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Texas is freedom land

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joined 2022 September 05 17:27:40 UTC 

				
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Texas is freedom land

				
				
				

				

					9 followers  

					follows 3 users  

					joined 2022 September 05 17:27:40 UTC
				


				
					

					
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	 Hot Bump Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
	



		

	






	

		
		

		
		
	

	

  







		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for January 18, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
So I read Blade Itself and the follow up, but not the third book. The only bit I remember as a huge red flag was unleashing hellfire, I think in the first. Okay, maybe that’s a giant First Law violation, but at the time I handwaved it as setting-typical edginess. What am I missing here?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 12, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
If the criterion is leaving a lasting historical impression, then I don’t think most early Americans qualify. If it’s merely contributing, just about everybody is going to clear the bar. Any intermediate threshold is going to filter out descendants faster than immigrants.


I’ll admit I’m thinking about my dad’s side of the family. Where does ~300 years of subsistence farming put us? Plenty of 1800s or 1900s immigrants have contributed more to American culture, not to mention the economy. The wealthiest American immigrated in 2002. Does he get precedence?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 19, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Your current best option is a pi-hole, which cuts off ads at the DNS level. It’s not something advertisers can easily distinguish from a genuine failed connection.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 19, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
The Democratic Party is setting up its own daytime TV arc. Oprah 2028!


In all seriousness, stuff like this is good evidence against larger-scale conspiracy theories. The establishment can’t even overcome this internal drama; it’s not going to do any better at playing kingmaker.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 19, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Okay, this is the second subthread today that makes me think about a certain scottpost.


Wanting to make history is not limited to narcissists. Every kid who thought about being an astronaut has been there. Trump just never had to give up the dream.


I don’t think this actually explains his attitude towards NATO, which is not a new obsession. He’s harped on it since the first term, but it’s always taken a backseat to domestic politics. So I guess I still prefer my model:


Trump makes brand decisions, not strategic ones.


That’s it. There’s no other criteria. Trump wants Greenland because superpowers do stuff like that. He dislikes NATO because he’s convinced it’s a bad deal.


He does not play the long game. He does not eat a loss. He does not implement a strategy. People come to him with proposals, and if they’re aligned with his brand, he gives them whatever they need. If not, he fires them. Trump I was ineffective because he didn’t have the roster depth needed to survive this style. After eight years of setting expectations, the current administration has much more momentum.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 19, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I’ve been thinking about regular credit scores a lot, recently. I am 100% willing to believe that lenders would love to expand it.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 19, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Who exactly do you have in mind?


Graft and identity-based handouts are still more likely, but that’s because they are definitionally cheaper than universal handouts.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 19, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Or the converse: AI gets just strong enough to keep the resulting bunch of purposeless, humiliated humans under control.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 19, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


use those as an excuse to harass others while feeling morally superior in doing so.




Humans spending surplus time and money on social games is not the spiciest of takes.




use [political causes] as an excuse




Claiming that any specific cause is somehow insincere…that’s harder to swallow, especially if you aren’t even guessing at numbers. The epistemics are terrible; it’s an excuse to write off anything.