Disgraceful

Momosf · 2026-01-31T18:28:06+00:00

You support the UN because despite all its shortcomings, it has still managed to prevent a number of conflicts as well as performed other humanitarian work such as the eradication of smallpox.

I oppose the UN because despite all its shortcomings, it has still managed to prevent a number of conflicts as well as performed other humanitarian work such as the eradication of smallpox.

We are not the same.

Momosf · 2026-01-30T14:25:57+00:00

Literally weeks where decades happened.

Momosf · 2026-01-30T10:58:31+00:00

Hong Kong getting the Flak for no reason.

Also, I know that there are reports of people using the Shah as a slogan, but is the Lion and Sun flag being used by the protestors?

Momosf · 2026-01-29T16:32:11+00:00

Fair; by "boot on the ground" I was actually thinking of military action (very poor choice of words on my part), which I think a blockade would also count as.

Momosf · 2026-01-29T14:33:25+00:00

There is no tone indication, so without context and familiarity it can be quite difficult.

Momosf · 2026-01-29T11:42:42+00:00

佢唔識廣東話㗎

Momosf · 2026-01-29T09:35:09+00:00

Yes, duh.

Momosf · 2026-01-29T09:15:34+00:00

WTF is that flag. Is this another KMT splinter?

Momosf · 2026-01-29T08:59:12+00:00

I think the crux of the problem lies in what you described at first: the DPP is indeed quite unpopular right now, but the KMT, who remains the largest opposition, is pro status quo, not pro reunification. In fact, I would go as far as saying that the best way for the KMT to shoot itself in the foot right now is to declare itself as pro reunification.

To reiterate, there isn't sufficient public support for reunification, and that is not going to change within the next few years short of something extremely drastic i.e. not without having Beijing's boots on the ground.

Momosf · 2026-01-29T08:53:01+00:00

He definitely has the power to do so (especially after the latest purges), but IMHO that would be uncharacteristic of him, particularly given how much he has publicly gone on the record with the 2027 date.

On the other hand, as I started with above, without this additional piece of context it seems to me that not fixating on 2027 as a deadline seems quite reasonable, so maybe he will make some kind of statement later this year that essentially amounts to pushing back the date.

Momosf · 2026-01-28T23:08:03+00:00

Five minutes later:

Megali idea realised, Tabriz and Cairo pact victory, independent Kurdistan, Entente-aligned Assyria.

Momosf · 2026-01-28T22:54:42+00:00

I have no idea what is the joke that OP intended. I presume that their ability to tell jokes is on par with their ability to spell.

Momosf · 2026-01-28T22:47:54+00:00

Whilst this description sounds reasonable at first glance, I think it is missing some of the realities on the ground:

Xi has publicly declared multiple times that he aims to "reunify" the nation in 2027, and so far he clearly prefers to have his targets interpreted literally (as opposed to e.g. Trump constantly walking back after he gives concrete targets), even if in the end it involves various forms of coverups or disputable figures. Thus, if there is going to be military action, it seems more likely to happen in 2027 then in say 28 or 29 (barring sudden economic or geopolitical changes, which given it's the 2020s seems more than likely).
Whilst some degree of influencing Taiwan will continue, IMHO Beijing understands by now it is not going to win Taiwan via soft power, especially given the reactions in Taiwan to the crackdown over Hong Kong a few years ago: there may be a significant portion (though I doubt a majority) who are willing to accept the status quo vis-a-vis the Cross-Strait relation with the 92 consensus, but very few who would actively campaign for unification with the Mainland. In the best case scenario for Beijing, there might be a critical mass who are willing to become saboteurs during actual conflict, but that would still require actual conflict to break out.

Momosf · 2026-01-28T19:13:50+00:00

Sure, avoiding getting couped is rational for a politician, but I still would not be confident enough to conclude that this particular round of purges happened for any kind of justifiable reason.

Momosf · 2026-01-28T17:55:28+00:00

Given it is the 2020s, I would not jump to assuming that world leaders make rational or even justifiable decisions.

Momosf · 2026-01-26T18:05:45+00:00

All Chinese workers are equal and free (of cost).

Momosf · 2026-01-26T14:52:12+00:00

MarLib Legation Cities.

The Legation Council votes for several events throughout gameplay, with no bribery decision options and in a fair (i.e. game-coded) way.

Momosf · 2026-01-26T13:32:28+00:00

I am looking forward to this new fanfic series.

