Anti-racism, entered the public consciousness through writers such as Ta-Nehisi Coates and Robyn Dangelo circa 2015-2020,
They provided a rationale for overtly race conscious government policies (DEI) which undermined individuality and equal treatment from government. /2
Called DEI in the US, 🇨🇦 substitutes "Anti-racism" for "Diversity" likely a result of their background research suggesting such framing would facilitate acceptance of greater impositions.
The Recommendation of 88 submissions analyzed? Obviously, employment for the submitters /3
May have noticed if you’ve spent years wasting your time arguing with others online that often people’s priors and presuppositions are so different from your own that it makes it almost impossible to resolve disagreements
(especially ideological disagreements). Interlocutors may pretend not to understand you or, in the worst cases, may just not even know anything (about anything) - substantive communication is difficult. To ‘get anywhere’ you have to explain their own beliefs back to them while they go out of their way to uncharitably misunderstand you
French philosopher Jean-François Lyotard’s notion of ‘The Differend’ is an attempt to conceptualise this epistemological gap. In essence - what happens when people are talking past each other so deeply that there’s no shared ground for deciding who’s right, or even what “right” would mean. For Lyotard this gap is not just disagreement. It is a conflict between different ways of understanding the world, where each side uses its own rules for what counts as knowledge, truth or evidence
Lyotard’s key point is that not all conflicts can be settled by better arguments or more information. Some conflicts are stuck because the people involved are operating inside different worldviews. What one side sees as obvious, rational or proven doesn’t even register as meaningful to the other. In these cases, asking for dialogue or compromise can miss the problem entirely, because there’s no shared language that would make dialogue work in the first place
He contrasts a differend with a normal dispute. In a regular dispute, both sides accept the same basic framework. They might argue about facts or interpretations, but they agree on how arguments should be made - what counts as evidence, what logic applies, who gets to judge. Courts, scientific debates and policy disagreements ‘usually’ work this way. You may not like the outcome, but at least there is a process everyone recognises
A differend is different. Here, the rules themselves are what’s in conflict. One side may speak in personal experience or moral terms; the other demands statistics, documents or formal proof. One side may rely on tradition, religion, sentiment or collective memory; the other insists on scientific measurement or legal categories. When one framework is used to judge the other, the result isn’t resolution - it is a silencing. The side that doesn’t fit the dominant framework is dismissed as irrational, unscientific, emotional or simply wrong
This is where the epistemology really matters. For Lyotard, knowledge doesn’t come from one universal kind of reason. Instead, there are many ways of knowing - scientific, legal, narrative, ethical, religious, artistic etc - and each has its own standards. Problems arise when one way of knowing is treated as the only legitimate one. If you say, for example, that only measurable data counts as real knowledge, then lived experience, testimony and memory become suspect by definition. People may know something deeply, but lack any way to prove it within the accepted system
More generally, the differend helps explain why conversations across cultures, ideologies, moral values so-called or belief systems often fail. It’s not always because people are stubborn or dishonest. Sometimes they genuinely do not recognise each other as making valid claims. What one side sees as common sense the other sees as meaningless noise. Calls for “rational debate” or “just follow the evidence” can actually deepen the problem when those ideas belong to only one worldview
Lyotard doesn’t think this problem can be solved once and for all. There’s no neutral, higher-level language that can translate all worldviews into one another without distortion. Some differences really are incommensurable. The task then isn’t always to force agreement, but to stay alert to situations where people are in disagreement without having the conceptual tools to explain that disagreement
Cicero is a famed Roman politician, writer, and orator.
But what about Cicero the general?
This is the tale of Cicero’s Cilician adventure when was hailed as imperator by his troops!
[Thread]🧵
When he was consul in 63 BC, Cicero famously foiled a conspiracy by Lucius Sergius Catilina to seize power in Rome.
When he discovered the plot, he put on armour and made his way to the senate to deliver a series of speeches against Cataline. The conspiracy was thwarted but Cicero remained unpopular with some for having some of the conspirators executed.
Cicero was eventually exiled when his enemies gained power in Rome. During this exile, and thanks to certain legislative requirements, he was made governor of Cilicia in 51 BC. It was not a position he wanted.
In 53 BC, Crassus led his doomed expedition against the Parthians. He was enticed into a trap and his exhausted army was savaged by Parthians horse archers at the battle of Carrhae.
Crassus died and Cassius led what was left of the army back to safety.
But then Pacorus, son of the Shah Orodes, invaded Roman territory and besieged Cassius in Antioch.
El 23 de enero de 1895, el doctor José Evaristo Uriburu asumía como presidente de la Nación, luego de la renuncia el día anterior del doctor Luis Sáenz Peña, que había asumido la presidencia el 12 de octubre de 1892. Uriburu, que se desempeñaba como vicepresidente, tuvo a su cargo terminar el gobierno asumido por Sáenz Peña hasta el 12 de octubre de 1898, cuando Julio Argentino Roca asumió su segunda presidencia.
