Sparkalonius
@onapier.bsky.social
maps / MENA / upzoning / bikes / mountains / sichuan peppercorns
Reposted by Sparkalonius
Here's a clip from the movie Police State by Dinesh D'Souza featuring Kash Patel and Rand Paul. They create a scene where the federal government raids a church. Anyway the report is that Trump wants to let ICE raid churches.
December 12, 2024 at 9:49 PM
Here's a clip from the movie Police State by Dinesh D'Souza featuring Kash Patel and Rand Paul. They create a scene where the federal government raids a church. Anyway the report is that Trump wants to let ICE raid churches.
Reposted by Sparkalonius
Why did Assad's army collapse so quickly in the face of the rebels' advance?
Many plausible hypotheses, but mostly:
1) despair after losing the support of Russia, Iran, + Hezbollah
2) the rebels' promises of amnesty + autonomy
www.brookings.edu/articles/the...
#polisky #menasky #civmilsky
Many plausible hypotheses, but mostly:
1) despair after losing the support of Russia, Iran, + Hezbollah
2) the rebels' promises of amnesty + autonomy
www.brookings.edu/articles/the...
#polisky #menasky #civmilsky
December 10, 2024 at 2:24 PM
Why did Assad's army collapse so quickly in the face of the rebels' advance?
Many plausible hypotheses, but mostly:
1) despair after losing the support of Russia, Iran, + Hezbollah
2) the rebels' promises of amnesty + autonomy
www.brookings.edu/articles/the...
#polisky #menasky #civmilsky
Many plausible hypotheses, but mostly:
1) despair after losing the support of Russia, Iran, + Hezbollah
2) the rebels' promises of amnesty + autonomy
www.brookings.edu/articles/the...
#polisky #menasky #civmilsky
Reposted by Sparkalonius
AJR theory is: bad institutions are kept because benefits of good institutions are spread widely whereas elites monopolise the benefits of bad institutions.
Historically more accurate: bad institutions are kept because development disrupts the lives of peasants & artisans & elites fear this
Historically more accurate: bad institutions are kept because development disrupts the lives of peasants & artisans & elites fear this
A&R's Utility-Technology Frontier Possibilities (from Nobel lecture).
Their view in a nutshell: elites don't want to move to better institutions (outward shift of curve) because typically you can only go from C to B (balance of power shifts away from elites).
But imo the typical option is D to A
Their view in a nutshell: elites don't want to move to better institutions (outward shift of curve) because typically you can only go from C to B (balance of power shifts away from elites).
But imo the typical option is D to A
December 10, 2024 at 9:41 PM
AJR theory is: bad institutions are kept because benefits of good institutions are spread widely whereas elites monopolise the benefits of bad institutions.
Historically more accurate: bad institutions are kept because development disrupts the lives of peasants & artisans & elites fear this
Historically more accurate: bad institutions are kept because development disrupts the lives of peasants & artisans & elites fear this
Reposted by Sparkalonius
Reposted by Sparkalonius
I don't think it is possible to construct a limiting principle around "people who do great harm should be assassinated" and it's definitely impossible to build a consensus around one -- opens the door to killing politicians, journalists, doctors providing abortions or trans health care, etc.
December 9, 2024 at 2:15 PM
I don't think it is possible to construct a limiting principle around "people who do great harm should be assassinated" and it's definitely impossible to build a consensus around one -- opens the door to killing politicians, journalists, doctors providing abortions or trans health care, etc.
Reposted by Sparkalonius
the basic issue is that everyone who is against "housing speculation" is actually for housing speculation, as long as those speculative returns go to the "right people"--namely, incumbent single family homeowners
The source should be better here but the underlying conclusion is correct. You can't regulate housing speculation and expect that to fix the fundamental reality that housing demand grows constantly with growing population, and supply is not increasing.
news.airbnb.com/nyc-rules-hi...
news.airbnb.com/nyc-rules-hi...
NYC’s rules one year later: Higher prices for travelers, no housing impact
New insights underscores the consequences of NYC’s stringent law, a global outlier when it comes to short-term rental regulations.
news.airbnb.com
December 9, 2024 at 1:53 PM
the basic issue is that everyone who is against "housing speculation" is actually for housing speculation, as long as those speculative returns go to the "right people"--namely, incumbent single family homeowners
Reposted by Sparkalonius
I think it is pretty important for folks to absorb the difference between "we might not be able to stop him from doing this" and "we can't do anything."
You can slow it down, fight it in the courts, shape public opinion and draw attention to raise the political cost and so on.
