I think you’re confusing it with some other magazine. The Atlantic is for neoliberal centrists. It’s modestly liberal in the way The New Yorker is, but it’s for old, wealthy New England investors.
One of the other devs asked about the description of the “Independent States of America” in the following passage. They asked if allowing for a southern succession was offensive or inappropriate. How does this read to others?...
I think that the complicated, messy aspects that you mention describe my general approach to this kind of writing, so I think it’s okay, then.
In my reading of it, it’s not in any way a justification for the original succession attempt. The intent was to describe how the US – the world’s premier empire and hegemon – transitioned into the status of a former world power (as every other world power eventually has), and this version of a breakup seemed believable. I think it works, but I’ll keep looking at comments and see if there are any suggestions for how it might be amended.
I generally agree. Is there anything in specific you might suggest that would improve the writing?
I’m not sure if it matters, but the events described above occur (in the game lore) around 50 years into our future, and 50 years before the time at which the game takes place. So by the 2120s, all of these territories have open borders. Their distinctions exist primarily in the form of cultural identities and the legislative structure that exists at the organizing level between province governments and planetary/interplanetary governance.
If that stills sounds like bullshit to you, you should know that your attitude is a mainstream political opinion within the game. But as it applies to the writing, let me know if there’s any specific change you think would improve the passage above.
Senator Tim Kaine, a former vice-presidential nominee and leading foreign policy voice in the Democratic party, has said Joe Biden now understands that Benjamin Netanyahu “played” him during the early months of the war in Gaza but “that ain’t going to happen any more”....
I am grateful that Kaine’s comments show a slow pivot taking place in Washington. But we should all be clear that Democrats in congress like Kaine are engaged in a PR exercise to cover the fact that all that has changed is their recognition that they aren’t going to be allowed to participate in genocide.
Really, Tim? We gave them all those bombs to convince them NOT to flatten Gaza?
To quote Principal Skinner: “I was only in there to get directions on how to get away from there!”
Biden wasn’t played, he was on board. And he still is. But at least Kaine is workshopping excuses for him to jump off the train he was helping drive.
Listen: I get it. But I’ve spent the last 6 months telling people that no matter how angry you get, saying this about Gaza is a call to genocide, and is an impulse we must all recognize and reject.
So I have to say it to you too. “Leveling the whole country” is always an endorsement to kill every child and otherwise powerless person in that country. Hell, two million Israelis – 20% of Israel’s population – are Palestinian.
If you’re mad about what Netanyahu and the Zionist movement are doing, call for JUSTICE, not retribution against the innocent.
I think it helps to remember that these decisions are often made by people who have very specific goals that aren’t aligned with the nation itself. Generals who want to get promoted to higher levels, government ministers looking to curry favor with their patrons.
You might be right, but they’re likely not trying to improve Iran’s standing. They’re looking to each improve their own. Also, most people in these positions, in my observation ARE very dumb.
Israel has been rocked by protests and strikes for the last year. Tens of thousands of Israelis are in the streets demanding an election. But lets set that aside for a second.
Try to explain your whole attitude to the TWO MILLION PALESTINIAN CITIZENS OF ISRAEL. I’m not talking about the people living under occupation. I’m talking about people with Israeli citizenship who are Palestinian. Do you want to guess how the police in Israel treat you if you’re an arab citizen and go to a protest? I’ll give you a hint: their head of police is Itmar Ben-Gvir. He was convicted of terrorism by his own country. His public position is that he would like to ethnically cleanse both Israel and the occupied territories. And he runs the national police.
Think about what you’re saying when you damn everyone in Israel because “it’s a democracy” when it’s an apartheid police state.
I’m just going to answer you and @JustZ 's comment above at the same time.
What’s the hell is your point?
Generally, when someone mentions something like the existence of some admirable quality in a country facing criticism or a terrible quality in a different country, it’s irrelevant to the point at hand. It’s either to derail a conversation or terminate it.
The conversation thread is about the fact that Israelis should not be held responsible carte blanche for atrocities committed by their government, because many lack political representation and face extremely oppressive prejudice from their government.
If you’re arguing that the presence of any Arabs within power at all disproves their overall repression, in this context you’re arguing against my point that they should NOT be held responsible for the crimes of their government. Is your point that Israel Palestinians are guilty of genocide in Gaza? Think about how inane that is.
And if you’re pointing out that regionally, Jews are an oppressed group… well then what? What does the fact that Qatar and UAE and Jordon are repressive mean in this context? It is wildly off-topic, and also utterly irrelevant that Israel’s neighbors suck too. You know what? I don’t think we should send weapons to Iran or Egypt or Saudi Arabia either. That’s not exactly a hot take.
I agree with you. I’d like more democracy is Israel.
I think that people ARE going to need to reimagine what Israel is, though. People – including folks like Einstein – have been saying since it’s founding that it is fundamentally incompatible to have a multi-ethnic democratic ethnostate. It’s internally contradictory. You have to lose one of those words.
Jewish nationalists would like to lose the multi-ethnic part. Religious extremists would like to drop the democratic part (and probably the multi-ethnic part too). I’d like to drop the ethnostate. I think Israel can be a democracy that welcomes Jews AND Palestinians. But to be frank, democracy and Zionism have been looking increasingly incompatible for a long time, and a lot of folks in the US need to start recognizing that.
It’s 12 minutes long, and in it Katie Halper points out that it’s been labeled an Apartheid state by Zionists and Afrikanners for decades. Israeli prime ministers and Nelson Mandela, academics, and human rights groups have been saying this for generations.