El 1 de octubre de 1893 el gobierno nacional pudo derrotar definitivamente las diversas revoluciones que los dirigentes de la Unión Cívica Radical llevaron a cabo desde julio de ese año. Luego de ese periodo de extrema tensión política, el país entró en un periodo de rechazo por las prácticas políticas, lo que se sumaba a la recuperación económica del país, y la crisis interna que sumía al radicalismo luego de los sucesivos fracasos revolucionarios para intentar tomar el poder.
Luego de las revoluciones de 1893, se comenzaron a mostrar las primeras fisuras en la Unión Cívica Radical, entre dos grupos bien definidos: los rojos de Leandro Alem y los líricos de Hipólito Yrigoyen. Los rojos eran partidarios de la revolución como método para cambiar el sistema imperante mientras que los líricos eran considerados "evolucionistas" y no confiaban en la realización de un golpe de estado como método para los cambios que ellos consideraban necesarios. Al mismo tiempo la relación entre Alem e Yrigoyen se tornó cada vez más complicada. Hasta tal punto que Yrigoyen comenzó a cuestionar las condiciones de su tío para ejercer el liderazgo del partido radical.
The war in Ukraine 🇺🇦 has changed so much that the differencies on the maps are sometimes measured in 5, 10, or even 15km !
A number of pro-Russian 🇷🇺 accounts use a flag, a lone dead soldier as proof of control (or perhaps it's pro-Russian propaganda or even their own imagination).
The result? Completely absurd maps that does not show the reality on the ground, and when an error is admitted, a Ukrainian counter-offensive that came out of nowhere is presented.
1/8 ⬇️
Thanks to this map, ukraineviews.org, we can see the difference between the areas of control according to the main mappers of the war in Ukraine. The maps are roughly half pro-Russian and half pro-Ukrainian.
Let's take the example of a specific area of the front, southeast of Pokrovsk:
According to pro-Russian mappers, the Russian army controls the villages of Bratske, Vidradne, Hai and Oleksivka.
According to most pro-Ukrainian mappers (some are neutral), these villages are either in the gray zone or controlled by the Ukrainians.
What are the proofs to suggest something ?
For Bratske : A single video (!) dated January 8th, showing two Russian soldiers with a flag. Is this irrefutable proof of a Russian presence? Does it mean the Russians control the village (i.e., they have forces there and are using it as a base for launching offensives)?
As Playfra explained here: x.com/Playfra0/statu…, barbed wire has been placed in multiple villages along the front line in this sector. This directly contradicts the control lines of some mappers.
For Vidradne, not a single video confirms the Russian claims. For Hai, there is a video of soldiers with the flag from two months ago. Since then, the barbed wire in front of the village has been reinforced, yet several maps show the village as Russian. In Oleksivka, we have plenty of videos of Russians from before 2026. Since then, nothing. Where is the evidence of effective control?
1) This is a much more serious document than the 2025 National Security Strategy.
The NDS at least attempts to make a strategic argument, even if I don't find key elements convincing.
The NDS does not, however, align so well with many of President Trump's actions/comments.
2) The document falsely claims that we were on "the precipice of a world war just a year ago” and since then Trump has "rebuilt the American military."
Neither is true. In force structure and capabilities, almost nothing has changed in the last year.
There is a rapidly forming narrative in the European and liberal media that the Europeans “won Davos”: primarily by getting Trump to “de-escalate” his demand that the United States acquire Greenland from Denmark. 1/8
This is a very wrong take. The reality is that Trump won Davos, hands down. And not only did he win it; he owned it. I have never before seen a single individual so completely dominate this vast bazaar of the powerful, the wealthy, the famous, and the self-important. 2/8
Trump never seriously meant to annex Greenland or to impose new tariffs on the Europeans. Why would he when the U.S. already enjoys all the military access to the frigid island it could every possibly need? Fact: Trump means what he says on Truth Social only about half the time. 3/8
"Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli are under investigation for suspected serious violations of discipline and law."
"#ZhangYouxia, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, and #LiuZhenli, a member of the Central Military Commission and Chief of the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission, are suspected of serious violations of discipline and law. After deliberation by the CPC Central Committee, it was decided to launch an investigation into Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli."
⚓ 19 drummers eliminated in “This is Spinal Tap.
⚓ Depending on which metric one employs, Xi may well have already exceeded that number.
⚓ Since Xi Jinping came to power in 2012, the PLAN has dismissed at least 12 flag officers. Beyond combating outright dysfunction, these removals are intended to prevent potential disloyalty & factionalism, centralize power, & further modernization & warfighting goals.
