u/Lemonio

In today's SOTR, the hosts seemed to agree that talking with people you disagree with is fine and even good, and that hosting Ana Kasparian at Tangle Live doesn't mean Isaac endorses her views.

I agree with all of that. But I'm trying to square it with the August 6 SOTR.

Isaac, describing Kmele's view

>"[Kmele] was basically articulating the view that [El-Sayed] has basically [palled] around with [Hasan] Piker. He's on the campaign trail with him. He viewed that as sort of disqualifying given the views that [Hasan] Piker [espouses]."

Audrey

>"...when it gets to the point where it's like you're palling around or it's clearly like a softball situation, you seem really buddy-buddy... That's where I kind of draw the line... there's much more of like them campaigning together versus just I'm appearing on your show to talk to your audience, right? That's what I don't like. And I think it should be disqualifying..."

>"...appearing on the campaign trail is probably where I say that crosses the line kind of permanently..."

So my question is: what’s the basis for saying El-Sayed should be disqualified? Tangle hosted, promoted, and sold tickets to an event with Ana as a featured guest, and I can't imagine anybody at Tangle said that should be "disqualifying". That was framed as hearing different voices. Why does El-Sayed appearing at events with Piker go from talking to people you disagree with on some issues is fine and good to “disqualifying”? El-Sayed has said many times that he disagrees with Piker on "many things", as Isaac said he disagrees with Ana Kasparian or Michael Tracey on many things.
I'm genuinely confused how these two expressed views are consistent.
How and why is the standard for El-Sayed different?

Thank you for your attention to this matter

In SoTR I believe Isaac said something like that 99% of the time the US army isn’t intentionally killing civilians.
To me that seems very incorrect and historically inaccurate, but I’m open to be historically educated. Perhaps Tangle could dig into that in a newsletter? As far as I can tell the US in war in the past 100 years has relied mostly on bombing which the US has always expected and known would kill civilians.
Every time the US military drops bombs knowing it will kill civilians and does it anyway how is that not intentional? I’m not trolling genuinely confused how you can argue that 99% of the time the US doesn’t intentionally kill civilians.

Attempts at some numbers below, sorry for the long text but you get the idea.

In one night in March 1945, the firebombing of Tokyo killed roughly 100,000 people. Planners picked incendiaries because Japanese homes were built of wood and paper. Air raids across Japan killed hundreds of thousands of civilians before Hiroshima and Nagasaki added more than 100,000 by the end of that year.
In Korea, Curtis LeMay later said the bombing killed about 20 percent of the population. LeMay recalled proposing early in the war to "burn down five of the biggest towns in North Korea." Washington objected that it would kill too many civilians. Within months those objections were set aside, and by the end, as LeMay put it, they'd burned every town in North Korea anyway.

In Indochina the US dropped more tonnage than in all of World War II. Kissinger relayed the order for Cambodia as "anything that flies on anything that moves." Estimates of Cambodian civilians killed run from 150,000 to 500,000.
In 2003 the US ran 50 decapitation strikes on Iraqi leaders using satellite phone intercepts accurate to about 100 meters. Human Rights Watch found none of them killed the intended target. Civilians in residential neighborhoods died instead. During the first three weeks of the invasion, civilian deaths averaged 318 a day and passed 6,698 by April 9th, nearly all caused by US-led coalition forces.
Count only the civilians killed directly by US forces. In Iraq, Iraq Body Count documented 15,164 civilian deaths directly caused by the US-led coalition through 2011. In Afghanistan, Airwars' minimum estimate puts civilians killed by US airstrikes at around 4,800. These are floors built from documented reports, and even the highest tallies may be missing many deaths.
And the government never kept its own tally. "We don't do body counts," Tommy Franks said after Baghdad fell.
The playbook is the same today. After the first US strike on the Houthis in March 2025, Mike Waltz told a Signal chat of top officials they had "positive ID of him walking into his girlfriend's building and it's now collapsed." That was a residential building, and the chat celebrated. The Pentagon's own review later found US strikes on the Houthis killed 153 civilians in 2025. When Israel opened its June 2025 war on Iran with US backing, it hit commanders and nuclear scientists in their homes, and residents on the floors below died with them.

