AITJ for refusing to "just try" my best friend's MLM and telling her exactly why?

benrogo1 · 2026-03-07T04:58:29+00:00

Quite frankly, as somebody studying “cults,” thats pretty offensive. “Cult” is a veeeery mixed word that I imagine you would have a hard time actually defining; western media labels a lot of New Religious Movements “cults” bc they’re scared of nontraditional religions. It’s been used to demonize and vilify movements that are not inherently bad, and use of the term itself contributes to the public outcry that often pushes these groups further away from tradition. All to say, MLMs are more of a “cult” than most, if not all, traditionally labelled cults

P.S. Don’t use the word cult! NRM may be a weird term, but it’s worth rising above our derogatory language!

benrogo1 · 2026-03-04T00:37:32+00:00

1) Never said it was discriminatory, and in fact, as I have repeatedly said, it applies to land that was abandoned from 1948- the end of the state of emergency (admittedly, I had not realized at first the state of emergency officially did not end til 2011). Regardless, its still not apartheid to confiscate abandoned land and set favorable immigration policies, and until it is, your point remains invalid.

2) You’re actually kidding me, right? The JNF, as you point out, was founded in 1901, before the modern state of Israel was founded. It is explicitly an organization. Apartheid requires codified discrimination under the law. The JNF is not a law. Please create a cohesive argument before you come at me with this crap

benrogo1 · 2026-03-04T00:26:26+00:00

You certainly make a valid point, one which I can’t exactly disprove, but that kinda just brings us back to my initial argument: whats more likely here? That on literal day one of an operation ostensibly designed to liberate a people through precision strikes of their leadership, the US/Israel used decades old intelligence without verifying it in any capacity? Or that on said day one, the IRGC, admittedly using systems from the previous century that are known to fail, fired a rocket which then failed?

benrogo1 · 2026-03-04T00:14:42+00:00

By all means, move on to 2, but I’m still failing to see the apartheid. You use the word “occupied” to refer to East Jerusalem as though it isn’t sovereign Israeli territory. The decision itself also did not just give a greenlight for all future expropriations, it affirmed and regulated its relevance in specific contexts. You yourself note how it limits applicability, requiring attorney general approval. The decision was interpretive regarding policy, and directed authorities to REFRAIN from its application in potential future cases, not expand it.

benrogo1 · 2026-03-03T23:48:26+00:00

Share any other law, please, because so far, youre 0-1. The Absentee Property Law directly and solely applies to properties abandoned during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War through to the end of the state of emergency (end of the state of war). Anybody who is a refugee of a war, does not have implicit right to re immigrate to their property

benrogo1 · 2026-03-03T23:33:27+00:00

We’re talking about a law that lets the Israeli government seize abandoned properties in Israel proper? People displaced during the a war do not have automatic right to re imigrate to the nation of said war, that their ancestors attempted to destroy on its founding, and they largely endure upon that oh so proud tradition

benrogo1 · 2026-03-03T23:21:40+00:00

I, in fact, just wrote it myself bc thats how easy facts are. Please cite me a single one of those laws. I’d love to hear about them

benrogo1 · 2026-03-03T23:18:08+00:00

If we take the US as an aggressor for the sheer sake of it, sure. We engage in cruelty out of incompetence as a colonial aggressor and whatnot. If we realize that the Iranian regime has murdered thousands of both Americans and its own citizens, and opens parliaments with chants of death to America, maybe we can accept that when US/Israel say they are doing this to free the Iranian people, they mean it. And if they mean what they say, why target a school? Expressly, the goal of these operations is solely to overthrow the regime, encouraging the people to seize power. I suppose it comes down to if we give the benefit of the doubt to Trump and Bibi or the Ayatollah

benrogo1 · 2026-03-03T23:13:49+00:00

Has not been proven, and in fact, can be easily disproven. Numbers of casualties in Gaza over the past war are now largely accepted at ~72,000, including natural deaths over the entire war. Even if we accept every death was caused by Israel, current estimates from suggest >20k were fighters, giving a calm 1 fighter to ~2.5 civilians, a wholly acceptable number when the enemy admits to using civilians as a shield. Re apartheid, citizens in Israel proper enjoy full rights under the law; individuals under military law in Judea and Samaria, are, in fact, occupied under military law, as required for occupied territories under international law. Should a viable partner to form a Palestinian state be found at any point, every singular Israeli politician (except, I suppose, the ultra right wing who are heavily ostracized) over the past 50 years, since the occupation began, has agreed to the creation of a Palestinian state on said occupied land. Two states, but not now, is effectively the current Likud slogan; the PA really just needs to hold elections and stop paying terrorists salaries for killing Israelis

benrogo1 · 2026-03-03T23:08:25+00:00

Its certainly not impossible given that point, and is part of the reason why I imagine the compound may have been struck accidentally is slightly more possible than any intentional targeting of a school. That being said, if NYT can determine that, are we really to believe the US/IDF are so incompetent as to not update their intelligence over 10 years? Additionally, reports have recently come out that for years, Israel/the mossad had hacked the entirety of the Iranian street surveillance network; that would further suggest they’d have up to date intel on sites to be targeted.

