Dan דניאל 🌐

There is a strong argument to make that the IRGC colonized Lebanon. Iran, through the IRGC and Hezbollah, has exercised a form of indirect colonization over parts of Lebanon by subordinating Lebanese sovereignty to an external power’s military, ideological, and strategic priorities. It is not settler colonialism, but colonization does not always require annexation or mass settlement. it can also mean sustained outside domination through political and military control. Britannica defines imperialism as extending power not only by direct territorial acquisition but also by gaining political and economic control over other territories and peoples. I wonder why the left has been so silent about this?

@halaljew Yeah you'd get something we'd recognize as settler colonial (large numbers of favored Arabian tribes settling areas) but it was nowhere near as planned, and e.g. Lebanon was not really affected much by that, too densely populated already And lumping in Jordan is hilarious

This is an incredibly simplistic way to look at Arabization and the Arab conquests, which were closer to the conquests of classical empires than they were to modern colonialism. And Jordan? Arabs lived in Jordan during the time of Alexander! Petra was the capital of Roman Arabia!

When you say something like this, it shows me how much you believe in identity politics over actual ideas. I remember talking to a very politically active friend about the last Denver mayoral election when she was venting about a straight white male being one of the finalists in the runoff - Everyone in the race was a Democrat, but on a scale from left-of-center to socialist. Her complaint was that the people of color and LGBTQ candidates didn’t make the final. She told me that her preference was to have those groups represented. I said ideas should be the most important criteria, not identity and was quickly told that this was a “privileged view”. Comments like this are what made me leave the Dems. When the color of your skin or sexual preference matters more to your voters than the words coming out of your mouth, we’re all in trouble. Circling back, it’s not Walz’s identity that was the problem any more than it was Kamala’s identity that was her problem. In a time when ideas should matter, they focus more on identity. This is a major failing for the Democrats. The Republicans are a mess. Trump is a clown. He should have been so beatable. It really shows what an awful campaign they ran.

Walz had all the things that should have coded him as red America - a humble rural old white dude who loved football, guns and fishing, nice white family etc. But he was too positive and too liberal to truly appeal to them, even if he remained the most popular on the ballot

@JustLuai @Claire_V0ltaire Confused place as much as it’s a scary place. So odd that the leftists have thrown in with the Islamists.

Pride flags, Hezbollah flags, ISIS flags, Hamas flags. Britain is a scary place.

I was far too hard on this guy when he was playing. The Jesus stuff was always a bit much for me, but in hindsight, I’ll take that 1000x over faux virtue signaling. Tebow seems like a genuinely good human. Better than most.

@SikhFeminist While one can understand trying to put a conflict in personal terms so you can understand it and form a narrative, it’s dangerous to do so because this conflict and this race of people have a wholly different history than the one you are comparing it to.

I just want to reiterate again that there's more Sikhs in the world than Jews and we don't have our own country.

What on earth are you talking about? If the Islamists laid down their weapons today, there would be peace tomorrow. If Israel laid down its weapons today, there would be millions of dead Jews tomorrow. The Jews have no desire to “rid the Middle East of Arabs”. Where did you even get this? The only group looking to rid the Middle East of another group are Islamists.

@SikhFeminist @StanleyCohenLaw The whole purpose of Hitler was to rid Germany of those lacking blonde hair and blue eyes, I.e. white people. What is the difference from that and Jews wanting to rid the Middle East of Arabs?

@mehdirhasan Is there any credible intel that he’s functionally alive?

"There is no intel, certainly no credible intel, indicating [Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran's new supreme leader] is gay – the idea was fabricated and pushed behind the scenes in the past several weeks by a cohort of Trump advisers...and MAGAworld associates" zeteo.com/p/gay-ayatolla…

@RJSWtrilogyWhen @Econ_Marshall @Noahpinion Hardly. I have watched petty crime and public drug use make the city less than it was and I have watched conservatives overstate it and liberal downplay it.

@DanSimal @Econ_Marshall @Noahpinion But here you are, just giving in to a viewpoint you agree is at least somewhat overplayed

Incredible admission that the purpose of Yimbyism is to build housing for rich people.

@RJSWtrilogyWhen @Econ_Marshall @Noahpinion Oh yeah, they’re awful at that, but to fair liberals are also awful at downplaying it. I live in a city that ids very guilty of that.

@DanSimal @Econ_Marshall @Noahpinion The issue is more that anti urban anti transit conservatives are very good at stoking peoples fear of crime, rather than accurately portraying crime.

@RJSWtrilogyWhen @Econ_Marshall @Noahpinion RTD is still rough. It’s better, but after things get bad, it takes time to rebuild the businesses that closed and the confidence that was broken. You don’t get to flip a switch overnight.

@DanSimal @Econ_Marshall @Noahpinion its interesting that you highlight denver, whos crime rate is in decline. If crime actually motivated this behavior, youd see transit ridership increasing.

Sorry man, you’re still acting like the only evidence that matters is people literally leaving a city. That’s too narrow. The first thing people do is change behavior. Transit is the clearest example. In SF, only 44% rated safety from crime on Muni as excellent/good. On BART, crime dropped 17% in 2024 and 41% in 2025, and satisfaction improved as safety did. Polling shows 79% want more police on BART and 50% say better safety would make them ride more. Same story in Denver where I live. RTD ridership is still well below pre-COVID levels, and safety concerns have been THE major issue. RTD has had to increase police presence, fare enforcement, and security contracts specifically to address crime and drug use on trains and buses. They don’t spend that money if it doesn’t matter to riders. Here’s my point, and it’s what you’re missing. People don’t need to move to respond. They ride less, avoid certain lines, stop going downtown. It becomes a downward spiral. When safety improves, usage improves. When it doesn’t, people disappear and stay in safer places. Your “people need to tolerate it” line is garbage. Would you ride a train that was frequented by people who are howling at the ceiling? Would you bring your kids in that train?

