I hope they scrap the plant. I wonder what the local people in the area think about this. It doesn't seem like there is any limit to how many convoluted thought pretzels Trump supporters can conjure up to rationalize their continued support, but maybe being screwed out of 8000 good paying jobs in a depressed area will mean something to them? How do the voters feel about the R pol responsible for this?
Massively competent execution, just as one would expect.
-- Scouting out the target, so as to know how many targets, what type (i.e. nationality) of targets, etc.? Check
-- Briefing the agents involved, so that they were clear on what types of visas were applicable/valid to foreign workers at this site? Check
-- Employing agents who have a clue about the nation from which the targets come? Check
-- Preparation to handle the detainees expeditiously? Check
-- Careful consideration of the impact of the raid on the administration's efforts to get foreign firms to site plants in the US? Check
And if you believe all any of that, I've got some premium beach front property in Afghanistan that I will make you a great price on.
The only obvious fail was in not getting the detainees onto planes and off to Sudan or El Salvador or some other garden spot before anybody could react. Better luck next time.
My bet is that Hyundai scraps plans for this plant. Not least because they will have no workers who are willing to go. Indeed, I will be unsurprised if NO Korean companies are willing to consider new facilities in the US. For that matter, any foreign company considering doing anything here has got to be doing a serious re-think.
What I believe the algorithm is doing - and by that, I mean what the media oligarchs are doing - is destroying real world communities (churches excepted) and then pushing hard to take over the para-social communities that exist on the Internet to replace those communities with hollowed out versions that are mostly propaganda. Kirk was very good at creating those para-social communities and attracting broken, lonely, powerless people to them, then giving them scapegoats to target with their outrage.
Approval. Sense of belonging. In-group prestige through symbolic action. Very heady brew for young minds.
Vance is aiming hard for that space at the moment. I don't think he can hold it. I hope he can't.
We're going to get violence either way, but I'd rather it no have any direction or momentum. Better static than current.
My Charlie Kirk comment which went into moderation only had 2 links, one from the NYT and one from the Guardian. I must say I think one should easily be able to post 2 or 3 links (or even more) without the need for moderation. But the thing is, wonkie's comment on Charlie Kirk which went into moderation didn't have any links in it at all.
Somewhere in the settings the value of n can be changed.
It's currently set at 2, let me know if you think that should be raised.
I'm not sure how automatic comment approval is working, it looks like you have to log in to your profile. I'm going to explore this on Thursday and will try and make a post explaining the system.
Vance hosting Kirk's podcast seems a natural development. I also didn't realize that Kirk's wife's speech was also 'from' the podcast, as a livestream.
So this is by way of a test, to see if posts with links automatically go into moderation:
WordPress has a stock filter that puts comments with more than n links into moderation automatically. Somewhere in the settings the value of n can be changed.
I found us. We are here. The rumors of my expulsion being greatly exaggerated. Nice work.
I will add that the scrolling through all the comments to get to the bottom will become tedious with the number that a typical post might have. If there was a shortcut I didn't find it on my admittedly cursory look.
I'm trying to guess how many of the people coming out of the woodwork to extol Kirk's virtue on social media since the shooting had much of an idea who he was or what he had to say before he was killed. I know a number of politically "conservative" people who are quick to form opinions and spout them off, but who aren't truly politically engaged or well informed. I could be underestimating how much he would have shown up on their feeds over the last few years, though, given their interests and clicking habits.
After careful deliberation, I have concluded that my sympathy for Charlie Kirk is 1.42 times the sympathy He, Trump expressed for Melissa Hortman and her husband. MAGAts are invited to do the math.
I give Saint Charles of Kirk credit for one thing: unlike the gun fetishists we used to joust with on the old ObWi, he was willing to admit that an occasional massacre is the unavoidable cost of, and an acceptable price to pay for, our god-given 2nd Amendment.
I see from the Excelsior thread that posts with links do not automatically go into moderation. So maybe it's to do with anything tagged "Charlie Kirk", which wonkie's 5.55 might suggest? Does anybody know how this works - maybe it's because it's a new blog site for us, or is it because Big Brother is watching?
