Thank you so much to the incredible @gregjenner and his team for having me on "You're Dead to Me" and to @kaekurd for being so hilarious and bringing Gilgamesh the restaurant into my life!

Here’s a thread of some of the stuff referenced in the podcast for those interested

#BenazirBhutto became the youngest and first female prime minister of the Muslim world in 1988. She was an embodiment of women empowerment. Her three children, Bilawal, Bakhtawar and Aseefa were born while she faced myriads of political challenges but showed relentless...

[1]

..courage. Bilawal was born on Sept 21, 1988 at a time when Benazir was running an election compaign and her critics thought that a pregnant woman stands no chance. In just one year, she led a nationwide election campaign, wrote a bestselling book, had her first child...

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and became the first female prime minister of the Muslim world. All in one year!

While her second pregnancy was a secret when she was Prime Minister, she went to meet the soldiers at Siachin Glaciers which is the highest battle ground despite of the fact that the..

[3]

..lack of oxygen could affect her unborn child. She took the risk and her visit was a morale booster for the troops. Once the opposition learnt that she was pregnant, all hell broke loose. They argued that the govt rules did not provide any maternity leave to the pregnant...

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..Prime Minister and that the government machinery would collapse during the delivery as she'll be incapacitated. But Benazir remained firm. The opposition in their brazen compaign called for strikes while the brave lady decided to have a Caesarean delivery on the eve of...

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1) The Temple of the Divine Claudius was a vast temple complex on Rome's Caelian Hill, overlooking the valley that would later be occupied by the Colosseum. Though almost nothing now remains of the structure, its scale and grandeur once rivalled anything in the city.. #LostRome

2) The 'Claudium' was intended as a sacred complex to revere Claudius and the imperial cult. Construction began soon after the death and deification of the emperor in 54 AD, initiated by his widow Agrippina who was likely responsible for his supposed death by poisoning. #LostRome

3) The sprawling temple complex sat on a gigantic podium that spread across the Caelian Hill, measuring 180 x 200 metres; with towering retaining walls of travertine that raised the structure 20 metres above the valley below. #LostRome

4) The elevated sacred area was likely entered by steps facing the temple on the west side. The temple itself had a projecting hexastyle porch and was surrounded by gardens and a grand portico, probably the 'porticus Claudia' mentioned in Martial's 'On the Spectacles'. #LostRome

5) Statues of both Agrippina and Claudius’ ill-fated young son Britannicus, sculpted in sumptuous dark Egyptian greywacke, were discovered among the ruins on the Caelian Hill in 1651 – and had almost certainly been displayed in the temple precinct. #LostRome

I doubt there are many outside of Norway that know that the Norwegian pop group A-ha was critical in the introduction of electric car incentives in Norway. I certainly didn't. Read on...

In 1989, two members of the group, Morten Harket and Magne Furuholmen were in Switzerland with environmentalist Frederic Hauge, when they came across a hobby-converted Fiat Panda. Stated range: 45 km. They snapped it up and imported it to Norway.

Photo: In Switzerland (Bellona)

On arrival in Norway, the regs didn't accommodate the registration of electric cars so it couldn't legally be driven on the road. Since it had a propane-fuelled heater, just like a motorhome, they registered it as a motorhome.

Moreover, in contrast to petrol cars, diesel cars paid registration fees based on how far they were driven, and our heroes thought this should also apply to electric cars. So the two-seater Swiss-converted Fiat Panda was registered as a diesel motorhome in Norway.

They managed (somehow) to avoid paying the one-off registration fee in 1990, and ever since then electric cars have been exempted this now-substantial fee.
Source:

Navigation in Ancient India

#LongThread

Indian civilization has been without a break for the last few millennia. This means there have been external connections and indigenous maritime assets.

Among the remains, the maritime assets archaeology are much prized and cited, a dock being the most prized. It also precludes the requirement of knowledge of the seas i.e. a compass.

The very word Navigation is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Navgatih’. The word navy is also derived from Sanskrit ‘Nou’.

There were Sanskrit terms for many parts of a ship. The ship’s anchor was known as Nava-Bandhan-Kilaha which literally means ‘a nail to tie up a ship’. The sail was called Vata Vastra, which means ‘wind-cloth’.

ChYna literally told us.

THE 45 COMMUNIST GOALS AS READ INTO THE CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, 1963

1. U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war.
2. U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war.