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The remarkable discovery was made during an archaeological investigation commissioned by Hertshten Properties, who plan to redevelop their commercial building at 85 Gracechurch Street. MOLA was tasked with ensuring no historically significant remains were disturbed during construction.

Recognizing the value of the find, Hertshten Properties now aims to incorporate the Roman ruins into their renovation plans. In collaboration with MOLA and the London Museum, they envision a new public exhibition space that will offer visitors an immersive experience of Roman London.

“To actually see people using and enjoying the space, moving through the public hall and down to see the remains, will be absolutely incredible,” James Taylor from architecture firm Woods Bagot told BBC.

The press release concludes by stating that, pending approval of the new plans, further excavations will continue in the spring of 2025. The site likely holds more secrets from this pivotal period in London’s history.

Circa 12 B.C. Augustus made a further decision to move the western German border from the Rhine to the Elbe. He was uncomfortable with the gap in the Black Forest that separated the sources of the Rhine and Danube and realized that moving the western border to the east, he could eliminate that gap. The eastern advance was entrusted to Drusus who began his campaign in 11 B.C. By the end of the year he was successful in working his way to the Weser River.

In 9 B.C. Drusus moved all the way to the Elbe before his unfortunate death in a riding accident.

As 18th-century German philosopher Immanuel Kant puts it:

Metaphysics is a dark ocean without shores or lighthouse, strewn with many a philosophic wreck.

So what is metaphysics, exactly? Like most metaphysical questions, that’s not an easy one to answer. We might think based on the word itself that it refers to some ‘meta’ version of physics, but that’s not quite accurate.

‘Metaphysics’ was actually coined by Andronicus of Rhodes, a bibliographer of Aristotle’s books in the first century BCE.

Andronicus was looking to categorize the works that came after Aristotle’s writings on ‘Physics’, and thus simply grouped them with the title ‘After Physics’ — or, ‘Metaphysics’.

Putting its rather arbitrary etymological origins to one side, we can say the word ‘metaphysics’ refers to the philosophical study of reality: metaphysics essentially attempts to establish a coherent picture of what reality ultimately is and how reality ultimately works.

In doing so, it explores basic issues around substance, existence, causality, determinism, modality, ontology, possibility, and nothingness — most of which are discussed by Aristotle in those initial writings grouped by Andronicus, but also by philosophers throughout history.

Applying the concept of the Übermensch can be done in various ways:

Embracing individuality: Rejecting conformity and embracing your unique strengths, weaknesses, and passions.
Creating your own values: Questioning traditional morality and creating your own set of values that align with your personal goals and aspirations.
Self-overcoming: Continuously challenging yourself to grow, learn, and improve, even in the face of adversity.
Living life on your own terms: Taking responsibility for your choices and actions, and living authentically, rather than following societal expectations.
Pursuing excellence: Striving for greatness in your endeavors, whether it's art, science, philosophy, or any other field.

In practical terms, applying the Übermensch concept might involve:

Taking risks and experimenting with new ideas
Developing a growth mindset and being open to learning from failures
Cultivating creativity and innovation
Building resilience and perseverance in the face of challenges
Embracing ambiguity and uncertainty as opportunities for growth

Amazon spokeswoman Eileen Hards denied that the company broke the law or interfered with the election.

"We're glad that our team in Garner was able to have their voices heard, and that they chose to keep a direct relationship with Amazon," Hards said in a statement. "We look forward to continuing to make this a great place to work together, and to supporting our teammates as they build their futures with us."

Amazon, the nation's second-largest private employer, has long sought to keep unions out of its ranks. The strategy succeeded in the U.S. until 2022, when workers at a Staten Island warehouse voted to join the Amazon Labor Union. Last month, workers at a Whole Foods store in Philadelphia voted to join the United Food and Commercial Workers union.

But while you currently need a $200-per-month Pro subscription to use OpenAI’s Deep Research (the company plans to expand to other subscription tiers), Perplexity’s Deep Research is available for free — non-subscribers get an unspecified-but-limited number of queries per day, while paying subscribers get unlimited queries.

Perplexity’s Deep Research also seems to perform more quickly, completing most tasks in under three minutes compared to 5 to 30 minutes for OpenAI Deep Research.

Andreessen says his bigger goal for a16z is to create a company that lasts. An alternative to a partnership is to build an investment company that’s managed like a business, which means it has management, multiple layers of staff, division of labor with specializations, and training programs, Andreessen said.

There are certainly precedents of small partnerships evolving into large corporations, which Andreessen can use as a model for a16z’s ambitions.

“Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, 100 years ago, looked like little venture capital firms,” he said. “Then their leaders, over time, turned them into huge franchises and big public companies.”