Ha! Since you ask, I am going to link something I wouldn't assume is for ObWi, since it relates purely to a rather controversial piece of legislation which is currently trying to make its way through parliament on assisted dying, and which some of my friends are involved in. So this is by way of a test, to see if posts with links automatically go into moderation:
OK, I think comments are back at the archive, please poke around and let me know if there are other things. Next task is to link up with Andrew's stuff, still not sure about how comment approval works, so please feel free to comment to help me figure it out.
Free speech absolutism requires supporting someone's "right" to, as the classic example has it, "falsely shout 'Fire!' in a crowded theater.". Because that's what inciting violence, whether it is done explicitly or implicitly, amounts to.
Once you recognize how nonsensical that is, people like Kirk or Limbaugh are seen to be the sociopaths that they are.
Kirk used his notions of civil discourse and open debate as cover for his bigotry. When I hear "Prove Me Wrong," I can only wonder why a normal person would need someone to prove such horrible ideas wrong.
Spoke too soon, the comment approval thing does not work as I thought it did. I'm reminded of my favorite joke in Friends. Rachel just discovered a typo on her resume after making 1000 photocopies and getting the gang to stuff them in envelopes and she says 'oh god, do you think it is on all of them?' and Joey replies 'nah, I'm sure the xerox caught a few'.
No worries, the setting is that once people are approved, they are good to go and it transferred people who were already in the comments. Unfortunately, because we made the archive site, people who haven't commented here have to get approved, so it shouldn't be too onerous.
I'm working my way through getting the comments back in, which is tedious, but I am glancing at old posts and names so it's nostalgic at the same time. It's pretty astonishing to me that a simply text file contains all this, and when it is parsed, all these conversations spring up. Though (and it may be fatigue) I thought that I saw a post in the text file with one author, but appeared with another author on the blog, so I'll do some checks to make sure that authorship is correct.
lj, I imagine this has taken and is taking you huge amounts of time and effort, when you do have a day job! I hope it's clear that any comments of mine about the new site are purely for the sake of alerting you (and everyone) about any glitches, or changes from the status quo ante (like the possibility that posts with links are delayed for moderation, as on the Charlie Kirk piece. Eeek, does that mean you are going to have to spend time doing the moderation as well??).
the idea that the algorithm made him is not an argument I want to make,
I get really tired of the suggestions that people have no agency. Sure, if you immerse yourself in crazy, it may make you crazy (or crazier). But nobody forced you to go there. And nobody forced you to play out computer games in the real world on real people.
One could as well argue that Kavanaugh raped a girl while he was in college because he was immersed in a frat boy culture which encouraged that kind of behavior.
None of which is to suggest that the algorithms used by web browsers and search engines are not deeply problematic. But you're still responsible for your own actions.
Iirc it was the post right before “What to do?” but the wayback machine’s last entry is for Aug 23, and it was later than that
Right after "What to do?" I have it w/o any comments in a different file and will send that to lj. By the time I tried extracting it with comments, Typepad had gone into partial failure mode. I'll keep checking from time to time in hopes that they get it running properly for a few more days before the final shutdown.
Morning all,
Hartmut, if it happened then, I think that post was lost.
GftNC, it looks like the comments are showing for posts up until Sept 2004. The comments are in the database, but aren't appearing. I'll work on fixing that this week.
DaveC, about the SASE, I'm worried that the new Trump tariffs are going to disrupt that, so I think we may have to go back to smoke signals.
On “Hyudai, meet ICE”
I hope they scrap the plant. I wonder what the local people in the area think about this. It doesn't seem like there is any limit to how many convoluted thought pretzels Trump supporters can conjure up to rationalize their continued support, but maybe being screwed out of 8000 good paying jobs in a depressed area will mean something to them? How do the voters feel about the R pol responsible for this?
"
Massively competent execution, just as one would expect.
