to grill your Filipino Style pork BBQ for 3 to 5 minutes per side until the meat is thoroughly cooked. Make sure to always baste the BBQ when flipping it over. Note: the basting sauce ingredients are the same as the marinade ingredients minus the lemon soda.
• Serve with spicy vinegar.

Twin Peaks must be the best one for me. I never got to see it when it was new (too young), but happened to hear the intro music and opening shots before my parents switched the channel. That minute stayed with me till I was in my late teens and bought the show on DVD.

The worst? Maybe Sex and the City, but that’s also because I find the main characters self-centred and morally repulsive, which the intro communicates quite efficiently.

I feel cheated. This is obviously not a shitpost.

I’d expect the vast majority of such workers in the Arab region to be OFW’s (Overseas Filipino Workers). They’ve got such unending dedication and loyalty to their families that they send a very large share of what they earn home, often sacrificing most prospects they have for financial and personal growth for the good of their parents or younger siblings. The remittances from abroad make up about 8% of the country’s GDP, which is a staggering amount. This creates a vicious circle of dependence on Filipinos as cheap labour. A sad state of affairs when Filipinos are relatively well-educated, but often become victims of social dumping, simply because of where they’re from. They get paid, but are kept in a limbo where it’s very difficult to move up in the world. Can’t call it slavery, but you can’t not call it slavery either. I really hope conditions will improve for workers from developing countries.

No organ magically heals itself, you’re not Wolverine. Liver damage is permanent, any dosage over 4 grams of paracetamol per 24 hours (typically four doses of two 500mg tablets) can cause liver damage. Let the damage accumulate, and you’ll go into liver failure. If the liver fails, you’ll have to hope you’re lucky enough to get a donor, or you’ll be counting down hours left in your life. Take good care of your body and be healthy, your older self will thank you.

Believe me, there’s nothing unusual about this building in the Philippines. You can easily find far worse-looking places that the city won’t touch.

Most certainly - only that I don’t worry as much about the curveballs coming. 😉

My 30s were actually my worst, I think (with the exception of my childhood). When I turned 40, it was almost like flipping a switch, but it also coincided with my son being born a year and a half before that. Of course there are new things to worry about, but it’s different, somehow. Things are much better now. ☺️

For some it comes with age, as they gradually give less and less of a shit. Around 40, maybe? Might stem from a mindset of: “You’ve already thrown me all the curveballs you can, world. You can’t hurt me anymore.”

And the American arms industry is the backbone of the military industrial complex, bringing in vast amounts of money to the US every year. The world’s biggest arms exporter can only benefit from someone else’s war. Without that industry, my guess is the United States treasury would become completely overwhelmed by their sovereign debt and collapse very quickly, so the government on either side of the aisle will protect it with all their might.

I wish I could agree with you, but the situation in Gaza looks more and more like something we’ve seen before. After the end of World War 2, the world reacted with shock at what had been done to the Jews - murder has never been committed on such a grand scale and in such organized fashion. Jews had been dehumanised in public long before, being equated to rats and other vermin. The Zionists currently holding on to power in Israel are using the same kind of rhetoric against Palestinians. However, one difference between then and now is that the Rwanda genocide taught us that the world is entirely capable of sitting back and watch the horror unfold, even though we’re all fully informed of what’s going on. A ship of brave volunteers being sunk would cause a stern letter or at best sanctions. Israel can act with utter impunity as long as they’re backed by their big brother Uncle Sam.

Reminds me of when I was having a chat with the owner of a company I worked at in London. We had just made ourselves a cup of tea, he got himself a digestive to go with it. He dipped the digestive in his tea, and mid-sentence only half of the biscuit came back up. Stunned silence. The look of utter misery and disappointment on his face stays with me to this day - this was the last thing he needed just then. I suggested it could be fixed by adding the rest of the packet of biscuits and enjoy it as a biscuit porridge - he wasn’t entirely convinced. 😄