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A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

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A_Wee_Hearts_Toll

2 followers follows 2 users
joined 2022 September 05 17:21:23 UTC

User ID: 645

A_Wee_Hearts_Toll

2 followers follows 2 users joined 2022 September 05 17:21:23 UTC

No bio...

User ID: 645

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Culture War Roundup for the week of September 12, 2022

A_Wee_Hearts_Toll 2yr ago

Last I heard all our tariff's on Russian oil have just allowed middle men to buy it at a higher price from Russia, enriching Russia, jack up the price even more enriching themselves, and selling it to Europe and America impoverishing us.

There are no tariffs on Russia oil. Europeans want to start with a price cap. The US restricted import of Russia oil, which was only a 2-3 % and not for domestic consumption (the US is a net exporter), but for refining (refining is a huge value added industry) and then reexport. You do realize that the US is the world's largest oil producer and the energy industry is making a killing right now? Europe is suffering, yes. Not from tariffs, as they don't exist, but because they just stopped accepting Russian oil and allowed Saudis and Indians to buy and reexport it to Europe. That's not the US government's doing and doesn't affect the US...

because apparently we believed we never needed to make stinger missiles ever again?

The US hadn't bought a stinger in 18 years. The components aren't produced anymore. Raytheon started preparing for production last year due to an international order.

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Culture War Roundup for the week of September 12, 2022

A_Wee_Hearts_Toll 2yr ago

are convinced that western mainstream media is still defending Israel.

People don't always update their priors when the world changes. Look at Noam Chomsky.

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Culture War Roundup for the week of September 12, 2022

A_Wee_Hearts_Toll 2yr ago

Fertilizing the world with mimetic hazards, thought viruses might not be a good thing. Special things to avoid facial recognition already exist, but mimetic hazards warping AI's view of the world... Hm.

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Bugs, Suggestions, Small Comments, And Site News

A_Wee_Hearts_Toll 2yr ago

It's perfect for me, now.

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Way too much whitespace

A_Wee_Hearts_Toll 2yr ago

Agree

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