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ToaKraka

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ToaKraka


								

								

								
								
								

								
							
					
 
				


				
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				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 12, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Reuters:




    

  • 

    2011—Revolt and civil war: An uprising against Muammar Gaddafi's four-decade rule rapidly spreads, becoming an armed revolt aided by NATO airstrikes. Gaddafi is ousted in August and killed in October by rebels.
    

    • 

  • 

    2012—Missed opportunities: A rebel council holds elections for an interim General National Congress which creates a transitional government. True power lies with local armed groups. Islamist militants gain ground and attack the US consulate in Benghazi, killing the ambassador.
    

    • 

  • 

    2013—Growing divisions: Armed groups are ever more powerful, besieging government buildings. The Congress is increasingly divided and trust ebbs as it seeks to extend its term and delay elections.
    

    • 

  • 

    2014—East–West schism: The Congress rejects the results of an election to a new parliament—the House of Representatives (HoR)—and sets up a government backed by armed groups in the west. The newly elected parliament moves from Tripoli to the east in support of a rival government backed by Khalifa Haftar, a former general who has brought together several armed factions as the Libyan National Army. Libya is now split between warring administrations in east and west.
    

    • 

  • 

    2015—Islamists on the march: Islamist groups take advantage of the chaos and Islamic State seizes Sirte, Gaddafi's home city in central Libya, in February. In December, the rival parliamentary bodies sign the Libyan Political Agreement to set up a new transition. The agreement confirms the HoR as Libya's parliament but gives members of the General National Congress a new role as an advisory second chamber—the High State Council (HSC).
    

    • 

  • 

    2016—Islamic State driven back: The HoR rejects the new government as it takes office in Tripoli, entrenching Libya's east–west divide. Western armed factions eventually take Sirte from Islamic State as Haftar fights militants in Derna and Benghazi and seizes the oil crescent region of central Libya.
    

    • 

  • 

    2019—Haftar attacks Tripoli: After two more years of on-off fighting across Libya, Haftar drives his LNA through the south, bringing most remaining oil fields under his control. In April, Haftar launches a surprise offensive against Tripoli, taking Sirte en route. He is backed by the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Russia. Western Libyan armed groups come together to support the Tripoli government with help from Turkey, their alliance bolstered by a deal on maritime borders that angers Egypt and Greece.
    

    • 

  • 

    2020—Ceasefire: Turkey openly offers military support to Tripoli and Haftar's offensive collapses. As his forces pull back, evidence of atrocities is found in the town of Tarhuna. The sides agree a ceasefire and the UN launches a new peacemaking effort aimed at holding national elections the following year.
    

    • 

  • 

    2021—A failed election: Eastern and western factions accept a new Government of National Unity (GNU) and Presidency Council, meant to oversee elections in December. But the HoR in the east and the HSC in the west cannot agree on a new constitution or rules for the vote and the election falls apart at the last minute.
    

    • 

  • 

    2022—Standoff: Both parliamentary bodies now say the unity government has lost its legitimacy but the prime minister, Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah, refuses to quit. The HoR in eastern Libya again appoints a rival administration, but it fails to enter Tripoli. The Nawasi, a major Tripoli militia, is driven from the capital.
    

    • 





United Nations:




More than 14 years after the 2011 revolution and the fall of the former regime, Libya remains mired in an unstable transition marked by recurring violence, fragmented and divided institutions and the entrenchment of powerful armed groups. Its current governing and legislative institutions have continued to operate well past their mandated terms. The lack of an agreed upon constitution and the failure to hold national elections in December 2021, competing interpretations of political agreements, transitional road maps and provisional legal instruments are being used to entrench positions within the prevailing stalemate.


In the aftermath of the failure to hold national elections in December 2021, the political landscape of Libya has been defined by a prolonged stalemate and two distinct centres of power: the Government of National Unity in the west and the Libyan National Army in the east and south. In the west, in the absence of strong institutions, hybrid armed groups often act as de facto providers of security. Competition among these groups over territory, resources, control of illicit activities and institutional influence has fuelled recurring violence that often affects the civilian population. In May 2025, the killing of a major armed group leader triggered some of the deadliest clashes in Tripoli since 2011. With no unity of vision among Libyan political and institutional leaders on a national security architecture and disarmament, demobilization and reintegration, the various armed groups have limited incentives to pursue alternate paths.


