Basil Marte
@basilmarte.bsky.social
Komm, süßer Transit Oriented Development
The European "monarchies" (including the British) are national mascots, or if you insist on a more dignified term, high priest of the corresponding civic religion.
January 7, 2026 at 2:14 AM
The European "monarchies" (including the British) are national mascots, or if you insist on a more dignified term, high priest of the corresponding civic religion.
Reposted by Basil Marte
4/So what is going on? @segoddard.bsky.social and I argue the confusion is people using old models of global politics. This is not balancing or spheres of influence. It is international politics based on elite cliques rather than national interest i.e. neo-royalism.
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Further Back to the Future: Neo-Royalism, the Trump Administration, and the Emerging International System | International Organization | Cambridge Core
Further Back to the Future: Neo-Royalism, the Trump Administration, and the Emerging International System - Volume 79 Issue S1
www.cambridge.org
January 5, 2026 at 1:30 PM
4/So what is going on? @segoddard.bsky.social and I argue the confusion is people using old models of global politics. This is not balancing or spheres of influence. It is international politics based on elite cliques rather than national interest i.e. neo-royalism.
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Thucydides Gambit, since this is present in the argument of the Athenian envoy.
acoup.blog/2019/12/05/c...
"it is allowed by the rules of physics for me to draw cards from my shirtsleeve"
acoup.blog/2019/12/05/c...
"it is allowed by the rules of physics for me to draw cards from my shirtsleeve"
January 7, 2026 at 1:40 AM
Thucydides Gambit, since this is present in the argument of the Athenian envoy.
acoup.blog/2019/12/05/c...
"it is allowed by the rules of physics for me to draw cards from my shirtsleeve"
acoup.blog/2019/12/05/c...
"it is allowed by the rules of physics for me to draw cards from my shirtsleeve"
What aspects are missing/insufficient for that?
January 7, 2026 at 1:00 AM
What aspects are missing/insufficient for that?
One (dunno about the "popular" part) who did:
www.construction-physics.com/p/how-china-...
www.construction-physics.com/p/how-china-...
How China Is Like the 19th Century U.S.
I spend a lot of time reading about manufacturing and its evolution, which means I end up repeatedly reading about the times and places where radical changes in manufacturing were taking place: Britai...
www.construction-physics.com
January 7, 2026 at 12:54 AM
One (dunno about the "popular" part) who did:
www.construction-physics.com/p/how-china-...
www.construction-physics.com/p/how-china-...
On the hypothetical bright side, if the timeline on increasing Venezuelan oil production were short (it isn't), it would make sense to step up the sanction on Russian oil from "price cap" to "no".
January 7, 2026 at 12:50 AM
On the hypothetical bright side, if the timeline on increasing Venezuelan oil production were short (it isn't), it would make sense to step up the sanction on Russian oil from "price cap" to "no".
Regarding movies: cost growth!
-> General risk aversion (and higher-managerial meddling) due to increased financial stake.
-> Increased managerial meddling just because there are fewer projects running.
-> Must target a composite audience to pencil out.
-> General risk aversion (and higher-managerial meddling) due to increased financial stake.
-> Increased managerial meddling just because there are fewer projects running.
-> Must target a composite audience to pencil out.
January 7, 2026 at 12:12 AM
Regarding movies: cost growth!
-> General risk aversion (and higher-managerial meddling) due to increased financial stake.
-> Increased managerial meddling just because there are fewer projects running.
-> Must target a composite audience to pencil out.
-> General risk aversion (and higher-managerial meddling) due to increased financial stake.
-> Increased managerial meddling just because there are fewer projects running.
-> Must target a composite audience to pencil out.
Agree 2).
Agree unparenthesized 1).
However, while an absence of copyright may be laissez-faire, it doesn't play well with high-budget works. You want *something*. Preferably something that follows settings/characters/etc. across multi-book worlds better than current copyright.
Agree unparenthesized 1).
However, while an absence of copyright may be laissez-faire, it doesn't play well with high-budget works. You want *something*. Preferably something that follows settings/characters/etc. across multi-book worlds better than current copyright.
January 7, 2026 at 12:00 AM
Agree 2).
Agree unparenthesized 1).
However, while an absence of copyright may be laissez-faire, it doesn't play well with high-budget works. You want *something*. Preferably something that follows settings/characters/etc. across multi-book worlds better than current copyright.
Agree unparenthesized 1).
However, while an absence of copyright may be laissez-faire, it doesn't play well with high-budget works. You want *something*. Preferably something that follows settings/characters/etc. across multi-book worlds better than current copyright.