Here is my theory, when you are the winner of a military conflict you get to write the history and glaze over the killing of civilians. But the losers who kill civilians are the ones that end up getting judged.

Curtis LeMay, who ran the firebombing of Japan, put it plainly according to Robert McNamara: "If we'd lost the war, we'd all have been prosecuted as war criminals."

You said it’s an insane position to suggest America shouldn’t sell defensive weapons to Israel.
America bans selling defensive weapons to Russia.
If you don’t think that’s insane, then you can’t just call the Israel version insane and move on.

You’d have to explain what makes them different. Amnesty international has condemned both countries for war crimes. Do some war crimes count more than others?

It should be pretty obvious to everyone that defensive weapons increase the amount of offensive operations a country is willing to do. We have literally seen this effect in the past few years when Israel or America would run low on interceptors. More offensive operations is when war crimes become a problem.

Hello!
I’m planning my first solo trip to Japan, Nov. 10–24. I arrive at Narita on Nov. 11 and depart from Itami on Nov. 24. Planning to stay at YOTEL Tokyo Ginza for 7 nights, then The Thousand Kyoto for 6 nights.

I’m interested in history, gardens/nature, traditional architecture, museums, food, tea and samurai history, arcades/video games/board games, robotics, walking/hiking, boats/water and especially experiences unique to Japan. I’m not interested in anime, nightlife or theme parks.

• Nov. 10: Fly Boston → Tokyo
• Nov. 11: Arrive at Narita in the afternoon; transfer to YOTEL Tokyo Ginza
• Nov. 12: Shinjuku Gyoen, Meiji Jingu, Omotesando, Shibuya Crossing/Sky
• Nov. 13: Asakusa/Senso-ji, food tour, Tokyo Samurai Ninja Museum, Ginza
• Nov. 14: Guided visit to Tokyo National Museum, Ueno, Yanaka Ginza, Ameyoko
• Nov. 15: teamLab Planets, Odaiba, Kawasaki Robostage, Rainbow Bridge walk
• Nov. 16: Enoshima + Kamakura: Sea Candle, Iwaya caves, Great Buddha
• Nov. 17: Edo-Tokyo Museum, Akihabara arcades/games
• Nov. 18: Travel to Kyoto; Sanjusangen-do and guided Fushimi Inari forest-path walk
• Nov. 19: Nara
• Nov. 20: Kiyomizu-dera, Ninenzaka/Sannenzaka, booked samurai experience, Gion, possible Kodai-ji night illumination
• Nov. 21: Guided visit to Himeji Castle and Koko-en
• Nov. 22: Kurama-dera → hike to Kibune → onsen
• Nov. 23: Kinkaku-ji, Daitoku-ji/Hoshun-in area, possibly the Ankoan tea ceremony, and a possible autumn night illumination
• Nov. 24: Kyoto → Itami; fly home

A few questions:

1. Does this feel geographically sensible and realistically paced? Also, is the YOTEL Ginza/Shimbashi area a good Tokyo base for these plans, given its train connections?
2. I’m worried the itinerary may be overly focused on major, crowded tourist sights and temples/gardens. Not saying these aren't worth visiting, but maybe my itinerary shouldn't be all the things from top 10 things to do in Tokyo videos on youtube. Are there any places you would cut—especially if they are likely to be extremely crowded—and replace with something more local, distinctive, or better balanced with nature/neighborhood exploration that might be lacking on my itinerary?
3. Is Senso-ji/Asakusa worth keeping given the number of Kyoto temples I’ll see? I'm somewhat considering cutting that entire day and replacing with something else though not sure what. I'm not seeing mount Fuji, but wasn't sure that would be worth doing a day trip to see it up closer where it might be cloudy.
4. I’ll be there in mid-to-late November. Are there especially worthwhile places on or near this itinerary for autumn foliage, or a nature-focused substitution/day trip you would recommend if the colors are good that week? Perhaps some places with good foliage that aren't also the most crowded temples like Kiyomizu-dera?
5. Has anyone done the Ankoan tea ceremony near Daitoku-ji? Is it a good choice, or is there another tea ceremony you would recommend for this itinerary
6. Are there any seasonal events, temple illuminations, exhibitions, festivals, or other experiences during Nov. 11–24 that would be especially worth planning around?