-- Scouting out the target, so as to know how many targets, what type (i.e. nationality) of targets, etc.? Check
-- Briefing the agents involved, so that they were clear on what types of visas were applicable/valid to foreign workers at this site? Check
-- Employing agents who have a clue about the nation from which the targets come? Check
-- Preparation to handle the detainees expeditiously? Check
-- Careful consideration of the impact of the raid on the administration's efforts to get foreign firms to site plants in the US? Check
And if you believe
allany of that, I've got some premium beach front property in Afghanistan that I will make you a great price on.The only obvious fail was in not getting the detainees onto planes and off to Sudan or El Salvador or some other garden spot before anybody could react. Better luck next time.
My bet is that Hyundai scraps plans for this plant. Not least because they will have no workers who are willing to go. Indeed, I will be unsurprised if NO Korean companies are willing to consider new facilities in the US. For that matter, any foreign company considering doing anything here has got to be doing a serious re-think.
On “Kuzushi and Charlie Kirk”
What I believe the algorithm is doing - and by that, I mean what the media oligarchs are doing - is destroying real world communities (churches excepted) and then pushing hard to take over the para-social communities that exist on the Internet to replace those communities with hollowed out versions that are mostly propaganda. Kirk was very good at creating those para-social communities and attracting broken, lonely, powerless people to them, then giving them scapegoats to target with their outrage.
Approval. Sense of belonging. In-group prestige through symbolic action. Very heady brew for young minds.
Vance is aiming hard for that space at the moment. I don't think he can hold it. I hope he can't.
We're going to get violence either way, but I'd rather it no have any direction or momentum. Better static than current.
On “Excelsior!”
Finally found the email in my spam folder. It has your number, lj.
"
My Charlie Kirk comment which went into moderation only had 2 links, one from the NYT and one from the Guardian. I must say I think one should easily be able to post 2 or 3 links (or even more) without the need for moderation. But the thing is, wonkie's comment on Charlie Kirk which went into moderation didn't have any links in it at all.
"
Somewhere in the settings the value of n can be changed.
It's currently set at 2, let me know if you think that should be raised.
I'm not sure how automatic comment approval is working, it looks like you have to log in to your profile. I'm going to explore this on Thursday and will try and make a post explaining the system.
On “Kuzushi and Charlie Kirk”
https://www.npr.org/2025/09/15/nx-s1-5542239/charlie-kirks-chair-is-empty-can-maga-harness-his-movement
Vance hosting Kirk's podcast seems a natural development. I also didn't realize that Kirk's wife's speech was also 'from' the podcast, as a livestream.
On “Excelsior!”
Clicking on the Post link in Recent Comments takes you to bottom of comments of that post.
"
So this is by way of a test, to see if posts with links automatically go into moderation:
WordPress has a stock filter that puts comments with more than n links into moderation automatically. Somewhere in the settings the value of n can be changed.
"
I found us. We are here. The rumors of my expulsion being greatly exaggerated. Nice work.
I will add that the scrolling through all the comments to get to the bottom will become tedious with the number that a typical post might have. If there was a shortcut I didn't find it on my admittedly cursory look.
On “Kuzushi and Charlie Kirk”
I'm trying to guess how many of the people coming out of the woodwork to extol Kirk's virtue on social media since the shooting had much of an idea who he was or what he had to say before he was killed. I know a number of politically "conservative" people who are quick to form opinions and spout them off, but who aren't truly politically engaged or well informed. I could be underestimating how much he would have shown up on their feeds over the last few years, though, given their interests and clicking habits.
"
After careful deliberation, I have concluded that my sympathy for Charlie Kirk is 1.42 times the sympathy He, Trump expressed for Melissa Hortman and her husband. MAGAts are invited to do the math.
I give Saint Charles of Kirk credit for one thing: unlike the gun fetishists we used to joust with on the old ObWi, he was willing to admit that an occasional massacre is the unavoidable cost of, and an acceptable price to pay for, our god-given 2nd Amendment.