That's only a part of it. Another part of it is that the Eastern Bloc *made an effort* to forbid Western cultural works. By reactance, the "the mainstream is uncool" crowd increased their demand for Western works.
Cultural works also got a lift from Western physical consumer goods being better.
Cultural works also got a lift from Western physical consumer goods being better.
January 6, 2026 at 11:51 PM
That's only a part of it. Another part of it is that the Eastern Bloc *made an effort* to forbid Western cultural works. By reactance, the "the mainstream is uncool" crowd increased their demand for Western works.
Cultural works also got a lift from Western physical consumer goods being better.
Cultural works also got a lift from Western physical consumer goods being better.
Not unlikely answer:
"Oh I do *love* my neighbor. I care very much that their immortal soul not be consigned to Hell. That's why I try to ensure they won't commit a mortal sin such as abortion. But given how hard they try to oppose that, you'll forgive me for not *trusting* them!"
"Oh I do *love* my neighbor. I care very much that their immortal soul not be consigned to Hell. That's why I try to ensure they won't commit a mortal sin such as abortion. But given how hard they try to oppose that, you'll forgive me for not *trusting* them!"
January 6, 2026 at 11:18 PM
Not unlikely answer:
"Oh I do *love* my neighbor. I care very much that their immortal soul not be consigned to Hell. That's why I try to ensure they won't commit a mortal sin such as abortion. But given how hard they try to oppose that, you'll forgive me for not *trusting* them!"
"Oh I do *love* my neighbor. I care very much that their immortal soul not be consigned to Hell. That's why I try to ensure they won't commit a mortal sin such as abortion. But given how hard they try to oppose that, you'll forgive me for not *trusting* them!"
What are the types of cancer that receive the most donations by a pretty wide margin? AFAIK prostate, breast, and cervical cancers (in some order). These are neither the most common nor the most deadly types, even if only looking at the respective halves of the population they affect.
January 6, 2026 at 11:01 PM
What are the types of cancer that receive the most donations by a pretty wide margin? AFAIK prostate, breast, and cervical cancers (in some order). These are neither the most common nor the most deadly types, even if only looking at the respective halves of the population they affect.
Why on Earth would they have so much idle metal equipment when only 10-25% was called up at any one time? It must have been very tempting to go "lean", and accept that the surge deployment in a crisis would be medium infantry.
January 6, 2026 at 10:51 PM
Why on Earth would they have so much idle metal equipment when only 10-25% was called up at any one time? It must have been very tempting to go "lean", and accept that the surge deployment in a crisis would be medium infantry.
Pliny said "latifundia perdidere italiam". I guess early modern historians (including contemporary pop history) suffered an illusory-concordance-cascade?
January 6, 2026 at 10:35 PM
Pliny said "latifundia perdidere italiam". I guess early modern historians (including contemporary pop history) suffered an illusory-concordance-cascade?
"Was looking for a good touchstone for how unthinkable the collapse of the USSR was before it happened.
Decided on a s1 TNG episode aired in 1987 featuring a federation starship proudly telling the view it was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, USSR in 2363."
Decided on a s1 TNG episode aired in 1987 featuring a federation starship proudly telling the view it was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, USSR in 2363."
January 6, 2026 at 9:10 PM
"Was looking for a good touchstone for how unthinkable the collapse of the USSR was before it happened.
Decided on a s1 TNG episode aired in 1987 featuring a federation starship proudly telling the view it was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, USSR in 2363."
Decided on a s1 TNG episode aired in 1987 featuring a federation starship proudly telling the view it was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, USSR in 2363."
Almost certainly they mean "the latest time we will accept your load (and still put it on this train)" and "the earliest time for which we are willing to make a promise that your load will be ready for pickup; it might not be, but that counts as us being delayed, rather than as you being too early".
January 6, 2026 at 7:48 PM
Almost certainly they mean "the latest time we will accept your load (and still put it on this train)" and "the earliest time for which we are willing to make a promise that your load will be ready for pickup; it might not be, but that counts as us being delayed, rather than as you being too early".
There is also an interesting effect where if you have long had one, many people will continue to be opposed to building a "new [thing] in [country/state]" but will be fine with building a "new [thing] in [city where the existing one is]".
January 6, 2026 at 7:34 PM
There is also an interesting effect where if you have long had one, many people will continue to be opposed to building a "new [thing] in [country/state]" but will be fine with building a "new [thing] in [city where the existing one is]".
Wait, aren't election results better predicted by "my neighbors will vote" rather than by "I will vote"? For the latter, social desirability bias interferes.