You can slow it down, fight it in the courts, shape public opinion and draw attention to raise the political cost and so on.
i have plenty of thoughts on why it matters that this is an illegal order but here i’ll just comment that i think liberals who throw their hands up and say “it doesn’t matter” have self lobotomized themselves into thinking that trump is god king of america
Trump confirms that he plans to deport US citizens who have undocumented parents
December 8, 2024 at 4:31 PM
I think it is pretty important for folks to absorb the difference between "we might not be able to stop him from doing this" and "we can't do anything."
You can slow it down, fight it in the courts, shape public opinion and draw attention to raise the political cost and so on.
You can slow it down, fight it in the courts, shape public opinion and draw attention to raise the political cost and so on.
Reposted by Sparkalonius
There’s no way for a liberal party to exploit this. The moment you reduce your remedy from “killing and hurting the bad people” to something a lawmaker can actually do, the bloodthirsty mob will stop paying attention. Because it doesn’t want reform or policy change, it wants to kill and hurt people
December 8, 2024 at 3:12 PM
There’s no way for a liberal party to exploit this. The moment you reduce your remedy from “killing and hurting the bad people” to something a lawmaker can actually do, the bloodthirsty mob will stop paying attention. Because it doesn’t want reform or policy change, it wants to kill and hurt people
Reposted by Sparkalonius
There's something deeply ironic about how the Westerners who espouse slogans like "power to the people" are the most likely to believe that the only agency that exists outside of the United States of America is the Central Intelligence Agency
or, a serious analysis based on who took power, and how US/Israeli takeovers tend to go...
December 8, 2024 at 4:42 AM
There's something deeply ironic about how the Westerners who espouse slogans like "power to the people" are the most likely to believe that the only agency that exists outside of the United States of America is the Central Intelligence Agency
Reposted by Sparkalonius
oh my fuckin god. This is art.
December 6, 2024 at 7:23 PM
oh my fuckin god. This is art.
Reposted by Sparkalonius
You cannot actually build a social democratic state on a foundation of low-trust anti-establishmentism, because you are going to need to build complex institutions that will require trade-offs and compromises and buy-in from diverse stakeholders from across society.
one of Bernie's greatest strengths and greatest weaknesses was his ability to attract low trust anti-system dipshits. strength because there are A LOT of those people, weakness because a lot of them ended up in his campaign
On this note if one of the most prominent backers of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign ended up as a slavishly loyal member of Trump’s cabinet 8 years on we would correctly consider that to be a reflection on Hillary and her wing of the party
December 7, 2024 at 4:09 AM
You cannot actually build a social democratic state on a foundation of low-trust anti-establishmentism, because you are going to need to build complex institutions that will require trade-offs and compromises and buy-in from diverse stakeholders from across society.
Reposted by Sparkalonius
one of Bernie's greatest strengths and greatest weaknesses was his ability to attract low trust anti-system dipshits. strength because there are A LOT of those people, weakness because a lot of them ended up in his campaign
On this note if one of the most prominent backers of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign ended up as a slavishly loyal member of Trump’s cabinet 8 years on we would correctly consider that to be a reflection on Hillary and her wing of the party
December 6, 2024 at 7:32 PM
one of Bernie's greatest strengths and greatest weaknesses was his ability to attract low trust anti-system dipshits. strength because there are A LOT of those people, weakness because a lot of them ended up in his campaign
Reposted by Sparkalonius
He ripped up the first picture of Bashar and discovered another picture of him underneath. Then he ripped that one as well, only to find yet another picture of Bashar beneath it.
December 5, 2024 at 7:47 AM
He ripped up the first picture of Bashar and discovered another picture of him underneath. Then he ripped that one as well, only to find yet another picture of Bashar beneath it.
Reposted by Sparkalonius
yeah the "it is the hollow failures of neoliberalism that have lead to distrust in institutions!" thesis is just total cope because the largest predictor of distrust in institutions is not "how has this institution performed" but "has it been propagandized against by bad actors"
US institutions produced a near miraculous Covid vax in like a fifth of the previous record time, and the result was a large increase in antivax sentiment
December 5, 2024 at 3:47 PM
yeah the "it is the hollow failures of neoliberalism that have lead to distrust in institutions!" thesis is just total cope because the largest predictor of distrust in institutions is not "how has this institution performed" but "has it been propagandized against by bad actors"
Reposted by Sparkalonius
A lot of people on this website seem to think that housing regulation is just a dial you turn up or down, and anything that turns down the regulation dial is inherently conservative and therefore bad.
December 5, 2024 at 12:58 AM
A lot of people on this website seem to think that housing regulation is just a dial you turn up or down, and anything that turns down the regulation dial is inherently conservative and therefore bad.