In the east, over time, administrative structures that parallel those in the west have consolidated, including a military structure, executive bodies and economic institutions, presenting a challenge to efforts to unify national institutions. In the south, the situation remains characterized by divisions along tribal lines and complex security dynamics, including the presence of foreign fighters and mercenaries and the cross-border movements and activities of criminal networks, including illicit trafficking. Southern Libya, while rich in natural resources, remains politically and economically marginalized. The Amazigh, Tebu and Tuareg communities, which are the country’s three recognized non-Arab Indigenous groups, are not adequately represented in State institutions.




				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 12, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


I'm not sure that I've ever seen people on the left take human trafficking / sex trafficking seriously as a concern.




I've seen them cite the risk of an increase in sex trafficking as a reason to oppose the legalization of prostitution (example, found here).


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 12, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


traffickers




smugglers




Human trafficking and smuggling are two different crimes. However, the two are related and often intertwined. Human trafficking is involuntary and victims are exploited, whereas smuggling is voluntary, yet still bears life-threatening risks. A smuggling case can become human trafficking if the victims are exploited—for example, by being held for ransom, or to pay off a smuggling debt through forced labour or sex work.




				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for January 11, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
See also the Vorkosigan Saga Sourcebook and Roleplaying Game (licensed GURPS product, "with character art specifically approved by Lois McMaster Bujold").


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 5, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Puerto Rico (and the other US territories)






Who cares about Puerto Rico?




Virgin Islands erasure. :-(


Seriously, you should point directly at the Virgin Islands instead of just lumping them together in "the other US territories". They even have much more comparable population—87 thousand vs. Greenland's 57 thousand and Puerto Rico's 3.2 million—and they were purchased from Denmark just as Trump is considering purchasing Greenland from Denmark.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 5, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


I thought the mental image of my comment was amusing.




It is, but it's also a confusing non-sequitur, since the previous discussion was of a car's bumping a pedestrian, not a fender bender between two cars.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for January 9, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
See GURPS Dungeon Fantasy Treasures 1: Glittering Prizes for lots of guidance on using custom coins in TTRPG campaigns.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for January 9, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Based. I have 700 hours in Nioh 1 and still haven't even started Nioh 2.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Transnational Thursday for January 8, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Associated Press, Reuters, ISW: Just a week after declaring independence, Yemen's Southern Transitional Council has lost its capital and dissolved.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for January 9, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
(1) What problems do browsers have with displaying images? It's my understanding that browser display of images has only been improving, with "lazy loading" specified in HTML and implemented in browsers.


(2) What do images have to do with my comment? I'm talking about emoji, not images.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 5, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


The money promised must be significantly more than what Denmark is currently providing




One article indicates that Denmark's current subsidies are a bit more than 10 k$ per person-year.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 5, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Convince the locals to declare independence.




Reuters:




U.S. officials have discussed sending lump sum payments to Greenlanders as part of a bid to convince them to secede from Denmark and potentially join the United States, according to four sources familiar with the matter.


While the exact dollar figure and logistics of any payment are unclear, U.S. officials, including White House aides, have discussed figures ranging from $10,000 to $100,000 per person, said two of the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.


The idea of directly paying residents of Greenland, an overseas territory of Denmark, offers one explanation of how the U.S. might attempt to "buy" the island of 57,000 people, despite authorities' insistence in Copenhagen and Nuuk that Greenland is not for sale.






One of the sources familiar with White House deliberations said the internal discussions regarding lump sum payments were not necessarily new. However, that person said, they had gotten more serious in recent days, and aides were entertaining higher values, with a $100,000-per-person payment—which would result in a total payment of almost $6 billion—a real possibility.






Among the possibilities being floated by Trump's aides, a White House official said on Tuesday, is trying to enter into a type of agreement with the island called a Compact of Free Association.


The precise details of COFA agreements—which have only ever been extended to the small island nations of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Palau—vary depending on the signatory. But the U.S. government typically provides many essential services, such as mail delivery and military protection. In exchange, the U.S. military operates freely in COFA countries, and trade with the U.S. is largely duty-free.




				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for January 9, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Not-so-fun fact: All the little icons on this website are, not actual emoji characters, but private-use characters in custom fonts. For example, underneath a front-page post you see icons that look like this:


💬︎ 81⤢︎ View source👁︎ Subscribe💾︎ Save⚑︎ Report


But that is just in appearance. In reality, each of those icons is a private-use character (inserted as a CSS pseudo-element, so it doesn't even really exist in the page and therefore can't be copied-and-pasted) that shows up as a blank box if you try to use it without the custom font—e. g., , "private-use-F4AD", instead of the proper "speech balloon" emoji. (For details, run searches for 'content:"\f', 'content: "\f', and "font awesome" in this file.) I guess modern web developers don't like Unicode, and prefer to retvrn to Wingdings.




