Thinking further on this, I think one aspect of the generational divide on I/P is that at least in the US, people my age and younger were taught a much more accurate version of US history in school than previous generations got. We've had to wrestle with that in a way that older people didn't.

J. Sam Drolet@jsamdrolet.bsky.social · 12h ago

It's obviously primarily a proxy for guilt (or sublimation thereof) from existing in a successful settler-colonial state by Americans who don't have any particular personal connection to Israel, on both sides.

"If you attack the Persians you will destroy a great empire."

Travis@someforeignfield.bsky.social · 5h ago

The US began this war by demanding Iran give up its ballistic missiles, and has instead given up its own (non-nuclear) ballistic missiles

I like this conception of the origin of ancient Israel as a melding of people from several different origins not just because it makes good sense of both the archaeological and literary data (although it does), but because it provides a model of a pluralistic and relatively democratic society.

J. Sam Drolet@jsamdrolet.bsky.social · 4d ago

This all makes a ton of sense to me, and I basically buy it. Importantly, it explains the rise of Israel (and Judah) as a society of people with many different origins converging on the highlands of inland Palestine in the early Iron Age.

"I converted to Catholicism because Catholics are bad people, like Jews" is certainly a take.

QuoProQuid@quoproquid.bsky.social · 2d ago

im really baffled by how he draws attention to how he converted during a major clerical sex abuse scandal and, instead of trying to grapple with that fundamental evil, he just kinds of casts it aside with some bland aphorisms about human nature and quotes from fucking ross douthat

The Weekend Warrior fails to strike again! The only surprise here is that the Israelis were surprised.

Shipwreck@shipwreck75.bsky.social · 3d ago

Israel expected a broad U.S. strike on Iran targeting key regime vulnerabilities, including energy infrastructure. Despite disappointment when the attack didn’t materialize, Israeli officials say Washington hasn’t closed the door. A major American operation against Iran remains a live option.

Nolan needs to up his game.

I post this from time to time. www.youtube.com/watch?v=9C0x...

Take Me To Church - Piano / Vocal Hozier Cover ft. Morgan James

YouTube video by PostmodernJukebox

youtube.com

I read a couple of papers tonight that really crystallized for me an interpretation of the Exodus tradition and the origins of ancient Israel that makes actual sense and fits with the archaeological evidence (though I'm not sure I necessarily buy it entirely).

www.adn.com/alaska-news/...

First-ever heat advisory issued for Anchorage, swaths of Southcentral Alaska

High temperatures are expected to be in the upper 70s and potentially the 80s for some areas affected by the heat advisory, which is in effect until Sunday night.

adn.com

This is a good thread describing the context for Jesus and his teachings as preserved in the Gospels. (Which may or may not reflect the teachings of the historical Jesus, of course, but *someone* in that context was advocating these things.)

Jessica Price@delafina777.bsky.social · 5d ago

Jesus was grappling with the same problem a lot of first-century Jewish thinkers (including the Pharisees/Tannaim, the Essenes, the Sadducees) were struggling with, which was how to survive the Roman occupation. They arrived at different solutions.

Not really the point, but it is very funny how King County, Washington just sort of pretends to be named after Martin Luther King Jr.

Faqa@faqa.bsky.social · 6d ago

This is basically a Veep script

This is very cool.

Alaska Public Media@alaskapublic.org · 6d ago

In Alaska, it’s illegal for vessels to get within 100 yards of humpback whales, speed near them, block their path or disrupt their behavior. But it’s still common for ships to hit whales, causing severe and sometimes fatal injuries.

Assuming great-grandparents (my grandparents would all have been kids then), barber, bricklayer, hardware store clerk, Indian trader. I think I could have managed at least a couple of those.

Revan@revan.eurosky.social · 7d ago

Enough “what would you do on the commune questions” If you got sent back 100 years and were given your grandparent’s job, what are you doing?

A lot of Discourse around the NYC Groceries proposal has been on a very abstract level, so I decided to download the actual operator RFP and read through it to see what Mamdani is actually proposing to do. You can download it here by clicking the "Download" button. edc.nyc/nyc-grocerie...

