domain:betonit.substack.com
The_Nybbler
In the game of roller derby, women aren't just the opposing team; they're the ball.
4hr ago
The “mineral deal” is basically just a shuck that allows Trump to give Ukraine security guarantees in a way that he can plausibly sell to his own base.
Not to his own base. To Putin. The idea of the deal actually extends back to the late Biden administration.
BreakerofHorsesandMen
4hr ago
At least people are finally catching on to the ultimate “Always has been.”
When I am Weaker Than You, I ask You for Freedom because that is according to Your Principles; when I am Stronger than You, I take away Your Freedom because that is according to My Principles.
Lykurg
We're all living in Amerika
4hr ago
They can in fact fudge anything that isnt legal writ, and sometimes also not stuff youll notice within a week or so of buying it. Asking question can help when youre buying something like insurance, which was your example above, but for most stuff its "as seen".
Refusing to engage with salesmen opens one up to a different sort of self-scam
"The salesman himself is radioactive" seems like a different thing that youre tacking on there. But if youre selectively ignoring the supermajority of what they say, that is "cynical suspicion" by any reasonable use of the word.
The_Nybbler
In the game of roller derby, women aren't just the opposing team; they're the ball.
4hr ago
which is why the business declared bankruptcy multiple times during the largest multi-decade property boom in history
You know, there was an episode of the Apprentice where he explained exactly how this worked. The companies which held the real estate never declared bankruptcy.
The_Nybbler
In the game of roller derby, women aren't just the opposing team; they're the ball.
4hr ago
There's been a weird narrative push here lately to blame Christianity for the worst parts of leftism (see the similar "akshally Communism comes from Christianity" upthread).
I've been blowing that horn for years. Because it's true. Like leftism, Christianity lauds the wretched and denigrate the strong or wealthy. Like leftism, Christianity insists that good people take all the shit they are given without striking back (and in doing so thus empowers bad people!).
FiveHourMarathon
Wawa Nationalist
4hr ago
It's not going to show up right away and it's not going to show up for everyone. It's going to take time and it's going to be on the margins. White hatred isn't special, white adjacent contains everyone eventually.
But this same argument will be used against Alawites and Palestinians and Hutus.
We've seen the right use rhetorical judo anti semitism against the left. This will be next.
The_Nybbler
In the game of roller derby, women aren't just the opposing team; they're the ball.
4hr ago
This is so viscerally disgusting to me, it's almost amazing the way the Trump administration has managed to expose the hypocrisy at the heart of the refugee resettlement NGOs and cause them to undermine their entire raison d'etre
Except they didn't. People are already making excuses for them. The Afrikaners jumped the line so it would be immoral to help them. The Afrikaners aren't actually oppressed so it would be immoral to help them when so many actually oppressed are. The Afrikaners aren't actually the reason, it's the suspension of the refugee program. And so on. People don't update. The head of the program could probably state outright "We'd rather shut down than help these goddamn white devils" and the people who supported them would still support them. Sure, those of us who were already suspicious see this as a great reveal, but it doesn't make anyone change sides.
ArjinFerman
Tinfoil Gigachad
4hr ago
I'm not a bot (cry_emoji, cry_emoji)!
I posted it, but the mods need to manually approve it. I think you can get there with a direct link:
https://www.themotte.org/post/1916/tinker-tuesday-for-may-13-2025
Not gonna lie, a bot would make things a lot easier for me.
The_Nybbler
In the game of roller derby, women aren't just the opposing team; they're the ball.
4hr ago
Humans are quite comfortable with mass murder.
Depends on what side of the spear they're on.
desolation
You shall love your crooked neighbor, with your crooked heart
4hr ago
by doing the only thing that they can do to hurt this administration: talk about it
The Episcopal ministry is doing a really good of looking incredibly racist, which helps the administration.
CWS's response strikes the right balance of protesting while not sounding like caricatures of racist progressives.
is the Tinker Tuesday bot down? where's the May 13th thread? are these done by hand?! :screaming_face:
desolation
You shall love your crooked neighbor, with your crooked heart
4hr ago
This belief is a grave sin, and we refuse to be complicit in it.
