This weekly roundup thread is intended for all culture war posts. 'Culture war' is vaguely defined, but it basically means controversial issues that fall along set tribal lines. Arguments over culture war issues generate a lot of heat and little light, and few deeply entrenched people ever change their minds. This thread is for voicing opinions and analyzing the state of the discussion while trying to optimize for light over heat.
Optimistically, we think that engaging with people you disagree with is worth your time, and so is being nice! Pessimistically, there are many dynamics that can lead discussions on Culture War topics to become unproductive. There's a human tendency to divide along tribal lines, praising your ingroup and vilifying your outgroup - and if you think you find it easy to criticize your ingroup, then it may be that your outgroup is not who you think it is. Extremists with opposing positions can feed off each other, highlighting each other's worst points to justify their own angry rhetoric, which becomes in turn a new example of bad behavior for the other side to highlight.
We would like to avoid these negative dynamics. Accordingly, we ask that you do not use this thread for waging the Culture War. Examples of waging the Culture War:
-
Shaming.
-
Attempting to 'build consensus' or enforce ideological conformity.
-
Making sweeping generalizations to vilify a group you dislike.
-
Recruiting for a cause.
-
Posting links that could be summarized as 'Boo outgroup!' Basically, if your content is 'Can you believe what Those People did this week?' then you should either refrain from posting, or do some very patient work to contextualize and/or steel-man the relevant viewpoint.
In general, you should argue to understand, not to win. This thread is not territory to be claimed by one group or another; indeed, the aim is to have many different viewpoints represented here. Thus, we also ask that you follow some guidelines:
-
Speak plainly. Avoid sarcasm and mockery. When disagreeing with someone, state your objections explicitly.
-
Be as precise and charitable as you can. Don't paraphrase unflatteringly.
-
Don't imply that someone said something they did not say, even if you think it follows from what they said.
-
Write like everyone is reading and you want them to be included in the discussion.
On an ad hoc basis, the mods will try to compile a list of the best posts/comments from the previous week, posted in Quality Contribution threads and archived at /r/TheThread. You may nominate a comment for this list by clicking on 'report' at the bottom of the post and typing 'Actually a quality contribution' as the report reason.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
Moderator of /r/army pretty much confirms it
But isn't it going to be a matter of public record?
/images/17383745212879014.webp
The surreal part of this sort of virtue signalling is that while publicly bragging that they're keeping the secret, they have to let on that it's an explosive truth that the MAGA chuds would salivate over. It's exactly how BART had to announce they were no longer releasing security footage because it "aided racists," rather than saying nothing. The built-in admission of guilt is necessary for the virtue signal to work; you can't have people mistaking that you're doing it out of principle rather than tribal allegiance.
"You call it virtue-signalling, I just call it being a good person" is a common gotcha, but it's easy to counter when behavior is optimized for public status-seeking rather than effectiveness. "Verily I say unto you, They have their reward"
https://news.sky.com/story/captain-rebecca-lobach-third-helicopter-pilot-who-died-in-washington-crash-was-former-white-house-aide-13301558
She's clearly not trans.
I wouldn't make much of the fact that she was a woman either, at least not unless we get some actual hard evidence that DEI was relevant. The white male pilot supervising her, who we hear on the voice recordings, does not seem like he saw the plane either (he was probably looking at the wrong plane when ATC asked him if he had the CRJ in sight). And surely he's equally culpable for the fact that they were flying 100 feet too high.
Plus just the fact they "merely" needed to be a little bit lower while crossing the final approach of a civilian plane says a lot about the situation quite apart from the individual helo pilots.
More options
Context Copy link
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/02/01/female-army-black-hawk-helicopter-named-washington-aircrash/
I haven't been following it but other than the comments here that's the only story I've seen about this, and The Telegraph isn't the kind of paper to shy away from reporting whether someone is trans.
From the pictures I think she’d be very much in the higher percentile of passing trans women if she was.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
That doesn't suggest anything more than a fear that the family could be harassed if the identity is known.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link