N.Y.C. Groceries Operator(s) RFP

New York City Economic Development Corporation (“NYCEDC”), in collaboration with the City of New York (the “City”), is releasing a Request for

edc.nyc

Hoo boy. Here we go. www.alaskasnewssource.com/2026/07/30/m...

Measles detected in Anchorage wastewater

Officials say it indicates presence of at least one case.

alaskasnewssource.com

Yeah, this is my take on the latest Stancil Discourse too. In an important way the two sides are just talking past each other and addressing different audiences. (Note that this was also my take on Nolan/Wilson Odyssey Discourse. Has Stancil weighed in on that one yet?)

Hemry, Local Bartender@bartenderhemry.bsky.social · last wk.

Without addressing the hate mob phenomenon which is self-evidently bad I think we're also running into a philosophical difference where one side is like "does this action solve this problem" and the other is like "is this action morally good"

Wild.

Judd Legum@juddlegum.bsky.social · last wk.

David Barton is a fake historian who wrote a book on Thomas Jefferson that was so inaccurate his publisher was forced to pull it from the shelves. Now Barton, and his son Tim, are advising Trump on his anti-Smithsonian crusade.

This is the clearest illustration yet that he thinks tariffs are tribute.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · last wk.

Trump: "I'd like to see tariffs on Iran"

Many people are saying! Once you start seeing this it's everywhere and explains so much about otherwise baffling Discourse.

Joel S.@joelhs.bsky.social · last wk.

Hot take: A certain kind of American leftism is deeply culturally Protestant, even if it disbelieves in God, because of its preeminent focus on having the right inner mindset and intention and feeling properly guilty about one's moral failings to live up to a certain standard.

There are a *lot* of ancient writings of various kinds that survive only as quotes in works arguing against them. The extent to which we can reconstruct their arguments from the quotes varies but it's very clear that the range of opinions on lots of things was quite broad.

Ste Jormur@stejormur.bsky.social · last wk.

I read Tim Whitmarsh's "Atheism in the Ancient World", which makes the point that there is virtually no surviving ancient atheist writing... but there is a large pile of anti-atheist argument and drama and laws, and they had to be responding to *someone*

I recently moved to a new (much bigger) house and I'm still sorting out how to organize my books now that I have much more shelf space.

Immigrant Punk@porcupunk.eurosky.social · last wk.

Enough of the horrors and doom scrolling. Let's talk about something fun. How do you arrange your books?

I will reiterate: Christians in the West evangelize in public for the same reason men catcall. Neither is trying to persuade you; both are reminding you that the public sphere belongs to them and you exist in it at their sufferance.

Very Alaska moment

No one is reading the London Review of Books to decide whether or not to go see a Christopher Nolan movie. Both Nolan and Wilson are just doing their thing and addressing very different audiences in different ways. They're both making tons of money from this (which is great!) and will be fine.

Checks out, especially regarding Alaska.

Carceral Abolition@carceralabolition.bsky.social · last wk.

Number of coffee shops per 100k people in each US state plus DC www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/co...

All Chinese claims on Taiwan date to the 1662 invasion by renegade warlord and pirate Koxinga, a partisan of the so-called "Southern Ming" false dynasty rather than the legitimate Qing. The island should therefore be returned to its rightful rulers, the Dutch, who liberated it from the Papists.

Me and Maxi.

So apparently the JKT campaign is basically a conduit for money to go from Anthropic to Fight Agency. Maybe he's trying to hit all the Discourse points. www.adn.com/politics/202...

Democrat in Alaska’s governor race reports $1.8 million fundraising haul, driven by Californians

Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins reported raising more than $1 million from wealthy Outsiders.

adn.com

Volcano delay! (This happens often and is not actually that big a deal.) www.adn.com/alaska-news/...

Ash from Russian volcano triggers flight cancellations and delays around Alaska

Airports in Anchorage, Fairbanks and Nome reported issues Wednesday due to ash from Shiveluch Volcano.

adn.com

Marathon Assembly meeting but my stuff got approved without any trouble, so that's a win.