site banner
PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   3059 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for June 12, 2026

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

2
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Found an enticing Yemeni restaurant in Oslo, but then I checked their Yelp page and saw a massive Palestinian flag hanging on the wall, and they're selling some crappy coke knockoff that raises funds for charity in Gaza. What's the sentiment here? Do I look elsewhere, or do I separate the art from the artist? Whenever I'm in the mood for Somali or Pakistani food, I manage to find places that don't put up any pro-Palestinian virtue signaling. I'm sure their proprietors still harbor some problematic views, but if it's not pervasively advertised, I can at least grant them some plausible deniability. It just doesn't sit right with me to eat from an establishment that could very well chase a Jewish individual out of it.

I think you might be confusing Yemen Zaad with GazaKjøkken (Gaza Kitchen), just looking at Oslo Middle Eastern restaurants.

Haha no, the former hung a Palestinian flag inside their establishment and is selling "Palestine Cola" in lieu of Coke, as do many Muslim-owned non-Palestinian businesses in the city.

All I can say is that GazaKjøkken is the only visible Palestinian flag I saw on Yelp's Middle Eastern restaurants in Oslo (initially a cursory review, but I've now looked at all pictures)... Is Yemen Zaad the restaurant you're referencing in the first post (can't find on yelp for whatever reason, but no Palestinian flag on tripadvisor etc), or is there some restaurant I'm missing?

Mea culpa, my memory served me wrong, Google Maps was the app.

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