Then why don't they say that? Instead, they say that in the interests of "racial justice," they refuse to help white Afrikaners. An old story about logs and cinders comes to mind.
The problem with steelmanning is that it so often involves replacing the real but stupid or evil with a fictional synthetic. Imagining a good argument for one's opponent is useful practice! Unfortunately, it does not mean that "the opponent" is actually the noble soul one imagines them to be.
aqouta
4hr ago
Or he could just walk next to the person in the basket for as long as needed.
Possible murderer was getting onto a boat.
Lykurg
We're all living in Amerika
4hr ago
I never feel like I learn something from your comments anymore. Its always just AI/China is the best, unbeatable, even better than you thought, and not even committing to anything concrete there. Like for example:
That the EU has sovereignty, that Canada has sovereignty, that… basically, that the US is not a big scary hegemonic superpower it imagines itself to be and sometimes laments the wages of being. It's just a very powerful country, with large but decidedly finite leverage, and that runs well short of getting everyone to play along with American King's unreasonable imagination.
In what sense wasnt this already demonstrated by Germany buying russian gas? That seems like a case where wed expect more US influence than any of this tariff debacle.
Jazzhands
5hr ago
There's been a weird narrative push here lately to blame Christianity for the worst parts of leftism (see the similar "akshally Communism comes from Christianity" upthread).
You know the expression "Fascism is always descending upon America, but landing in Europe"? Same deal here. SJWs and Communists have been consistently and outspokenly opposed to Christianity. When you see a Christian organization turning to such left-wing activism, you can usually safely bet they are also on the off-ramp from being Christian.
Atheism is a critical ingredient.
hooser
5hr ago
I do that too, but I am not on call. I imagine a DA has to be open to calls from unknown numbers, since those could be a police officer's personal phone.
hooser
5hr ago
I get about 10 spam calls a day. I am not on call, and I have set my phone to only ring for my known contacts. My friend deals with kids and parents, so she must answer numbers she doesn't recognize (what if it's the kid's grandma coming to pick him up?), and she gets a bout a dozen spam calls per day as well. But at least she puts the phone on silent for the night. I'd imagine that getting woken up by spam is much more inconvenient than taking two seconds to recognize a spam call and hand up during the day.
FiveHourMarathon
Wawa Nationalist
5hr ago
There's a reason I called it a fantasy.
OracleOutlook
Fiat justitia ruat caelum
5hr ago
Have you read The Sun Eater series?
MadMonzer
Temporarily embarrassed liberal elite
5hr ago
That said, the other regulatory standard that libertarians hate the most is KYC/AML, and those do seem to me like they fall squarely in the crosshairs of this EO. Those are the primary reason I'm tentatively excited/optimistic about this order.
The EO says that
Sec. 8. Effect on Immigration Enforcement and National Security Functions. Nothing in this order shall apply to the enforcement of the immigration laws or regulations promulgated to implement such laws, nor shall it apply to the enforcement of laws or regulations related to national security or defense.
If I were a bank regulator, I would assume absent explicit instructions to the contrary that the entire money laundering/terrorist financing apparatus (at a regulatory level there is no distinction between the two) is out of scope of the EO because related to national security. In any case, the EO doesn't really help as applied to money laundering regulations, because the authorising statute includes a catch-all section (31 USC 5322) making all willful violations of money laundering regulations criminal.
roystgnr
5hr ago
Annoying favor request: would you find the location (Book+Chapter number) of what you feel was the first really exciting rug-pull, add a random number of chapters between 0% and 20% of the count up to that point to avoid this being a total spoiler, and tell me?
I started reading A Practical Guide to Evil at one point a couple years ago, but didn't make it very far before getting a little bored of it and moving to something else. I'm no stranger to fiction that takes a little while (Mother of Learning) or a long while (Babylon 5) to introduce itself before it gets really good, but I feel like I need some place at which to say "either I like it by here, or it's just not my cup of tea".
ArjinFerman
Tinfoil Gigachad
5hr ago
DOGE would do this by having an AI parse the CFR, and it would work...
...about as well as Full Self Driving - good enough for you to put your guard down, and then drive you right into a truck it misidentified as a bridge.
It's a little strange, then, that in the 2000 years of Christianity we've had no shortage of executing and imprisoning criminals.
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