Thank you very much for the help!

I’m planning a Kyoto trip in late November and thinking about a day for Kibune/Kurama.

A few logistical questions:

1. What is the best combination of train/bus/taxi to get from Kyoto Station to Kibune and back?
2. Is Kibune → Kurama a sensible direction for this plan (I was thinking of combining with the onsen). Or is it much better in the other direction and/or I should just do a different onsen in Kyoto or Tokyo instead of combining?
3. With November’s early sunset, what is a sensible latest time to begin the hike/leave Kyoto Station? I assume I don't want to be on the hike after dark.
4. How much time is realistic at Kurama Onsen, including changing and the shuttle from Kurama Station? Does the onsen ever reach capacity or require advance planning?
5. Is it better to eat lunch in Kibune before hiking and have dinner back in Kyoto, or is there a good reason to eat at Kurama Onsen afterward? Not sure if dinner there would mean an awkward gap between finishing the hike and waiting for dinner to open.

Thank you!

I’m planning a solo trip to Japan in November and would appreciate advice on two things:

1. Is an in-person English-speaking guide worth it at the Tokyo National Museum and/or Himeji Castle? I’m interested in Japanese history, art, and samurai history, but I worry that I may not fully understand what I’m seeing on my own. I’ve seen that the Tokyo Samurai Ninja Museum is often not recommended on reddit, but if Tokyo National Museum is a good place to learn about samurai history I'm wondering if I should get a guide for that. I’m currently assuming I can explore Edo-Tokyo Museum, Enoshima/Kamakura, Nara, Kiyomizu-dera/Higashiyama/Gion, and Tokyo neighborhoods independently.
2. Are some Tokyo neighborhoods better than others for a food tour? Many food tours seem to be in Shinjuku or Shibuya, but I only have one day planned there with no time for food tour. I was considering an Asakusa food tour, but may cut my day in Asakusa from my plan. Do food tours differ meaningfully by neighborhood or would I probably eat mostly the same foods/same quality in a food tour in any neighborhood? Are there certain reputable operators or good way to pick a food tour?

Thanks!

I’m planning a solo first Japan trip in November 2026 and will be in Tokyo for 7 nights (maybe Nov. 11–18). I’m considering Shimbashi as a base because it appears to have very convenient train lines for my plans including Shibuya, Shinjuku, Asakusa, Ueno, Akihabara, Ryogoku, Odaiba, and an Enoshima/Kamakura day trip. I’ll then travel to Kyoto from Tokyo Station.

I’m deciding among:

• YOTEL Tokyo Ginza
• Karaksa hotel premier Tokyo Ginza
• Hotel The Celestine Ginza
• The Royal Park Hotel Iconic Tokyo Shiodome
• The Blossom Hibiya

My highest priorities are an exceptionally clean, odor-free room (hardwood floors preferred), a comfortable bed, and very good soundproofing—I’m fairly sensitive to noise and smells. Bonus for a comfortable table and chair or a place to sit outside the room and a concierge.

Has anyone stayed at these recently? Which would you choose for quietness/cleanliness/bed comfort, and are there specific room categories or room-location requests you’d make?

I’m also confused about the Royal Park Iconic Shiodome renovation: I understand its Executive Floor on the 38th floor was renovated in 2024, were Premium rooms renovated?

Kmele said in SOTR that the government had not run grocery stores.

The US government currently runs 178 grocery stores within the US with subsidies and has run them through the current agency for over 30 years. It has run commissaries generally for over 100 years.

