Lots of good stuff this week...

• /u/Anastik's comment about Civil War paroling has already been linked to, but it's seriously amazing.

• /u/caffarelli has yet another excellent post about eunuchs, this time regarding their place in modern culture.

• /u/NMW posts an enormous reply to someone's question about the activities of the German Army during the occupation of Belgium in WWI.

• /u/American_Graffiti's amazing piece about the differences between black slaves and white indentured servants should be required reading for many of the people on this site.

• /u/CrossyNZ's description of the "haka" in the context of New Zealand history was an unexpected pleasure to read. Not unexpected coming from CrossyNZ, just that I hadn't expected the thread to have something that neat in it.

• /u/texpeare's explanation of some of the differences between acting styles today and in the early days of film was really good too.

Last night, I saw a response that I don't think anyone else saw. And it's probably one of the best, most well-sourced writeups that I've ever seen regarding the movie 300. Seriously, if you have a spare second, read it. It's THAT good.

Need to give a shout out to /u/Anastik's fantastic response about the parole system during the American Civil War.

More picks:

• /u/EvanRWT in Which religion is older, Hinduism or Judaism? Also, which culture is older?

• Why did some civilizations develop a logographic writing system as compared to an alphabetic one? What causes these discrepancies?

• Why do Russians not consider themselves "western"?

• Interpreting weird medieval phenomena

• Could Native Americans be considered communists?

• /u/Franktrick in Were there any border conflicts between Russians and British or Canadians on the Alaska-Yukon border?

• /u/erocifeller in Did the Native American peoples of North America know about the Inuits before the arrival of Columbus? If so, were there any major interactions between the two groups?

• Why do actors in modern movies today feel more "real" than the acting we see in old movies like Casablanca? is the best discussion so far on acting styles & the trans-Atlantic accent. Credit to the mods for keeping this thread on track - this thread was good candidate for going off the rails

And a thread that needs love:

• 18th and 19th century Russian nobles exiled to Siberia: What did they do there? Surely someone must have stories about the labour camps, the noblemen's wives who insisted on following, and the development of Irkutsk into the "Paris of Siberia". Somebody?

This was six days ago, but HOW CAN YOU GUYS HAVE FORGOTTEN /u/GeorgiusFlorentius and his one man (unflaired at the time) impromptu AMA on the Merovingians.

Utterly amazing and informative, and as someone mentioned to me while reading his posts, anyone who can keep that Merovingian family tree straight in their head, deserves a medal.

A few more:

• /u/Daeres in What was the typical diet of someone living in Ancient Greece?

• /u/Legendarytubahero in Why didn't Latin America have a Gilded Age in the 19th century?

• /u/XenophonTheAthenian in How can we explain the dominance of Athens and Sparta in Classical Greece?

/u/masterblaster420 provides a fascinating analysis of themes in Scooby-Doo. One of the most entertaining and informative things I've read here.