i broadly agree that the US protected freedom of navigation norms but nobody seems to understand how US power projection works
"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux@bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 34m agoThe problem is that as we're seeing with the Strait of Hormuz, "the USA forfeits its global ambitions" does not lead to a new age of peace and sunshine, but to global recession and instability. The Strait of Hormuz is not the only load-bearing instance of US power backstopping modern economies.
the funny thing is that <10% of americans have even played tennis at any point in the past year. even if this figure somehow included every single person who plays tennis, it would also mean a couple percent who do not play at all answered yes
Phase Blowly@phaseblowly.bsky.social · 2d agoObligatory.
okay so do they have a temp framework in place which allows transit through the strait for 60 days or did that deal already fall apart? seeing conflicting reports
modern equivalent of social climber roman patrcians spending vast sums training gladiators to get the emperors attention
@dabxdee.bsky.social · 8h agoUFC Parent Company Lost $30M on White House Fight ground.news/article/trum...
CNN: who is the most racist democrat we can find to comment on this election?
Matt Novak@paleofuture.bsky.social · 3h agoCNN producer: El-Sayed is projected to win. Quick, get the biggest fucking loser you can find on air
“the DSA loves [an arab and indian candidate] because they are white” is the kind of post that should be part of an apush frq in 30 years
the abbot of unreason (an archaeologist)@merovingians.bsky.social · 16h agooh we're off to a good start
air travel has also gotten safer and more affordable over his lifetime. what people dislike is the level of pricing transparency (you actually get what you pay for)
Constantine@ajaxsinger.bsky.social · 16h agoFood, man. Food is so much better than it was in 1986. All of it. Poor-people food, restaurant food, fresh food, frozen food. Food is just a hell of a lot better.
Air quality. I grew up in the Los Angeles basin in the 70s and 80s and remember having to stay inside because the smog was so bad - Stage 2 smog alerts, they were called. Apparently they haven't had one of those since 1988. Haven't had a stage one smog alert since 2003.
Constantine@ajaxsinger.bsky.social · 16h agoFood, man. Food is so much better than it was in 1986. All of it. Poor-people food, restaurant food, fresh food, frozen food. Food is just a hell of a lot better.
Missouri elections be like: Hitler (R) 79% - Christ (D) 21% And then the ballot initiative: Amend the Missouri constitution to require the state to own the means of production and work towards full communism? Yes 92% - No 8%
There's the seething hatred for Iran among the American foreign policy establishment that appears to be largely based on "they support the (often unpleasant) guys who shoot back at the US when the US does some dumbass military campaign in the middle east" and there feels like an easier fix here
oh my god he hit the reflecting pool with a "two weeks" dawgggggg that thing's never opening again
Jokes on you Iran, it's impossible to humiliate us if we have no sense of shame or awareness of current events.
Shiv Ramdas Mens Rice Activist@nameshiv.bsky.social · 2d agoI don't think the average American and certainly not the average MAGA even gets the extent to which "humiliate your foe" is a core ethos of the Iranian approach to conflict
Still wild to me we’re literally fighting a war entirely outside of trading hours
yeah, the issue with viewing elections as a linear algebra problem where you solve for the optimal policy platform is that you tend to generate candidates that cant credibly signal that they believe any of this
LOWρUFO 🇺🇦🇵🇸🌍@lowrhoufo.bsky.social · 3d agoI don't think there's some silent progressive majority out there in waiting, but I do think running candidates who are a lot less apollonian can move a significant number of feet, and the center is very bad at producing those
the social reality of afghanistan was a factional struggle between an extractive and fractious class of provincial warlords and an organized ethnically pastun militia, where the US backed the former without a clear idea of what it wanted or what would be required to achieve that
Joe Stieb@joestieb.bsky.social · 2d agoReading my own review rn: "altering the social reality of Afghanistan" was, frankly, not within US power, not necessary for achieving our interests, basically imperial, and not a good reason for young Americans to be killing and dying 7,000 miles away.
the options for US immigration are basically: 1) have immediate family here (still can take years) 2) marriage (see 1) 3) have consistent H1b sponsorship in a professional job for years 4) win the lottery (paused) 5) be a refugee/asylum seeker (paused, unless you’re a white south african farmer)
Jonathon M. Floyd@jfloyd314.bsky.social · 2d agoIt's genuinely a massive problem that the median voter both 1) believes "criminal illegal immigrants" to be an astronomically more serious threat than they actually are, and 2) believes that the legal immigration process is substantially easier than it actually is.
the most annoying thing about the What We Should Have Done With COVID discourse is that the actual viable option to accept more health risk in exchange for less disruption was not to rawdog the plague, it was to push the vaccine wide earlier with worse trial data
okay so genuine question: how are waymos so cheap? are they doing a zirp-era-esque price dumping thing? does automation actually provide substantial cost reductions in this one singular instance? i want to know
i appreciate that the cato institute is just out there churning out pro-trade/pro-markets/pro-immigration pieces like its 2006. only right leaning think tank that doesnt appear to want fascist tech money
okay honestly i want transphobes to consider that they didnt care about any of this 5 years ago and could simply go back to that
@benstarr66.bsky.social · 6d agoWhat is the definition of "trans rights"? Puberty blockers and other medical interventions at what age? What of participation in HS and college sports where fairness comes into play?
ok I have a hot take: do NOT name your hedge fund anything that will be hilarious if it blows up. "long term capital management," "situational awareness," things of this nature
Genuinely as someone who uses transit all the time in Boston and is in NYC pretty frequently, I have no idea why everyone who lives in NYC is constantly complaining about crime on trains or whatever. It seems fine?
My favorite part of the Odyssey was when Odysseus turned to the screen and said "our age of $5 footlongs is collapsing because of greedflation"
guy who IDs as a feminist and enviromentalist but he cant get behind the democrats because he supports the GoP’s stance on corruption (pro)
Polling USA@usapolling.bsky.social · last wk."Who's better on..." 🔵Women's Rights: D +18 🔵Environment: D +17 🔵Democratic Norms: D +10 🔵Cost of Living: D +4 🟣Political Violence: Even 🟣Wars/Terrorism: Even 🔴AI: R +1 🔴Corruption: R +1 🔴Guns Control: R +3 🔴Immigration: R +5 🔴Crime: R +14 Ipsos / July 26, 2026
it really is remarkable how almost all Dem sparring over 2024 happens over social issues, instead of like, "how do we prevent a 2020-2024 style shock again?"
Sharon 🪳🌹@sharonk.bsky.social · last wk.at least the part of left is sort of sold on inflation, they just think seller's inflation explains it (wrong, imo) centrists either think IRA/BIF caused inflation or that inflation was overrated