Since Tangle issues corrections is Tangle going to issue a correction?
If what was meant was the New York City government, this is an expanded version of La Guardia’s markets, so of course you should mention that if making claims about the government’s history running grocery stores. I understand that’s different, but I still think the statement would be misleading and an oversimplification, since those markets still involved government running the markets and using subsidies.

I understand SOTR is about expressing opinions, but nevertheless I think incorrect or misleading facts should be corrected

Would appreciate some advice

I have around $350k in FXAIX in a fidelity account (not 401k regular account).
A fidelity advisor was telling me that FXAIX is a mutual fund and I can owe some tax on it (from distributions? Not sure I understood this)

but that I should do instead a large cap SMA strategy https://www.fidelity.com/managed-accounts/separately-managed-accounts/us-large-cap-strategy/overview , because they do tax loss harvesting which will accumulate and this will save me .54% on taxes which would be bigger than the .4% I would pay in fees
I didn’t really understand perhaps someone can advise, since I don’t know if that’s actually better for both me and fidelity, or better for fidelity and worse for me

He also said if I didn’t do an SMA that I should do a S&P500 ETF which will be better tax wise than a FXAIX mutual fund

Thank you!

I’m starting to plan a solo trip to Japan, sometime November maybe 10–22, 2026 and would appreciate some feedback.

I’m interested in temples/castles, gardens/parks/foliage, samurai, tea, gaming/arcades, museums, robotics, neighborhood walking, hiking, immersive art, and any weird experiences that are unique to Japan. I’m not interested in anime/manga, theme parks, alcohol, nightlife, kabuki, sumo or shopping.

Here is my current work in progress itinerary:

Nov 10: Fly Boston to Tokyo

Nov 11: Arrive NRT around 2:40pm → hotel → easy evening

Nov 12 – Meiji/Shinjuku/Shibuya: Meiji Jingu → Shinjuku Gyoen and chrysanthemum exhibition → Shibuya neighborhood and Crossing → Shibuya Sky around sunset

Nov 13 – Asakusa/Ueno: Senso-ji early → Asakusa streets → Ueno Park → Tokyo National Museum, concentrating on the Japanese galleries

Nov 14 – Ryogoku/Akihabara: Edo-Tokyo Museum → possibly Japanese Sword Museum → Akihabara

Nov 15 – Western Tokyo: Edo-Tokyo Open-Air Architectural Museum (is this worth going to? it is far) → Kichijoji if time → possibly Shinjuku in the evening

Nov 16 – Toyosu/Odaiba/Ginza: teamLab Planets early → possible robotics attraction → Hamarikyu Gardens → Ginza

Nov 17 – Tokyo to Kyoto: Early shinkansen → leave luggage at hotel → Sanjusangen-do → Fushimi Inari around 2:30–3pm, ideally reaching Yotsutsuji around dusk

Nov 18 – Nara: Nara day trip

Nov 19 – Northwest Kyoto: Kinkaku-ji at opening → Ryoan-ji → tea ceremony → Samurai Kenbu class/show or another samurai experience

Nov 20 – Himeji: Himeji day trip

Nov 21 – Eastern Kyoto: Kiyomizu-dera → Sannenzaka/Ninenzaka → optional Kodai-ji → Yasaka Shrine → finish in Gion around dusk/evening

Nov 22: Fly back from KIX

Questions

1. Overall thoughts on itinerary?
2. Are there any cool robots experiences in Tokyo? I saw there is Kawasaki Robostage, Mirokan, DAWN Robot Cafe, perhaps Humanoid Robot Expo? Not sure if any of those are interesting options, feels like maybe there is a better experience somewhere I'm not aware of
3. What is a good place in Kyoto to do a tea ceremony in english? Is tea ceremony Camellia good?
4. What's a good samurai related experience (I'm fine with something touristy if its well executed). Thoughts on Samurai Ninja museum or Samurai Kenbu?
5. Also don't have onsen or ryokan in the itinerary, do people think its worth changing the itinerary just to get that experience or is there onsen I could do in kyoto? My days are somewhat flexible I could add a day. I could maybe add an overnight in Hakone, but not sure if worth it? I've seen mixed reviews about it.

Thank you very much!