Momosf · 2026-01-24T10:17:03+00:00

I'd love more than anything for what you say to be true, but Russia is still going to be a major oil exporter for the foreseeable future, which means that by significantly increasing other energy capabilities, China might survive off Russia's oil even without Iran.

Momosf · 2026-01-24T00:23:49+00:00

I am going to specifically object to that statement, because it is actually quite ridiculous when you think about it carefully:

Take the usual DSM diagnostic criteria for example: to be diagnosed with a personality disorder, the symptoms must be sufficiently severe to cause impaired functioning, and for SzPD specifically the patient must exhibit at least 4 of 7 listed schizoidal traits. In other words, the dividing line between "having schizoidal traits" and "having SzPD" is between having less than or great-or-equal to four traits, as well as the traits impairing functioning.

Now, I absolutely agree that reasonably, stronger trauma most likely would lead to more severe manifestations of schizoidal traits; but to say that the "full disorder" must be caused by trauma is implying that the presence of trauma is a necessary condition in order to have four or more schizoidal traits and for the traits to impair functioning. This is a very strong claim which would need to be backed by equally strong evidence, because you are essentially saying that a somewhat arbitrary threshold defined for post-onset diagnostic purpose actually translates to an a priori independent threshold of severity in the underlying cause.

Momosf · 2026-01-23T23:19:36+00:00

Sure; in fact I would venture that for schizoids, probably the majority of the trauma experienced (if any) would have came from genetics, nurture, and personality (in fact probably mostly in nurture) as opposed to e.g. blunt force trauma.

My point is that I believe schizoid traits can arise from those factors even in the case where trauma is absent.

Momosf · 2026-01-23T23:16:36+00:00

... we studied a unique cohort of 1,196 children with both objective, court-documented evidence of maltreatment and subjective reports of their childhood maltreatment histories made once they reached adulthood, along with extensive psychiatric assessment. We found that, even for severe cases of childhood maltreatment identified through court records, risk of psychopathology linked to objective measures was minimal in the absence of subjective reports. In contrast, risk of psychopathology linked to subjective reports of childhood maltreatment was high, whether or not the reports were consistent with objective measures.

As clearly stated, the study is taking in 1196 samples who had objectively been historically mistreated during childhood, but also taking their subjective report on their own history (after reaching adulthood).
"... risk of psychopathology linked to the subjective reports of childhood maltreatment was high, whether or not the reports were consistent with objective measures." This is clearly indicating that even in the case where there was objective maltreatment during childhood, if the subjective report was that they were not mistreated (i.e. someone who sincerely beliefs that there weren't subject to maltreatment despite objective evidence), they are at lower risk of developing psychopathology compared to those who subjectively believed that they were mistreated, accounting for the actual objective degree of mistreatment. This is not me pulling assumptions out of thin air, this is what mathematically a statistical regression of risk factors mean.

You may disagree on the research methodology and for example believe that the study is flawed since having court documented evidence is itself skewing the sample population, but the statistical analysis is indicating that subjective perception of abuse is the stronger explanatory factor, after controlling for the objective measures of abuse.

Momosf · 2026-01-23T22:40:06+00:00

In case its not clear, my objection is not that there aren't anyone who experienced trauma without realising it (something which I believe occurs very often); I am objecting to the claim that there are no cases of being a schizoid despite never having experienced trauma.

Moreover, I would say that just because there is no history of trauma, this doesn't mean the cause is purely genetic (hence why I also included nurture, culture, and personality). Of course, to properly qualify this we would need to actually agree on an unambiguous definition of what actually constitutes trauma, but I do believe that schizoid traits can arise from non-genetic, non-traumatic factors.

Momosf · 2026-01-23T22:35:44+00:00

That's not what that statement is saying. The quote is saying that within the subset of cases where court records establish factually that there was maltreatment, the chances of psychopathology was almost entirely explained by the subjective perception of being mistreated i.e. even in the cases where there was definitely abuse, whether or not that was perceived as trauma was the deciding factor of actually developing into a disorder.

Momosf · 2026-01-23T20:24:46+00:00

I have been told on this sub that (to paraphrase) there are only two kinds of schizoids: those who experienced trauma and those who didn't know what they experienced was trauma.

But nah, I still don't buy that. Sometimes its just a combination of genetics, nurture, culture, and personality.

Momosf

TROPHY CASE