Contact Us
Sign In
Sign Up
Rules Admins Moderation Log Random Post Random User
What is this place?

This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.

The weekly Culture War threads host the most controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy; if in doubt, post!

Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts. You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.

Why are you called The Motte?

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."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.

New post guidelines

If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it. A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).

Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.

If in doubt, please post it!

Rules
Recommended Posts And Communities
Recommended Realtime Chats
- Astral Codex Ten Discord
- Quokka's Den Telegram

PaperclipPerfector 1mo ago (text post) 714 thread views

Transnational Thursday for August 7, 2025

Transnational Thursday is a thread for people to discuss international news, foreign policy or international relations history. Feel free as well to drop in with coverage of countries you’re interested in, talk about ongoing dynamics like the wars in Israel or Ukraine, or even just whatever you’re reading.

Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

NunoSempere 1mo ago

Some items I'm looking at this week:

Geopolitics

Americas

Trump and Putin to meet in coming days, Kremlin says

Haiti Armed Violence Kills Over 3,100 in 6 Months in 2025

National Weather Service to rehire after deep DOGE cuts – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

Some items from the Trump administration:

Excluding illegal immigrants from census?
Semiconductor tariffs announced, but extent unclear
25% tariff on India over Russian oil imports

Europe

300 sick children from Gaza to be evacuated to the UK

Trump's Deadline For The Kremlin Looms But Putin Shows No Sign Of Making Concessions

Middle East

Hezbollah to treat Lebanon's disarmament decision 'as if it does not exist'

Hezbollah warns it will resume firing missiles at Israel if it ramps up operations in Lebanon

Iran

Iran sets up new defence council in wake of war with Israel

This is what Khameini losing power might look like?

Gaza

Jordan, Egypt, UAE deliver more humanitarian supplies to Gaza

Netanyahu says Israel intends to take control of all of Gaza (1:10), in order to, he says, liberate the people of Gaza from Hamas, and pass control over to a civilian government that is not calling for the destruction of Israel.

Israeli military chief opposes Gaza war expansion

Israel Security Cabinet Clears Netanyahu's Plan to Occupy Gaza City

'Occupy entire Gaza or resign': Netanyahu tells IDF chief, reports Israeli media as talks with Hamas stall

Over 1,000 packages airdropped over Gaza in 2 weeks-Xinhua

Indonesia to treat 2,000 injured Gazans on Galang island

China opposes Israel's 'dangerous' plan to occupy Gaza

How much aid has entered Gaza?

It doesn't actually do the math,

Higher end: 84 trucks per day * 90 m^3 per standard truck * 1000 liters per m^3 * 8000 kcal per liter (caloric density of oil) / 2.1M Gazans = 28,000 kcal per person per day
Lower end: 84 trucks per day * 18 m^3 per van * 75% full (?) * 1000 liters per m^3 * 700 kcal per liter (caloric density of grain) / 2.1M Gazans = 405 kcal per person per day

Can we get better bounds?

Yemen

Asia

Microsoft Used China-Based Engineers to Support Product Recently Hacked by China

Severe outbreak of mosquito-borne chikungunya virus infects 8,000 in China

Bird flu confirmed in six-year-old Cambodian girl

A series of reports witnessing the practice of the "steel arteries" serving the strengthening and prospering of the military in the new era. China integrates its railway system more with military logistics.

China looking into ways to disable the Starlink constellation

Chinese and Russian naval fleets complete maritime exercises, transition to joint sea patrol on August 6

Indonesia's Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki erupts again, spewing giant ash plumes miles away

China (potentially) Faces EU Sanctions over Secret Drone Shipments to Russia's Military

Bangladesh teeters between hope and deadlock a year after Hasina's fall

Mobile Internet blackout across Balochistan amid rising security threats

India/Pakistan

Bangladesh: 121 Killed, Over 5,000 Injured in 471 Political Violence Incidents Since Yunus Took Office

Africa

Sudan: El-Fasher faces famine as supplies cut off, UN says

Sudan accuses UAE of bringing in Colombian mercenaries to support RSF

Sudan military destroyed UAE plane carrying Colombian mercenaries

South-East Nigeria rocked by insecurity, healthcare crisis

Study finds militant Islamists have killed 22,307 in Africa over the last one year, gained significant territory

Islamists have killed over 22,300 in Africa this last year

Pentagon: U.S. Counterterrorism Efforts Have Failed Africans

African armies turn to drones with devastating civilian impact

Rwanda: Ceasefire in Doubt As Rwanda-Backed Rebels Kill Hundreds in Eastern DR Congo

Bio

Antibodies for Strep A

Ghana approves breakthrough malaria drug for babies — but research is 'on ice' amid US funding cuts

How mRNA Vaccine Cuts and Egg Dependency Leave the U.S. Exposed to a Bird Flu Pandemic

Tech and AI

Open Source release of gpt

Trying to steal TSMC trade secrets

Users who bonded with GPT-4o complaining it's going away

Global Economy

Trump tariffs on semiconductors

Misc

Associated Press Runs Sympathetic Story Checking On Hezbollah Terrorists Injured In 'Grim Beeper' Operation

Context

What is this place?

This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.

The weekly Culture War threads host the most controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy; if in doubt, post!

Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts. You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.

Why are you called The Motte?

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."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.

New post guidelines

If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it. A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).

Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.

If in doubt, please post it!

Rules

Recommended Realtime Chats

Link copied to clipboard

Action successful!

Error, please try again later.