--TP
"
I see from the Excelsior thread that posts with links do not automatically go into moderation. So maybe it's to do with anything tagged "Charlie Kirk", which wonkie's 5.55 might suggest? Does anybody know how this works - maybe it's because it's a new blog site for us, or is it because Big Brother is watching?
On “Excelsior!”
Ha! Since you ask, I am going to link something I wouldn't assume is for ObWi, since it relates purely to a rather controversial piece of legislation which is currently trying to make its way through parliament on assisted dying, and which some of my friends are involved in. So this is by way of a test, to see if posts with links automatically go into moderation:
https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-politics/2025/09/the-lords-must-fix-the-dangerous-assisted-dying-bill
"
At the archive, many/all of the comments are duplicated.
"
OK, I think comments are back at the archive, please poke around and let me know if there are other things. Next task is to link up with Andrew's stuff, still not sure about how comment approval works, so please feel free to comment to help me figure it out.
On “Kuzushi and Charlie Kirk”
Free speech absolutism requires supporting someone's "right" to, as the classic example has it, "falsely shout 'Fire!' in a crowded theater.". Because that's what inciting violence, whether it is done explicitly or implicitly, amounts to.
Once you recognize how nonsensical that is, people like Kirk or Limbaugh are seen to be the sociopaths that they are.
"
Kirk used his notions of civil discourse and open debate as cover for his bigotry. When I hear "Prove Me Wrong," I can only wonder why a normal person would need someone to prove such horrible ideas wrong.
On “Excelsior!”
Spoke too soon, the comment approval thing does not work as I thought it did. I'm reminded of my favorite joke in Friends. Rachel just discovered a typo on her resume after making 1000 photocopies and getting the gang to stuff them in envelopes and she says 'oh god, do you think it is on all of them?' and Joey replies 'nah, I'm sure the xerox caught a few'.
"
No worries, the setting is that once people are approved, they are good to go and it transferred people who were already in the comments. Unfortunately, because we made the archive site, people who haven't commented here have to get approved, so it shouldn't be too onerous.
I'm working my way through getting the comments back in, which is tedious, but I am glancing at old posts and names so it's nostalgic at the same time. It's pretty astonishing to me that a simply text file contains all this, and when it is parsed, all these conversations spring up. Though (and it may be fatigue) I thought that I saw a post in the text file with one author, but appeared with another author on the blog, so I'll do some checks to make sure that authorship is correct.
"
lj, I imagine this has taken and is taking you huge amounts of time and effort, when you do have a day job! I hope it's clear that any comments of mine about the new site are purely for the sake of alerting you (and everyone) about any glitches, or changes from the status quo ante (like the possibility that posts with links are delayed for moderation, as on the Charlie Kirk piece. Eeek, does that mean you are going to have to spend time doing the moderation as well??).
On “Kuzushi and Charlie Kirk”
Partly checking on how things work here.
the idea that the algorithm made him is not an argument I want to make,
I get really tired of the suggestions that people have no agency. Sure, if you immerse yourself in crazy, it may make you crazy (or crazier). But nobody forced you to go there. And nobody forced you to play out computer games in the real world on real people.
One could as well argue that Kavanaugh raped a girl while he was in college because he was immersed in a frat boy culture which encouraged that kind of behavior.
None of which is to suggest that the algorithms used by web browsers and search engines are not deeply problematic. But you're still responsible for your own actions.
On “Excelsior!”
Iirc it was the post right before “What to do?” but the wayback machine’s last entry is for Aug 23, and it was later than that
Right after "What to do?" I have it w/o any comments in a different file and will send that to lj. By the time I tried extracting it with comments, Typepad had gone into partial failure mode. I'll keep checking from time to time in hopes that they get it running properly for a few more days before the final shutdown.
"
Morning all,
Hartmut, if it happened then, I think that post was lost.
GftNC, it looks like the comments are showing for posts up until Sept 2004. The comments are in the database, but aren't appearing. I'll work on fixing that this week.
DaveC, about the SASE, I'm worried that the new Trump tariffs are going to disrupt that, so I think we may have to go back to smoke signals.
"
Checking in for pre-clearance.
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.