@DanSimal @Econ_Marshall @Noahpinion SF is one of the most expensive places in america to live, even though the city is dense it has remained mostly low and medium low density even as demand to live there has risen. Expensiveness is the real culprit in people moving out, followed by the boom-bust tech cycles

@RezaNasri1 All they need to do is stop using said weapons against Israel and the demand goes away.

The idea that every sovereign country near Israel must cap its conventional weapons, limit its defensive capabilities, restrict missile and fighter jet ranges, and even dismantle its own military industries—just so Israel can "feel safe"—is completely absurd. Which other nation on Earth demands and receives this kind of privilege? This exceptionalism is especially ridiculous coming from a regime with such an inherently aggressive posture and track record in the region.

Of course macro trends matter. But pretending a lack of law and order doesn’t matter is just foolish. Just look at San Francisco…. Crime, drugs, homelessness, and downtown recovery are now THE central political and economic issues, and city leaders are finally openly treating public safety as a prerequisite for the city’s recovery. Hardly some made-up rich guy threat. We can also look at more micro examples. Target closed nine stores in 2023 and said organized retail crime was threatening the safety of employees and customers. In-N-Out closed its only Oakland location, despite it being profitable, because of break-ins, theft, and robberies affecting customers and staff. This stuff is happening in real time and has nothing to do with the collapse of manufacturing in 1978. 😂 Milwaukee actually helps my point. I just looked and Milwaukee’s downtown BID explicitly says its mission is to “create a clean, safe, friendly, and economically thriving downtown, covering about 150 blocks and 400+ commercial property owners.” In other words, the success story is not “ignore disorder and tell capital to shut up.” They found the only way to get investment was to clean their shit up. Very clearly, the choice is not “listen to rich assholes or prosper.” The lesson is when cities stop being livable, people and businesses with options leave. There is no historical example of a counterpoint.

@DanSimal @Econ_Marshall @Noahpinion the problem with your question at the end is that its a false one. it assumes people will leave because they say they will, when all other data shows us they probably wont. The cities that experienced capital declines usually did through macro economic trends-

Even if it’s “just” people smoking pot in the halls, your tolerance for that isn’t mine, and it shouldn’t have to be. You’re basically saying: accept it or don’t live in a city. But that’s not how it works. Capital says otherwise. People with options leave buildings, and cities, where standards slip. So what you’re really arguing is either: 1.People without means should just tolerate it, or 2.Lower-income families are fine with their kids being exposed to it Neither holds up. The reality is most people don’t want to live like that. And when they have the option, they leave. That’s capital flight, and it’s exactly how cities start to decline. So I’ll ask again: can you name a single city that became more livable because the people who could leave… did?

@DanSimal @Econ_Marshall @Noahpinion Tolerating stuff is part of life. If you need a gated community, go live in one. Especially since I have to question just how much open using in the hallways there is, and what they're openly using

I am rereading what you wrote and it’s the entire problem. “Even drug users need a decent place to live.” Doesn’t mean we should be forced to tolerate having our kids walk into hallways outside of our homes where these people are openly using. The second you tell me I have to do that in a building, I am finding another building, or city where I don’t have to expose my kids to that. You’re penalizing people with families who don’t have the capital to have choices.

@DanSimal @Econ_Marshall @Noahpinion fascism depends on what your solution to those things is. Even drug users need a decent place to live I dont care so much is capital stays in cities, I want people to stay in cities.

@RJSWtrilogyWhen @Econ_Marshall @Noahpinion Do you have any examples of cities remaining safe and livable when capital flees?

@RJSWtrilogyWhen @Econ_Marshall @Noahpinion The part of the post that was cut off was directly addressing open drug use in the halls and petty crime. Hardly fascism to be opposed to those things.

@DanSimal @Econ_Marshall @Noahpinion NYC doesnt have a high level of crime, and sicne the original thread was about NYC, you are not dealing with a high level of crime there People like Noah are practically fascists, they want a police state and mass incarceration

Interesting take. Your belief is that if we want to live in cities, we need to deal with a high level of crime? I read a lot of @Noahpinion’s stuff and he seems to be saying that if you want capital to stay in cities, they need to be safe. That recent moves against policing make capital less likely to stay.

@DanSimal @Econ_Marshall People like Noah Smith are intrinsically disingenuous and classist, they want cities to be like the suburbs or gated communities except vertical.

@yawnalert @aaronnarraph I feel so sorry for you if believe that trash. Dig deeper than the propaganda you’re being fed. Your critical thinking skills on this issue are on par with a jellyfish.

@DanSimal @aaronnarraph the "first hand testimonies" were literally all debunked and/or anonymous. it's not iranian propaganda lmfao

Bizarre trend among moderate Democrats to continue comparing one of the country's most popular left-wing media figures to a literal neo-Nazi. If anything, the comparison only further normalizes Fuentes.

@yawnalert @aaronnarraph I can’t imagine the sewer you must live in to say the videos and first hand testimony about the rapes are fake. The Iranian propaganda on Israel has completely broken you. Just a sad state of the world.

@DanSimal @aaronnarraph x.com/yawnalert/stat…