If you want to call it something else, feel free. But whatever you call it, it needs to end.
Also: they don’t “rough up” protesters. They disappear them. They throw them in prison and torture them. They take them away from their families indefinitely without charges or kill them for posts on social media. This is not minor ethnic repression. The head of police, as I mentioned, is a convicted terrorist.
I will acknowledge that when I describe the Israeli system as Apartheid, I’m using it in a colloquial sense, not a legal sense. Which I think is appropriate, because my purpose is to characterize the severity and urgency of the situation rather than prosecute the case in international court. But I can accept that it might fall short based on legal definitions (in part because Israel is familiar enough with international law that they usually take care in developing policy to try to avoid when possible making their violations easy to prosecute).
It’s a bit long, but the feature I think is useful is summed up here:
“If the Holocaust is the paradigmatic case for the crime of genocide and South Africa for that of apartheid, then the crime against the Palestinian people must be called the Nakba.”
The thesis, at least in my understanding, is that the situation is unique enough to fit poorly into the major categories we use for describing atrocities, and that it requires that we recognize it as the primary case for a novel form of ethnic oppression that incorporates elements of genocide and apartheid, but operates in a way that is ultimately unique to the specifics of this situation. I’m curious what you might think of that argument.
One of my goals for my postcard series is to show a rebuilding society that prioritizes reducing waste and externalities, and examining what weird technologies might appeal to them because of those goals/limitations. So I’ve been wanting to do a scene of a caustic soda locomotive ever since I first heard about them....
That’s good to know. Say that. Try saying, ‘This guy, _____, gives a great explanation of why ________.’
Without context, I have no ideas what I’m watching.
Look at foggy: now I know this beau guy is a popular commentator on military and foreign policy, but is controversial to some due to personal run ins with the law. That’s good context.
Rereading this gave me an idea: I think it would make sense to make the tonic quick to spoil at room temp. I think that since they’re free, requiring that it be kept frozen justifies why players can’t just carry a bunch with them wherever they go.
That also makes the putty more valuable, since it’s more portable. But unlike the tonic, it requires skill to use, so it makes healers valuable in a party. Since the tonic doesn’t require skill, I’d rather it not be so convenient that it makes Care & Medicine feel like useless skills.
I went to De Moines for work once, and to their credit: the place has charm. It’s got more going on than I expected.
Coming from the west coast, I’ll totally own up to my preconceptions, but a bunch of the businesses and signs made it clear that De Moines has a far more open-minded, fun-loving modern culture than I was expecting.
Still, I can’t say I’m surprised at this. Especially on Facebook. I don’t think the people who run the hip microbreweries and rad clothing stores I saw are commenting on Historical Society Facebook posts.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the law’s passing, saying that “Al Jazeera has harmed Israel’s security, actively participated in the October 7 massacre, and incited against IDF soldiers. It’s time to remove Hamas’ mouthpiece from our country.”...
The constitution is advice. It’s only as powerful as its interpretation and enforcement, and the Supreme Court has shown themselves wildly comfortable writing new flagrantly unconstitutional loopholes when it suits them.
Britain Is Leaving the U.S. Gender-Medicine Debate Behind (www.theatlantic.com)
Southern succession in Fully Automated: problematic?
One of the other devs asked about the description of the “Independent States of America” in the following passage. They asked if allowing for a southern succession was offensive or inappropriate. How does this read to others?...
Tim Kaine: Biden knows Netanyahu ‘played’ him in early months of Gaza war (www.theguardian.com)
Senator Tim Kaine, a former vice-presidential nominee and leading foreign policy voice in the Democratic party, has said Joe Biden now understands that Benjamin Netanyahu “played” him during the early months of the war in Gaza but “that ain’t going to happen any more”....
U.S. Intel Warns of Imminent Iranian Strike on Israel: Report (www.thedailybeast.com)
Caustic Soda Locomotive at a Drying Station (slrpnk.net)
One of my goals for my postcard series is to show a rebuilding society that prioritizes reducing waste and externalities, and examining what weird technologies might appeal to them because of those goals/limitations. So I’ve been wanting to do a scene of a caustic soda locomotive ever since I first heard about them....
It's a little silly to get excited over an e-bike review on an RPG community, but I love seeing how others are looking forward to the end of car culture (arstechnica.com)
cross-posted from: slrpnk.net/post/8382697...
Israel Opening Aid Routes to Gaza After Biden’s Threat to Netanyahu (www.thedailybeast.com)
Israeli Spy Chief Accidentally Blows Cover with Amazon Self-Publishing (newrepublic.com)
Healing in a solarpunk RPG
What does healing look like in a solarpunk game?...
Does anyone else remember when "they" broke up the anti-work movement on reddit by putting a mod on fox news then dividing the community by creating the work reform sub?
I some times think about it and how shitty people are
Iowans were fooled by a prank to make a busy area of Des Moines... walkable (ody.sh)
Israeli military investigating after Gaza officials say foreign aid workers killed in IDF strike (www.theguardian.com)
'Hamas mouthpiece': Netanyahu lauds new law allowing him to shut Al-Jazeera in Israel (www.haaretz.com)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the law’s passing, saying that “Al Jazeera has harmed Israel’s security, actively participated in the October 7 massacre, and incited against IDF soldiers. It’s time to remove Hamas’ mouthpiece from our country.”...