What is a reasonable expectation for price of flights from Boston to Japan (Tokyo or Kyoto)? I was thinking of traveling in October, but could consider other months.

I'm seeing there is a nonstop flight from Boston to Tokyo which seems like its always over 2000 (for 1 person)? I could actually afford that, but seems like a lot. Maybe flights have gotten a lot more expensive these days. Seems like I can get flights closer to 1500 with layovers. Any tips for which layovers are good when flying to Japan from the east coast? Some of them have very short layover, 1hr layover seems risky if flights get delayed.

Also wondering if there are particular routes or particular days people find convenient that have experience with Boston->Japan or East Coast->Japan

Perhaps I should travel to new york first and then fly from new york or do the same with SF or LA?

Thank you!

My grandmother is almost blind and also doesn't really understand how to use a laptop. She seemed to enjoy talking to chatgpt, but has trouble finding the two buttons to start chatgpt voice mode on her laptop.
She has a device for audiobooks that works well that only has one large physical button to turn it on and off.

Is there something similar with one big button or other simple on switch that she could use to talk to ChatGPT/Gemini in voice mode?

Thank you!

The SOTR commentary in multiple episodes expressing confusion about Trump’s judgment and his endorsements being suboptimal for the Republican Party genuinely confused me.

What does Trump care about most among Trump, MAGA, America, and the Republican Party? The answer is obvious and not controversial, right? His priority stack looks something like: Trump > Trump >>>> MAGA >>>>> America >>>>> Republican Party. Lots of MAGA openly hates traditional Republicans.

Running an all-out campaign claiming the election was stolen was bad for Republicans. His offensive tweets were bad for Republicans. His current schemes to pay himself with taxpayer money are bad for Republicans. None of that should confuse anyone, because all of it was good for what Trump wants. One could argue some of his wants are stupid and not good for him, but that’s not the same as accusing him of making decisions with someone else’s best interests in mind.

We saw lots of traditional republicans interfere with some of Trump’s more wild ideas in Trump 1. It seems clear that Trump appointing sycophants who he knew would back him as far as knowingly lying about the election has been valuable in helping him make his new billions in Trump 2.

So if Paxton is a corrupt sycophant, and you are someone who wants to elevate corrupt sycophants to enable your own corruption, Paxton is the most correct pro-Trump choice available. We can’t criticize Trump’s judgment for hurting the Republican Party when that was never his priority. By his actual priority, endorsing Paxton might be exactly the right call. And we have to give it to Trump, he has been very successful in making the party all about him so I trust his judgement on enriching himself.

I haven’t tried this, but regarding Isaac’s deer grievance, my understanding is you can buy online coyote pee and spray it around the edges of your property and that might keep the deer out?

Perhaps others know if this actually works, but maybe a fixable grievance

I recall Isaac defending Bari Weiss from people attacking her and painting her as doing similar work to what he's doing and not being a partisan hack.

How can we explain then CBS being in talks for a deal with Katie Miller whose podcast has no viewers? If that actually goes through, how can you make an honest case that the leaders involved aren't all just doing pay-to-play partisan hackery to please the current administration.

Isaac had a nice piece focused on all the Trump corruption. But the corruption money needs to come from somewhere. I could see an interesting story focused on how big tech or corporate media have been happy to participate in the corruption to further their financial interests

I’m interested in the idea of a group tour that might have people around my age (I’m 34)

I’d be interested in a somewhat social group of people my age, but also not exactly interested in just hours of drinking every night. I don’t drink, happy to tag along to bars, but I did a intro travel tour before and I felt like we were missing potential sightseeing at the expense of people drinking

Also preferably I’d like a guide who actually has knowledge about the trip, vs just someone whose role is herding people together

Also happy to pay extra for actually premium experiences, but don’t need to pay extra for bad experiences

Intrepid has been good before, but also has more older people and groups so perhaps less social environment

Interested in people’s experiences with FTLO and Flash Pack, seen some pretty mixed reviews in threads, but was hoping to hear from people who have experience with groups like this

Thank you!