⚓ Cashiering has been a feature, not a bug, throughout Xi’s 13-years-&-counting rule—a constant, not a fundamental change. Since assuming power in 2012, he has removed at least 80 senior PLA officials at the Vice Admiral/Lieutenant General (2-star) level & above; 12 PLAN officers at the Rear Admiral (1-star) level or above have been, or are rumored to have been, dismissed.
⚓ Military removals = microcosm of broader removals across PRC Party-State-Military system.
Thanks to @LyleJMorris, @JamesCharChina, @liu_dimon & others for their generous insights!
I've also addressed what the @DeptofWar's latest #China #Military Power Report reveals about PLA "corruption"-related removals vs. capabilities against #Taiwan per Xi's 2027 Centennial Military Building Goal (建军一百年奋斗目标) here:
This is how Anthropic engineers actually structure prompts.
CONTEXT: Give the background
OBJECTIVE: State the exact goal
DETAILS: Specify constraints and format
EXAMPLES: Show what good looks like
Example:
"CONTEXT: I'm launching a B2B AI tool for marketers
OBJECTIVE: Write 5 LinkedIn posts that drive demo signups
DETAILS: Each post must be 150-200 words, include a hook, pain point, solution, and CTA
EXAMPLES: Hook format - 'Most marketers waste 10 hours/week on [task]. Here's how to do it in 10 minutes.'"
I tested this on Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs regular prompts. C.O.D.E. framework = 78% better relevance score.
Since this US administration’s agenda of insulting Europe has now reached the topic of food, with the US Secretary of the Treasury claiming he would “rather eat bugs” than Swiss food, I decided to revisit and expand my list of US food so unsafe most of Europe had to ban it.🧵
US Instant Mashed Potatoes
Stuffed with enough BHA and BHT preservatives to give the product an expiration date of absolutely never, most of Europe has outright banned the product, depriving Europeans from what is otherwise a cheap and convenient way to encourage hairloss.
US Pork
Because American pigs are often fed large amounts of ractopamine, a drug that does wonders in increasing muscle growth in pigs and cancer in humans, the EU has deemed the product unsafe and banned it, seemingly without much concern for the profits of US oligarchs.
R.I.P. streaming subscriptions.
My laptop is now a free home cinema powered by GROK.
Here are 7 prompts I use:
1 | Find Free Legal Streaming Sites
Prompt: “Give me a list of safe, legal websites where I can watch movies and TV shows for free. Organize them by quality, genre, and country availability.”
2 | Access Global Content
Prompt: “Recommend free platforms that offer international films and series with English subtitles. Prioritize high-quality options.”
Videos of these perverts committing crimes on children are the most powerful Kompromat that a Mafia/ Intell Agency can have. These pedophiles cannot repent and leave the path that has been carved out for them.
And if they go along, things only get better for them: they're
given more money, and larger positions of power, AND more children to rape.
Examples: Dennis Hastert, Michael Johnson, Jim Jordan, Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump.
W Polsce są pewne środowiska, które wierzą w istnienie "Wielkiej Lechii". W Korei Południowej również istnieje pseudohistoryczna teoria spiskowa o potężnym koreańskim państwie, które miało rzekomo zostać wymazane z historii - "Imperium Hwan".
Zapraszam na krótki wątek 👇🧵
Koreańskie "Imperium Hwan" miało się rzekomo rozciągać od Japonii po współczesny Iran, od Syberii po Płw. Indochiński, a także wywierać wpływ na rozwój cywilizacji w Indiach, na Bliskim Wschodzie, a nawet i w Europie. 2/7
Miało istnieć od 67000 p.n.e do 3900 p.n.e. Oznacza to, że istniałoby na długo przed powstaniem Gojoseon - najstarszego znanego państwa na Półwyspie Koreańskim, które według koreańskiej mitologii powstało w 2333 p.n.e. 3/7
I have infiltrated organizational signal groups all around Minneapolis with the sole intention of tracking down federal agents and impeding/assaulting/and obstructing them.
BUCKLE UP ALL WILL BE REVEALED
Each area of the city has a signal or several signals. Let’s start with a screen recording of all members of the south side group to start.
🧵🚨 MINNEAPOLIS SIGNAL INFILTRATED
I have been undercover inside the groups for days.
You’ll notice emojis next to people’s names. Here’s a key for what those emojis mean.
The highlighted positions are the most crucial. Most are self explanatory. Mobile patrols spend their entire “shift” searching for suspicious vehicles.
When they find one they send it to the group so that “plate checkers” can compare with their database and see if it’s a known federal vehicle or if the patrol can make the confirmation so that the database can be updated.
Dispatch runs a maxed out call all day telling protestors where ICE has been spotted and how they can be best impeded.
🧵🚨 MINNEAPOLIS SIGNAL INFILTRATED
For each “occupation” or “shift” position, protestors have to undergo “training”
It’s unclear what the training entails - other than numerous slides of instruction. I’ve seen it mentioned repeatedly. Who is paying for all this?!