site banner
PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   333 thread views

Transnational Thursday for March 19, 2026

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.

2
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

(Hopefully this post, containing only links concerning one current event, is according to The Rules(TM) )

Iranian ballistic missile fragment hitting the old city of Jerusalem, falling roughly 400 yards from the Western Wall and Al-Aqsa.

Not the first time it happened.

Oordinary oops? Final Iranian desperate move to incite Spirit of Jihad(TM)? Israeli false flag, in preparation to finally remove these obstreperous buildings to make space for Third Temple?

Reminder that really spicy times hadn't began yet.

Or, another possibility is when Al-Aqsa gets destroyed for real, nothing really happens. The Ummah, tired of lifetime of fruitless rage, just shrugs their collective shoulders. "We have enough mosques at home".

Mother of all anti-climatic endings ensues.

Just stay calm and keep monitoring the situation.

edit: links linked

Another news, another habbening, concerning this time both Eastern European and Middle Eastern situations.

A radical anti-Israeli group set fire to a drone manufacturing plant in Pardubice, Czechia.

Looks like continuation and escalation of previous actions, looks as Edinburgh January 2026 action except this time with more competency.

(competency as: use gasoline instead of spray paint and hammers, and do not wait to be arrested, GTFO to fight another day)

Group calling itself "The Earthquake Faction" was never heard about before, and the plant was manufacturing drones for Ukraine, not Israel.

It is rather clear what is going on - even FSB/GRU are learning, and instead of trying to derail European war effort with exploding dildos, found out how to redirect pro-Palestine useful idiots on more fruitful targets.

The perpetrators are very unlikely to be locals - in Czechia, as in whole post-Soviet Central/Eastern Europe, opinions on Middle Eastern situation range from "GO ISRAEL GO! SMASH BURN DESTROY!" to "Pox on the whole sand box". Sympathy for Palestine is extremely rare even among local woke folx, pro-Palestine protests are pathetic affairs with few dozens attending at best.

Situation still developing, keep monitoring.

edit: links links links

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