The UN's official "degrees of urbanization":


    

  • 

    Rural area: Density < 300 per km2
    

    • 

  • 

    Semi-dense town: Density ≥ 300 per km2 and population ≥ 5000
    

    • 

  • 

    City: Density ≥ 1500 per km2 and population ≥ 50,000
    

    • 



The next step is obvious (another ×5 density and ×10 population).


    

  • Mega-city: Density ≥ 7500 per km2 and population ≥ 500,000
    • 



From a glance at the downloadable dataset, using the very-roughly-equivalent criterion "density ≥ 7500 per km2 and area ≥ 67 km2" (which is all that I feel like figuring out in QGIS—I used the "reclassify by table" and "polygonize" tools):


    

  • 

    Mega-City One (393 km2) is the only US mega-city. Los Angeles (60) is not yet worthy of the title Mega-City Two.
    

    • 

  • 

    Mega-Ciudad Mexico is gigantic, at 673 km2. Guadalajara (152) and León (72) also qualify, but Monterrey (56) does not.
    

    • 

  • 

    If you keep going south, Tegucigalpa (92 km2) and Managua (86) qualify as mega-cities, but Panama City (53) does not.
    

    • 

  • 

    London, 316 km2; Paris, 344; Brussels, 67; Berlin, 88; Istanbul, 230; Cairo, 593; Beijing, 537; Tokyo, 1498; Jakarta, 1865; Lagos, 463; et cetera.
    

    • 





When you make a mistake on your US federal income-tax return, the IRS sends to you a letter telling you that you made a mistake and informing you of your new tax bill. In November, the president signed into law a bill that will require this letter to actually explain what mistake you made, rather than merely saying that a mistake exists and giving to you a new tax bill with no explanation of how it was recalculated.


Quotes from the committee report:




Each year, the IRS sends millions of "math error" notices to taxpayers that propose to adjust their tax liabilities. These math error notices often do not explain the reasons for the adjustments, and some are never received by the taxpayer due to lost mail.






With respect to the description of the math error adjustment, the IRS must include the type of error, the section of the Code to which the error relates, and the line on the return on which the error was made. In identifying the type of error, the notice may not rely on a list of multiple categories of math errors in the alternative. Instead, it must identify the specific type of math error authority relied upon for each specific error on the return.


The itemized computation of the adjustments must address all changes to any component of the computation of taxable income and tax liability or tax due. These items include adjusted gross income, taxable income, itemized or standard deductions, credits (whether or not refundable), losses, and other items specifically listed in the provision.






Some recent commodity prices:


    

  • 

    Gold (lot of 100 troy ounces): 4500 dollars per troy ounce
    

    • 

  • 

    Platinum (lot of 50 troy ounces): 2300 dollars per troy ounce
    

    • 

  • 

    Silver (lot of 5000 troy ounces): 78 dollars per troy ounce
    

    • 

  • 

    Copper (lot of 25,000 kilograms): 5.9 dollars per pound (0.40 dollar per troy ounce)
    

    • 

  • 

    Aluminum (lot of 12.5 tons): 3100 dollars per ton (0.11 dollar per troy ounce)
    

    • 



Notes:


    

  • 

    These prices are based on large lots. Individual copper coins (called "rounds", since they aren't minted by a government as currency) actually cost around 3 dollars per troy ounce (when they're in stock, which they are not at the time of writing—but they were a week ago).
    

    • 

  • 

    Iron is traded as raw ore (100 megagrams at 62-percent purity), and steel is traded as finished product (20 tons of hot-rolled coil), so those metals cannot be properly compared with the metals listed above. (If you insist on doing it anyway, 62 percent pure iron ore is 110 dollars per ton or 0.0037 dollar per troy ounce, and hot-rolled steel is 970 dollars per ton or 0.033 dollar per troy ounce.)
    

    • 



				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 5, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


I don't know the law, but there must be some limits on what the police can do to put themselves into dangerous situations.




This hasn't yet gotten a definitive answer from the courts.




