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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.

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PaperclipPerfector 2d ago (text post) 314 thread views

Transnational Thursday for October 30, 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 21hr ago

Some headlines I'm reading:

Geopolitics

United States

Trump tells Pentagon to resume testing US nuclear weapons | Reuters

Rest of the Americas

Largest ever police raid in Rio de Janeiro leaves at least 132 dead, public defender’s office says. Approximately 2,500 police officers participated in the operation.

At least 132 killed in Rio police raid, officials say

Europe

Russia has tested a new nuclear powered, nuclear-capable missile

Middle East

Israeli raid in Lebanon kills municipal worker

Israeli soldiers raid municipal building in southern Lebanon, kill employee | AP News

Iran

The People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran, a resistance group in Iran with good English publicity, organized protests, reports Iran News Update, as well as their twitter presence. Our sources from Iran tell us that [hopefully they'll get back to us by Monday]. Some background on the MEK.

Gaza

Deadliest day in Gaza since ceasefire as Israel launches wave of strikes, accusing Hamas of breaching truce | CNN

Israeli strikes in Gaza kill 104, health ministry says

Netanyahu Orders New Strikes on Gaza as U.S. Insists Ceasefire Still Holding

Israel kills more than 100 in strikes after soldier's death, says it still backs ceasefire.

Yemen

Asia

Thai, Cambodia leaders sign expanded ceasefire deal with Trump present.

Text transcript of the Ministry of Defense regular press conference, October 2025

Plenary session on national defense and military modernization as it decides on its 15th five-year plan

India/Pakistan

15% of deaths in Delhi in 2023 linked to air pollution

Africa

Over 1,850 Sudanese civilians killed in North Darfur this year, UN says, calls for El-Fasher siege to end

Macron’s great lakes peace push falters amid gunfire and skepticism over Goma airport plans | Africanews

French President Emmanuel Macron announced the reopening of Goma airport in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for humanitarian flights, and revealed a pledge for 1.5B EUR in international aid. M23 rebels, who control the area, called the plan "inopportune, disconnected from realities on the ground".

UN alarmed by ‘terrifying’ situation in Sudan’s El Fasher, calls for immediate ceasefire | UN News

RSF claims capture of El Fasher after fierce battles with Sudanese army

Key Sudan city falls to paramilitary group following 18-month siege

Satellite images reveal evidence of mass killings in Sudan's El Fasher

Reported massacre at hospital in Sudan’s El Fasher leaves 460 dead | UN News

RSF kills ‘at least 1,500 people’ in Sudan’s el-Fasher

At least 460 people killed in El Fasher's last functioning hospital in Sudan

Tanzania opposition says over 700 killed in vote protests

Biorisks

H9N2 Bird Flu Virus Could Pose Human Pandemic Risk, Experts Warn

New virus with potential to spark another pandemic discovered in bats in South America.

To combat the spread of H5N1, officials in the states of Saarland and Hamburg have enacted bans on free-range poultry farming

Germany culls over 400K poultry

Artificial Intelligence

More tech

Economy

Trump shaves China tariffs in deal with Xi on fentanyl, rare earths | Reuters

Trump-Xi 'amazing' summit brings tactical truce, not major reset | Reuters

Climate and Nature

Others

Chinese fentanyl trafficking operator arrested in Cuba

Context

RandomRanger Just build nuclear plants! NunoSempere 19hr ago

Thoughts on Venezuela? I hear the US is getting ready to do something beyond just blowing up some boats, though we may be waiting for the Gerald R Ford carrier group to arrive around November 12th-17th... it's literally 'another two weeks.'

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

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