Ian Americus

@aledornell Argentina has a similar claim to the Falklands, as the USA has to Greenland. As a USA citizen, I think both claims are stupid, but somehow, Argentines are brainwashed enough to think theirs is legitimate.

Is there a single Argentinian analogy in favor of Falkland Islands sovereignty that isn’t hyperbolic to the point of being offensive

@aledornell Exposure to their twitter posts has lowered my opinion of median Argentine, Indian, and Somali posters, while raising my opinion of median Iraqi, Kenyan, and Japanese posters. YMMV.

There’s no conspiracy your entire nation is just the lolcow of the day that’s all

@stephanicci Constantine the Great, Equal to the Apostles, was the most influential, and one of the most interesting.

Asking people their favorite roman emperor

@Empty_America Khamanei had a well publicized fatwa against nuclear weapons. Which udging from his statements, actions, and arguments against from more belligerent IRGC members seems to have been sincere. IDK how you can be so insightful about domestic USA, yet so obtuse about foreign wars.

I have this weird thought that perhaps Iran never nuclearized because it wanted to be attacked by the USA. Useful to revitalize/remoralize it's society, also useful for the larger Ru-China axis to have a Jr. partner that might directly attacked or even invaded by USA.

@christopherrufo @razibkhan One can not understand Krist Novoselic and Kurt Cobain without visiting their hometown of Aberdeen, which for decades has been the most visually economically distressed small city in the western USA. Novoselic now lives in Wahkiakum County very different from Seattle or Portland.

Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic is outraged about the massive fraud, waste, and corruption here in Washington State. Great to see a rock legend who isn't completely captured by "the ruling party."

@atlanticesque The church looks like it has a nicely paved driveway, with relatively recent parking lot striping.

Today, Higgins essentially doesn't exist. The only evidence that it does is this "Higgins Freewill Baptist Church," around which a few houses (possibly abandoned) are still clustered. Just one of many silent, unmourned ghost towns tucked into the hollows of the Appalachians.

Jane Jacobs used Higgins, NC in the 1930s as an example of a community which had become unmoored from urban economies and thence descended into backwardness. She posited most "primitive" cultures today are likewise products of degeneration, not of pristine indigeneity.

@atlanticesque Your Manhattan provincialism is showing. That region of western NC around Burnsville currently has the same socioeconomic levels of your beloved northern New England. Very different geography, culture, and geology from the coal country of eastern Kentucky to the north.

They wouldn’t bc it’s whiter than Brooklyn

@atlanticesque True, seems like the last remnants of relatively homogeneous "founding stock" are in Downeast Maine, currently being outbid for their coastal real estate. There is no secret WASP elite waiting. The ruling class in Martha's Vineyard famously includes Obama and Dershowitz.

Talking about “WASPs” is like talking about Scythians or Illyrians or Olmecs or Nysvenskar or Prussians.

@coughdropsh Real Norcal begins north of Highway 36 though. San Francisco Bay Area is Central California. Sisikyou County is the best region in the state.

Norcal > socal I don’t take criticism

@visualsofearth1 Honestly one of my favorite birds. Steller's Jays remind me of home.

One of the most beautiful yet obnoxious birds in the PNW.

@BasqueOli Sunshine Coast is in the rain shadow of Vancouver Island mountains so gets a bit more sun and less rain than surrounding areas of the BC coastline like Bell Coola. The rain shadow to the south from the Olynpic Penninsula is more pronounced though, from taller mountains.

Why is this part of BC called the Sunshine Coast?

@nealjclark1 I've done a lot of fiberglassing listening to Fela Kuti. Good uptempo background music for carpentry, especially framing.

Every once in a while I think hey maybe I might like jazz now. But I never do.

@arctotherium42 Great explanation, answered a lot of questions I had about Argentina, especially about the mestizo north, and northern Italians returning to Italy more than southern Italians.

Why is Argentina Like That? There was a massive difference in fertility between the (low Euro immigration, mestizo) North and the (high Euro immigration) South in the 20th century. Maternal lineages in the country as a whole are >70% African + Indian.

@MainstreamViews This has to be an April Fool's joke. I don't want to think Moldovan is ignorant of the many divides between sikh and hindu canadians, the rural-urban divides of BC and Ontario, or anglophone Quebec residents of various ethnicities.