Secondly, the Republic was a political incubator, unique in its time. When the Romans threw out the Etruscan kings they made a conscious decision to create a representational government. In the beginning the Patrician class had too much power and the Plebian class had none. Then, over time, the classes came into better balance with the rise of the middle class and its increased political influence. Finally, after three hundred and fifty years, the Republic began to develop problems that would snowball into its collapse.

Meta employees posted messages on Workplace expressing concern after the company welcomed pro-Trump UFC President Dana White to its board of directors earlier this year.

In the wake of Trump’s re-election on Nov. 5, Zuckerberg announced significant changes to Meta’s content moderation policies, shifting toward a more free-speech-focused approach after helping suppress distribution of The Post’s reporting on the Hunter Biden laptop scandal.

The company said it was ending its third-party fact-checking program in the US and replacing it with a “Community Notes” system that allows users to add context to posts.

  1. Marius, never the politician, resorted to political types to act as his agents. One tribune, named Saturninus, strong-armed the Senate into allocating land for Marius’ veterans by threatening Senators with exile. Marius later tired of Saturninus using gangs to influence policy, marched an improvised army into Rome, and killed Saturninus and his followers.

Impact: A new precedent was set for the army attacking Rome and killing its political opponents.

  1. King Mithridates of Pontus raised an army in 88 B.C. and attacked Athens forcing Rome to respond. Command for the Greek army of invasion was entrusted to Lucius Cornelius Sulla, a Patrician who had distinguished himself previously during the Jurguthine War. Blocking Sulla, a tribune named Sulpicius Rufus had Marius named commander instead. Sulla, unwilling to put up with this rebuke, marched his army on Rome and took the city.

Impact: The Roman Army and its commanders now understood that they could take power whenever they wanted. All that remained was for the last vestiges of honor and respect for the Roman political system to pass away. But not quite yet!

Major tech companies and startups are pouring billions into developing AI-powered robots for manufacturing, logistics and household tasks, although progress has been slow as researchers found the language-related AI breakthroughs driving chatbot development have not necessarily helped with understanding of the physical world.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said that the company’s humanoid robot “Optimus” could perform many daily tasks and will eventually be sold to customers.

On Thursday, Apptronik secured $350 million in funding backed by investors including Alphabet’s Google to scale the production of its AI-powered humanoid robots designed for tasks in warehouses and manufacturing plants.

The M10 Booker also offers direct fire support for Infantry Brigade Combat Teams (IBCTs) against fortified positions and light armored threats. Weighing between 38 and 42 tonnes, it is classified as an armored infantry support vehicle or assault gun, rather than a light tank, as it lacks the armor and firepower needed for direct engagement with enemy main battle tanks.

M10 Booker to play key role in Army’s shift to division-centric operations
In June 2022, the M10 Booker was selected as part of the Mobile Protected Firepower (MPF) program. The first production units were delivered in February 2024. The Army plans to acquire the units under a contract potentially worth $1.14 billion, with each M10 Booker estimated to cost around $13.95 million.

In this post we will concentrate on Works and Days, an 800 line poem which is not idyllic like Homer, but instead describes the moral life of a farmer. The setting for the poem is the dispute between Hesiod and his brother Perses over the brother’s trickery in obtaining the majority of the inheritance meant for both of them. Hesiod urges his brother to give up selfishness which will destroy his virtue and maybe his life. In the first 369 lines he moralizes by telling two stories: the evil of Pandora (1- 109) and the ages of man put on earth by Zeus and how violent men were punished (110-369).

But when the artichoke flowers, and the chirping grass-hopper sits in a tree and pours down his shrill song continually from under his wings in the season of wearisome heat, [585] then goats are plumpest and wine sweetest; women are most wanton, but men are feeblest, because Sirius parches head and knees and the skin is dry through heat.

But when Orion and Sirius are come into mid-heaven, [610] and rosy-fingered Dawn sees Arcturus, then cut off all the grape-clusters, Perses, and bring them home. Show them to the sun ten days and ten nights: then cover them over for five, and on the sixth day draw off into vessels the gifts of joyful Dionysus.

That man is happy and lucky in them who knows all these things and does his work without offending the deathless gods, who discerns the omens of birds and avoids transgression.

This is certainly a plebian story when compared to the epic battle at Troy or the lives of the gods. But we gain a view into what the everyman farmer is trying to do from day to day – survive in the battle with nature – and he feels like one of us.

The Volcanic Explosion at Santorini and the Destruction of Minoan Crete

The fall of Minoan Crete, and for that matter Mycenae, are a mystery. There is evidence of fire at both locations as if they were attacked and burned. Was this the so called Dorian invasion or something else?

An interesting piece to this puzzle is the eruption of the Santorini Volcano, which had a significant impact on the region, especially Crete. Its part in the destruction of the Minoan civilization is still being debated, so I’ll let you can form your own opinion after you’ve seen the facts.