We do not address here the different question [officer, defendant, appellee] Felix raises about use-of-force cases: whether or how an officer’s own “creation of a dangerous situation” factors into the reasonableness analysis. As in another of our recent Fourth Amendment cases, that issue is not properly before us. The courts below never confronted the issue, precisely because their inquiry was so time-bound. In looking at only the two seconds before the shot, they excluded from view any actions of the officer that allegedly created the danger necessitating deadly force. So, to use the obvious example, the courts below did not address the relevance, if any, of Felix stepping onto the doorsill of [suspect, plaintiff, appellant] Barnes’s car. And because they never considered that issue, it was not the basis of the petition for certiorari. The question presented to us was one of timing alone: whether to look only at the encounter’s final two seconds, or also to consider earlier events serving to put those seconds in context.




				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 5, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
This, but unironically.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 5, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Of course, naturally a softening euphemism emerged: "consensual aggression".




See also CNC (consensual nonconsent).


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 5, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


buried in a gigantic cluster of a thread




Protip: The best way to browse this website is through the "firehose" all-comments page.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 5, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					




Hamtrack style takeover




what is this referencing?




Hamtramck, Michigan, has been in the news a lot for having been taken over by Muslims. One article of many:




A Detroit-area community has banned LGBTQ+ flags from publicly owned flagpoles after a tense hourslong meeting that raised questions about discrimination, religion and the city’s reputation for welcoming newcomers.






Some members of the all-Muslim council said the pride flag clashes with the beliefs of some members of their faith. Businesses and residents aren’t prohibited from displaying a pride flag on their own property.






Hamtramck, population 27,000, is an enclave surrounded by Detroit. More than 40% of residents were born in other countries [and 70 percent speak a language other than English at home], according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and a significant share are of Yemeni or Bangladeshi descent.


The council voted unanimously to display only five flags, including the American flag, the Michigan flag and one that represents the native countries of immigrant residents.




				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 5, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Refreshing the new-comment feed is a perfectly normal way to browse this forum.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 5, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I wasn't really thinking too deeply when I originally came up with the username fifteen years ago, but I guess it would be reasonable to imagine that "Toa Kraka" is a male Krahka (not affiliated with an element) who has sufficient mental discipline to wear Kanohi and therefore is considered an honorary member of his local Toa team (perhaps wearing a Great Mask of Fire, which is confirmed to be possible but was never actually shown in canon).


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 5, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Example legal wording from a cursory search:




The relevant provision of the sentencing guidelines provides:




(1) An offender has possessed a deadly weapon if any of the following were on the offender’s person or within his immediate physical control:


(i) Any firearm, whether loaded or unloaded, or


(ii) Any dangerous weapon [including a knife], or


(iii) Any device, implement, or instrumentality designed as a weapon or capable of producing death or serious bodily injury where the court determines that the defendant intended to use the weapon to threaten or injure another individual.






				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 5, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Krakoa




I'm a Bionicle or a volcano, not a living island. >:-(


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 5, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Relevant Supreme Court decisions:


1




This case requires us to determine the constitutionality of the use of deadly force to prevent the escape of an apparently unarmed suspected felon. We conclude that such force may not be used unless it is necessary to prevent the escape and the officer has probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or others.




2




The "reasonableness" of a particular use of force must be judged from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene, rather than with the 20/20 vision of hindsight. The Fourth Amendment is not violated by an arrest based on probable cause, even though the wrong person is arrested, nor by the mistaken execution of a valid search warrant on the wrong premises. With respect to a claim of excessive force, the same standard of reasonableness at the moment applies: "Not every push or shove, even if it may later seem unnecessary in the peace of a judge's chambers", violates the Fourth Amendment. The calculus of reasonableness must embody allowance for the fact that police officers are often forced to make split-second judgments—in circumstances that are tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving—about the amount of force that is necessary in a particular situation.




				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for January 4, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Deutsche Welle:




Left-wing extremists from the Vulkangruppe (Volcano Group) had claimed responsibility for the power outage, claiming in a statement on Sunday that it had "successfully sabotaged" a power station.


In the statement, the group said its main target was the fossil fuel industry, pointing out that the action "resulted in power outages in the more affluent districts of Wannsee, Zehlendorf and Nikolassee."


"We apologize to the less affluent residents of southwest Berlin," the group added.




Reuters:




In a letter posted on website kontrapolis.info, [Vulkangruppe Tesla Abschalten] said destroying Tesla was "a step on the path to liberation from patriarchy".




So I don't think so.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for January 4, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Technically, yes. But as a shell of its former self, with its former admin having committed suicide.