Most timelines mark the beginning of Canada’s breakup in 2026, when Alberta held a referendum on sovereignty. The vote passed narrowly after a campaign focused on fiscal transfers, energy policy, and provincial autonomy. Ottawa challenged the legality of the process but hesitated to intervene. Negotiations stalled, and Alberta declared independence soon afterward, claiming democratic legitimacy from the referendum. Within months, Quebec followed with its own vote and proclaimed a sovereign republic. British Columbia came next, arguing that the federal structure was collapsing and that Pacific trade required immediate autonomy. Its separation remained comparatively calm. The Rockies limited military movement, and the quiet arrival of Chinese security advisors around major ports discouraged any attempt to draw the province into the fighting. The remainder of Canada, centered on Ontario and parts of Atlantic Canada, formed a provisional government. Communal tensions intensified in urban centers, especially in southern Ontario. Hindu community defense organizations appeared, at first local and uncoordinated. Quebec mobilized along its new borders and began encouraging Francophone political agitation in New Brunswick, presenting it as protection for linguistic minorities. Skirmishes spread across rail corridors and mixed towns. By 2028 the conflict had hardened into a three sided struggle involving Quebecois forces, the provisional government, and independent Hindu militias. Facing mounting losses, the provisional government appealed to the United States. Washington refused direct intervention. American planners instead offered logistical and military support only if the provisional authorities formally united with Hindu militias under a shared command. The proposal divided opinion in the United States. Conservatives criticized it as entangling Washington in sectarian politics. Under pressure, the provisional government accepted. The resulting alliance, informally named the "Hindu-Canadian Federation", merged Anglophone authorities and Hindu forces into a joint structure and stabilized several fronts but fighting continued. The most controversial episode of the Canadian conflict unfolded in northern New Brunswick during the winter of 2029. Quebecois units, pushing to secure Francophone majority districts, surrounded several towns with large Hindu refugee populations. Fighting broke out, followed by reports of mass civilian killings. International monitors later estimated that as many as 10,000 Hindu civilians died over several days. Quebec’s government rejected those figures, insisting that roughly 700 adult men linked to irregular militias were killed in a counterinsurgency operation. The dispute hardened diplomatic attitudes and increased Quebec’s isolation. By 2031, exhaustion produced ceasefires. Alberta remained independent and economically oriented southward. British Columbia functioned as a Pacific facing state that had largely avoided direct combat. The Hindu-Canadian Federation consolidated control over central Canada, maintaining a fragile joint political structure. Quebec emerged independent but diplomatically isolated. Its nationalist government, associated internationally with the New Brunswick killings, struggled for recognition and was widely treated as a pariah

@Trummors @roryisconfused Corb Lund as well.

@roryisconfused I believe Gillian and James McMurtry are easily the two best songwriters of our generation

People don’t appreciate Gillian Welch enough. Top 10 musician that’s ever existed, put her with Bach and the Beatles. People should form a religion around her.

@razibkhan There are arguments to be made for the State of Jefferson.

@MuseZack @SaladBarFan What Heather and her crews have built might not be replicable elsewhere, but it is an example of a small group of people with a shared vision revitalizing a rural town. Princess Seafoods is an impressive operation and the real deal. nationalfisherman.com/national-fishe…

@IanAmericus @SaladBarFan Noyo managing to remain a working harbor while becoming a foodie destination is a minor miracle to those of us who remember it as a place to get mediocre fried fish or a gigantic hamburger.

The far North of CA is beautiful but there’s literally no jobs or industry to keep anyone around. Your kids either leave you for the Bay Area when they’re older or become a retail cashier that cooks meth on the side.

@MuseZack @SaladBarFan The Noyo renaissance is due in large part to the efforts of Heather Sears.

@SaladBarFan I went back to my hometown (Fort Bragg) a couple of months ago & for the first time in years it felt like it had real energy to it-- new businesses, a street festival, young people who had a sense of purpose.

@Empty_America NYC waters are cleaner than in past decades, but the city and waters still have shockingly more solid and liquid pollution than any west coast city like San Francisco, or Seattle. NYC is dirtier than Istanbul at present.

One overlooked fact about class A metros is that they are often right on salt-water, and thus provide fishing. Often the waters are far cleaner than years ago. There would be much more for me to do *outdoors* in a major E. Coast city than Columbus or Indianapolis.