thedukeofnewyork

When the product you sell is fear, you pay scary people to do scary stuff.

The funniest part of @NewYorker writer Jia Tolentino running a "shoplifting is good" story is also learning that her parents were indicted for human trafficking and money laundering.

@billybinion Yes, it's garbage, but way more people listen to him than listen to you. Where do we go from here?

This is hilariously incoherent. It’s cool to steal cars, which are very expensive goods that are made & sold by working class people. But stealing a meal or a *library book*? How dare you. How does anyone consider Hasan Piker a thought leader? This is extremely embarrassing

Everything about this is wrong. A big reason charity is beautiful is because it involves a level of sacrifice. If you’re giving to the poor by stealing, then you’ve turned a sacrificial act into a fundamentally selfish & cowardly one. I do not, in fact, love that.

"Rich people exist, therefore I have no moral obligations" is just selfish, cynical nihilism with extra steps.

Hate to say it, but Hasan represents one of the only paths forward that remains to the American Left after peak woke. All the "abundance" and "moderation" stuff is a pipe dream. Basically every major viable Democrat is already on camera, face hanging out, saying the most demented imaginable falderal about sex and race with his or her whole chest. Not only that but most of them insisted, violently, that to moderate or contest these insane positions even slightly would be the act of a murderous scumbag. You can't actually proceed from that to reinventing yourself as a centrist party, since then you become, by your own logic... a bunch of murderous scumbags! The cognitive dissonance is just too extreme, and anyway all the energetic young bloods coming up are of Hasan's variety: true believers. Charming, glib, telegenic, and totally insane. You may recall the lengthy interview between Hasan Piker and *checks notes* the current mayor of New York, where they ate donuts and dapped each other up and talked about seizing the means of production. That is where all this is headed. I have been boring the guys on @theammind podcast to tears about this for months, trying to Hasan-pill them. Our listeners have responded that oh, Hasan is an idiot, he's astroturfed, he's callow and cruel and deranged. All true. He's also hot, clickable, smooth, and persuasive to thoughtless people who read nothing which--uh-oh!--is a lot of people in this here democratic republic of ours. And now Ezra Klein is extending the Olive Branch to him in the New York Times because he can tell, as ever, which way the wind is blowing. You may not like it, but this is what peak Democrat performance looks like from now on.

"Despite not mentioning abortion in his sermon, the retired pastor, Clive Johnston, is being accused of violating the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act (Northern Ireland), which outlaws actions aimed at 'influencing' or 'preventing or impeding' people seeking abortion"

Is this the sort of “line-drawing” in the UK that you said you support, @jamie_raskin ?

Coachella Socialism.

A leftist will climb the snow-capped Rocky Mountains and look out upon America’s great rivers and prairies and forests and say to themselves: “You know what this place needs? Some fake racism.”

Yes, the people who call themselves 'trans' exist and they deserve exactly the same rights as everyone else, which, fortunately, they already have in the UK. It would rightly be considered discrimination if a person was refused employment, housing or the vote because they identified as trans. 'Trans women are women' is a thought-terminating cliché. Men are not women. That doesn't mean they're not allowed to present themselves however they like, call themselves whatever they like and believe whatever they like about themselves. It means they haven't changed sex. If we replace the objective, observable characteristic of sex with the unfalsifiable concept of gender identify, women and girls lose, among other things, their right to fair and safe sport and women-only spaces, including changing rooms, prison cells and rape crisis services. Women and girls are provably more vulnerable to forms of abuse including sexual assault, harassment and voyeurism in mixed-sex spaces. There is no evidence that trans-identified men don't have exactly the same rates of criminal offending as all other men. Trans people exist. I have no desire for them not to exist; indeed, I wish them safety, happiness and health. However, 'existence' does not, and should not, mean the violation of other people's right to privacy, dignity and freedom of speech, or the reconfiguration of society to indulge a fallacy.

if you're reading this, and you've seen a centrist or liberal denounce the NYT's tacit endorsement of political assassination today, please share their post below. I'd like to know who among them still has some integrity.

the new york times politely discussed the assassination of a businessman with hasan piker, who made the case, in the new york times, for assassination. this is not a small thing. this is an insane, unacceptable thing that every liberal needs to denounce.

Shoplifting is baked into the cost of consumer goods. Therefore, if people did not steal, consumer goods would likely cost less. This would likely help the affordability crisis. If people steal more, this will likely lead to higher prices.

@erejnion That's why it is a standard plot point in super heros versus villains

Me bashing a water fountain in an Istanbul mosque Mob: Why in Allah's name are you doing that? Me: I think it's cool! Mob beating me to a pulp; "Allah Allah Allah! Haram! Kafir!"

Interestingly, free public water is essential to Turkish culture -- either via mosques (open to public 24/7) or town centers. There are very harsh sentences for vandalizing them, especially if it is in a mosque. Civilizations -- from antiquity until now, understands that destruction of public goods is one of the worst "petty" crimes

@Chris_arnade dsimian.com/2021/08/16/sim… relevant

I ignore almost 98% of the crazy fights on here, but come on man. Public museums are high points of "cultural democratization" and essential if you have an ounce of interest in maintaining a healthy society. Burning them down is just nihilistic nonsense

Stealing from Louvre (or any public museum) is ok is a crazy take because 1) it's a public good built to democratize ownership of cultural icons 2) It was directly formed as such, having appropriated art from elites for national ownership 3) It is as such, the antithesis of socialism. It is removing art from the public to the private 4) it might be the singular most socially destructive symbolic act you can do

There was no national ban on gerrymandering for Republicans to ban. There was a provision, in a much larger radical bill, that some Dems called a national ban on gerrymandering. Journalists, however, shouldn't repeat dishonest partisan messaging

This is the official media line. "Uhh well the FBI also does something like this." The folks at USA Today know full well the FBI isn't a 501c3, FBI cases run by informants face much scrutiny from the courts & that it's illegal for 501c3 to create fake entities to hide payments