January 6, 2026 at 6:08 PM
Wait, aren't election results better predicted by "my neighbors will vote" rather than by "I will vote"? For the latter, social desirability bias interferes.
Didn't that (indirectly) contribute to this debacle? These guys threw so much invective at "socialism" that in the US, the people who in the EU would be labeled as "socialdemocrat" pulled the blanket saying "liberalism" until it failed to cover some actual liberals, who were left as "neoliberal".
January 6, 2026 at 5:48 PM
Didn't that (indirectly) contribute to this debacle? These guys threw so much invective at "socialism" that in the US, the people who in the EU would be labeled as "socialdemocrat" pulled the blanket saying "liberalism" until it failed to cover some actual liberals, who were left as "neoliberal".
Political compass time!
- It's fake; rule of the strong!
- It's fake; a sham covering for Americapitalimperialist [breath] interests.
- It is a consensual fiction that has been agreed to in the aftermath of a bloodbath, because for all its flaws it is less bad than a bloodbath. Like 1648 -> relig.
- It's fake; rule of the strong!
- It's fake; a sham covering for Americapitalimperialist [breath] interests.
- It is a consensual fiction that has been agreed to in the aftermath of a bloodbath, because for all its flaws it is less bad than a bloodbath. Like 1648 -> relig.
January 6, 2026 at 5:40 PM
Political compass time!
- It's fake; rule of the strong!
- It's fake; a sham covering for Americapitalimperialist [breath] interests.
- It is a consensual fiction that has been agreed to in the aftermath of a bloodbath, because for all its flaws it is less bad than a bloodbath. Like 1648 -> relig.
- It's fake; rule of the strong!
- It's fake; a sham covering for Americapitalimperialist [breath] interests.
- It is a consensual fiction that has been agreed to in the aftermath of a bloodbath, because for all its flaws it is less bad than a bloodbath. Like 1648 -> relig.
In theory, this could be extended in a more political direction.
"Hey everyone, there's this cruft of regulations, each of little use and mostly kept to benefit some narrow interest, let's treat them *as a package* and replace the whole as such. On net, almost everyone will be better off."
"Hey everyone, there's this cruft of regulations, each of little use and mostly kept to benefit some narrow interest, let's treat them *as a package* and replace the whole as such. On net, almost everyone will be better off."
January 6, 2026 at 5:28 PM
In theory, this could be extended in a more political direction.
"Hey everyone, there's this cruft of regulations, each of little use and mostly kept to benefit some narrow interest, let's treat them *as a package* and replace the whole as such. On net, almost everyone will be better off."
"Hey everyone, there's this cruft of regulations, each of little use and mostly kept to benefit some narrow interest, let's treat them *as a package* and replace the whole as such. On net, almost everyone will be better off."
Or -- looking through a different lens -- natural disasters create *common knowledge* (technical term) which creates an overwhelming political majority on one side of the issue and makes it obvious to any still opposed that it's not worth fighting, thus the issue passes quickly, resistance or no.
January 6, 2026 at 5:22 PM
Or -- looking through a different lens -- natural disasters create *common knowledge* (technical term) which creates an overwhelming political majority on one side of the issue and makes it obvious to any still opposed that it's not worth fighting, thus the issue passes quickly, resistance or no.
Most people who say that have at best read the New Testament in a vacuum (more probably, remember a few parts that had been lectured at them) and completely lack background knowledge to tie almost anything to. As in, they can find the Levant and Egypt on a map, but that's about it.
January 6, 2026 at 4:53 PM
Most people who say that have at best read the New Testament in a vacuum (more probably, remember a few parts that had been lectured at them) and completely lack background knowledge to tie almost anything to. As in, they can find the Levant and Egypt on a map, but that's about it.
Someone had written an entertaining reaction to this kind of story (or in their case, the cover image): angrystaffofficer.com/2018/12/23/a...
A Letter Home from the Civil War on Christmas
December 24, 1863 Somewhere south of the North Pole My Dearest Hannah, This latest march has been our longest yet. We left northern Virginia in September, marches of 20 or 30 miles, worse than Gett…
angrystaffofficer.com
January 6, 2026 at 12:59 AM
Someone had written an entertaining reaction to this kind of story (or in their case, the cover image): angrystaffofficer.com/2018/12/23/a...
Mathematical discussion:
bsky.app/profile/quan...
bsky.app/profile/quan...
The eigenslur is indeed real, tho the correlation could be higher
January 5, 2026 at 11:57 PM
Mathematical discussion:
bsky.app/profile/quan...
bsky.app/profile/quan...