We live in a country where all of our media is owned by investment firms that also own weapons manufacturers , and most Americans still trust those sources over anything else, because it’s all they know.
@kinematografi I feel like it is a new era for visual art and music, but also I feel like a lot of what we call AI now would have just been called automation a decade ago.
Charles the Il of Spain was the result of nearly 200 years of inbreeding. The House of Habsburgs stopped introducing new genes at around 1550, leading to a circular family tree.
Charles II was born as the product of an uncle-niece relationship, and historians Will and Ariel Durant vividly described him as "short, lame, epileptic, senile, and completely bald before 35, always on the verge of death but repeatedly baffling Christendom by continuing to live."
Before reaching the age of six, Charles II miraculously survived a series of diseases, including chickenpox, measles, rubella, and smallpox. He faced numerous physical challenges, as he couldn't walk until the age of eight and struggled to chew food independently. His enlarged tongue made his speech unintelligible to others.
The papal nuncio Millini provided a detailed description of Charles II, stating, "The king is rather short, skinny, but not badly formed, only ugly in the face; he has a long neck, a long face, a long chin and as if it bent upwards; the lower lip typical of the Habsburgs; not very large eyes, turquoise blue, and a fine and delicate complexion. He has a look with melancholy on his face and a little astonished. His hair is blond and long, and it is combed back so that the ears are exposed. He cannot stand upright unless he leans against a wall, a table, or something else. His body is as weak as his mind. Occasionally, he shows signs of intelligence, memory, and a certain liveliness, but not consistently; he usually appears slow and indifferent, seemingly dumbfounded. You can do whatever you want with him since he lacks his own will."
Charles II's death in 1700, at the age of 39, triggered the War of Spanish Succession and marked the end of the House of Habsburgs. His autopsy report revealed distressing findings, stating that his "heart was the size of a peppercorn; his lungs corroded; his intestines rotten and gangrenous; he had a single testicle, black as coal, and his head was full of water."