netstack
Texas is freedom land
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User ID: 647
netstack
Texas is freedom land
13hr ago
I think so. I never bothered to watch the movie after learning that was the premise.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
14hr ago
I agree that U.S. intervention is inviting disaster for no real upside, but I think your military comparisons are wrongheaded.
This wouldn’t be a civilian terror bombing campaign as seen in WWII; the civilians are already in revolt. It wouldn’t be comparable to Vietnam or Korea (or Ukraine?) since Iran has no superpower stiffening its resistance. They cannot expect a flood of Chinese conscripts or spare HIMARS.
The goal would be tactical air power. After a certain point, any time the Nazis got too many tanks in one spot, a flight of P-47s would come ruin their day. This had real effects on their ability to organize a defense.
But, as you pointed out, that only works with troops to press the advantage. I have seen little evidence that such organized opposition exists in Iran. Without a strong horse to back, air intervention goes nowhere.
Trump shouldn’t make these rash proclamations
Well, I’m not going to argue with you there. His vibes-based policy is not suited for an actual lose-lose situation. Unless an actual rebel army forms, his best bet is to stay out.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
15hr ago
Sorry, court dates?
Who do you think is calling the shots in this scenario?
netstack
Texas is freedom land
15hr ago
If.
I don’t think he can do any of those things. At best, he can create power vacuums. Trying to actually replace a regime is the kind of blank-check commitment that he knows to avoid. No exit strategy.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
16hr ago
They…aren’t?
I imagine
There’s your problem. You’re speculating from a pretty incoherent starting point. Garbage in, garbage out.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
1d ago
Describing Lovecraft as “conscientious” without mentioning neuroticism feels like burying the lede. You can’t separate his outlook from the absolutely miserable time he was having with his family and his finances.
I think Americans are the same way. Xenophobia comes from uncertainty. When times are good and people are optimistic, we’re all more willing to be cosmopolitan. As times get harsher, more people hit their personal neuroticism thresholds. Those with high conscientiousness are squeezed towards authoritarianism. Their less conscientious counterparts favor anarchy.
This is why Trump populism has outcompeted Tea Party libertarians. It’s why he keeps embarrassing neoliberals, whose radicals despise them, too. He is rewarded for playing the strongman in a way that a progressive cannot.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
1d ago
it's not really Culture War Classic material.
What are you saying has changed? I’m having a hard time finding the Deomcratic Party line—I mostly get results from last summer—but Trump blustering is par for the course.
Look at George W. Plenty of tough talk, minimal actual intervention. There was no reward in the risk. It’s entirely possible that we’re in a similar scenario.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
1d ago
Maybe they’re being more efficient by getting high-earning jobs in America, then sending that money to fund guerillas?
Effective insurrectionists.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
1d ago
Any proposed amendment will immediately draw commentary from clout-chasing partisan hacks. Any such hacks will draw countersignals from their opposite numbers. I don’t believe any level of rationalist intent can deter this.
I’m not convinced that scaling down the Senate actually helps, either. We already form subcommittees of 15-30 members. They’re fine at getting stuff to a vote; the perverse incentives come after.
Returning to some form of indirect election is more plausible. If you can’t win a direct election as a moderate, maybe you can win it by getting along with your entire legislature. But isn’t this just as vulnerable to partisanship? If the Speaker of the House elections are any benchmark, asking a bunch of partisans to give you a leader doesn’t get a moderate.
It’s the change to voting rules that does all the work. As I understand it, that doesn’t require an amendment. The Senate can just adopt a different voting schema. I think that’s much more plausible than trying to get national support for a permanent structural change.
But then, I’m rather biased towards Literally Anything But FPTP. So if this gets more states to do STV, approval, anything, I’m in.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
1d ago
Come down to DFW. It sucks here but there’s a whole lot of STEM work. We’re basically trying to underbid California.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
1d ago
No, it’s a great example. It’s an inferior good. There’s no direct alternative to natto other than just…not.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
4d ago
Escaped from Duckov today. Cute game that makes for a good alternative to the strategy games I usually play. On that front, I keep getting sucked into Total Warhammer now that CA gave me the third game. It’s really the perfect set dressing for the series.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
5d ago
Yesterday I wanted to reserve judgment until I saw body cam footage. If ICE was conducting an “enforcement action,” their policy is supposedly to have cameras on. It should make the direction of the car obvious.
I think we started from similar assumptions about the role of the officers. ICE has the funding, the manpower, and the operational initiative. They ought to have a better plan than having some guy stand out on a frozen road. And if that really is the best they can do, they should at least be able to cover their asses. Do it by the book. Show us the book. Release the footage. Not this tight-mouthed bullshit.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
5d ago
I got the impression “legal observer” wasn’t a job title, but a claim that she was observing the protest legally.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
5d ago
I think it’s someone who bombs both child soldiers and suicides.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
5d ago
Leaving that qualifier implicit is like a cat puffing itself up. It’s a threat display. “So thinks Sulla…and some other people. How many? Guess. :3”
Rhetorically convenient. Not conducive to discussion.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
5d ago
I’m willing to bet that almost all of those citizens are, in fact, legal. Faking your way through naturalization is a lot harder than writing the wrong number on a welfare application.
But it’s beside the point! Roadblocks and manhunts aren’t “investigating” citizenship status. Those 3000 agents aren’t doing paperwork at City Hall. They’re showing the flag.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
5d ago
You may be interested in the infamous Red Means No review from last year’s contest.
So you already know that at a typical orgy the median attendee doesn’t have sex, and the majority that do have sex only do so with the partner(s) they came with. You’re also aware that an RMN orgy averages 5+ sexual interactions per person, making it a breakthrough in modern orgy technology. Sounds great on paper, but what is it actually like to go to one of these?
If those are the stats for orgies, perhaps the bathhouse was pretty competitive.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
6d ago
Speak for yourself. You have been warned about this before.
Three day ban to cool off.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
6d ago
Mainstream media, Reddit, and various politicians have incited multiple assassination attempts on these officers
Unless I’m missing something huge, no, they didn’t.
citizen gunned down in ambiguous situation
Not the first. Won’t be the last. Law enforcement is hard.
conflicting federalizations
Either Trump invokes Title 10 or he doesn’t. If he does, the Guard is at his disposal. Otherwise it’s under Walz.
this is not good.
You don’t say?
I can’t currently watch the videos—Twitter delenda est—so this may be easy to answer.
Did the shooting officer have his body cam on per department policy?
I believe we should give law enforcement the benefit of the doubt proportional to their level of transparency. The state has the privilege of choosing its battles. If the officer made that shot knowing that he would be broadcast to the broader Internet, then he probably had a genuine fear for his life.
Oh. I guess that makes more sense.
I would still disagree with the suspicion, if only because I don’t see an obvious way to actually fix the problem.
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