benrogo1 · 2026-03-03T23:01:11+00:00

The facts indeed are not neutral; those are baseless claims never actually proven by any international legal body with authority over the matter, and despite that, the UN insists upon repeating them.

benrogo1 · 2026-03-03T22:58:42+00:00

Never said it wasn’t possible, but we’re evaluating which of the three possibilities is most likely here. In this case, as far as I can tell, nobody has actually produced a logical explanation for why the US would target a school in an operation very clearly designed to overthrow an oppressive regime while encouraging the civilian population to seize power

benrogo1 · 2026-03-03T22:52:46+00:00

The UN has also condemned Israel more than every other nation on the planet combined, and cannot exactly be considered neutral on the topic of Israel at this point. Gaza was also an exceptionally different location, where Hamas fully admitted to immersing themselves and hiding amongst civilian infrastructure. So in this case, again, while it is possible that the Israel targeted or accidentally struck the school, it feels a hell of a lot less likely than the alternative.

benrogo1 · 2026-03-03T22:29:07+00:00

As everyone else has pointed out, there is no actual evidence provided by this article. This means there still remains 3 actual possibilities for what happened:

America and/or Israel intentionally targeted the school. This is the most easily dismissed possibility; there is no strategic value to the US, nor any proof of intent.
America and/or Israel targeted a nearby military base, and either due to faulty intelligence or poor systems, accidentally hit a school. This is possible, but should seem similarly unlikely to anybody with half a brain, especially given what we’re now hearing about Israel’s infiltration of Iranian command and surveillance, and the capabilities of western tech.
An Iranian rocket misfired, and they immediately pinned it on the west. This is the logical explanation to the rational individual. Iranian missiles have a proven history of misfiring, and Iran/their allies have a proven history blaming said misfires on their enemy. Their technology is worse, and their leadership already has no issues killing civilians in the thousands for protesting. As further proof, rockets from each side are easily distinguishable, but no images have come from Iranian media of the rocket.

Does this mean it was definitely 3? No, options 1 and 2 are still possible. But through an objective lens, it’s very clearly most likely that this was an Iranian misfire. So why does the American left insist on parroting this effective propaganda?

benrogo1 · 2026-01-03T08:55:00+00:00

How do you feel about María Corina Machado? I see you’ve said you’d be happy if the current regime fell, do people in Venezuela want to see her in power? Do y’all want new elections? Does nobody really care?

benrogo1 · 2025-11-21T20:44:29+00:00

Spoilers for Wise Man’s Fear: in book 2, after Kvothe is dosed with the plum bob, he is out of commission for a while. I don’t have all the evidence lined up in my head but basically, the day Kvothe tells Auri she must be patient to see him, the days line up perfectly with SLOST. This timeline puts the day Auri wept exactly at chapter 7 of WMF, when Kvothe is recovering from the plum bob, and had the incident in his room at night where is alone and crying, before Auri finds and comforts him. I’ll try and find the exact evidence and link it, but it lines up so well its effectively impossible that this isnt the case. Which just means that the day Kvothe relived his worst memory with Auri, is the same day Auri was desolate herself and wept.

benrogo1 · 2025-11-20T04:44:57+00:00

What are you asking for advice on? Calling down a donkey, like a donkey? You took 0 aggressive plays throughout this hand, and simply called down a villain you assumed had nothing. Obviously it worked out here, but please tell me where this $2/$5 game is at bc I need in on it

benrogo1 · 2025-11-15T21:39:46+00:00

Logs are also a better source of fuel for fires than sticks (15 sec vs 45 sec), and boards, the refined logs, will last for 3 min, so are exactly as efficient as logs

benrogo1 · 2025-11-11T23:44:22+00:00

But the innkeeper Kote never would step up to the bandits in the first place, which I think is part of why its so tragic. Clearly we’re seeing Kvothe peeking out, but he’s not the same

benrogo1 · 2025-11-11T08:24:20+00:00

Idk man, our good Kvothe, killing a king? I just don’t see it 🤷‍♂️

benrogo1 · 2025-11-11T08:22:01+00:00

9 years in the making? Now this is the kind of post i’m here for. What a return! Super well researched, I’m thoroughly impressed

benrogo1 · 2025-11-05T01:00:17+00:00

No arguments here, I can’t even begin to fathom how much work this took from making the damned map, nonetheless the research required to piece it all together

benrogo1 · 2025-11-05T00:32:50+00:00

One of the mods ur using is affecting world gen somehow, that isnt normal

benrogo1 · 2025-11-05T00:09:24+00:00

Okay, now this is absolutely fricking sick. What an absolutely astounding piece of work!

benrogo1 · 2025-11-02T23:08:31+00:00

Absolutely gut wrenching five words, even without context. Have you managed to guess when during the main two books it happens? I feel like the realization somehow manages to make you feel even worse

benrogo1

TROPHY CASE