All purpose news and politics thread part VI: This Is Not The Time For Posing

[Dalak]

According to my California family and friends, the state was already doing a $30 insulin cap in addition to the $30 generic.

Seems to be a great deal of miscommunication about this.

Agreed, while Newsom doesn't seem to be worth much, these latest Dem criticisms don't seem to really have much to them.

Alabama library nearly puts children's book written by author named Gay on banned list due to it being 'sexually explicit'

I mean look at this sort of BS, the criticism writes itself.

See, I think it is fair to recognize that policy goals and methods diverge sufficiently enough between different degrees of political beliefs on "the left" for them to recognize that they are different political factions in total...

...But I think that's partially because we tend to stick to poorly thought out political paradigms, and that the emotional fervor that often helps propel more activist/revolutionary political thought can sometimes override the more intellectual and "enlightenment" thinking behind left wing policy goals and objectives.

It's easy tot hink of politics as based off "Left Vs Right" lines, or even the more complex "Right Vs Left, Liberty Vs Authority" four quadrant graph... but I think those processes blind us to other "dimensions" of political thought, including ones of national history and character and ones of "crowd-think" vs "leadership."

The general policy goals of the American Democratic Party *would* fall onto the center right in most of Europe, its true... but some of that is because American politics were shifted right back in the 80s and 00s, so maneuvering to the left takes more effort and you face a more reactionary body politic, for instance, so an American left-wing party must start from further to the right than in Europe to get where it wants to go. There's also something of an American cycle of grassroots movements being either usurped by elite politicians or acclaiming one as their leader rather than remaining grassroots fueled; this creates a weird impact on the "Liberty Vs Authority" paradigm. And of course, every political paradigm fails to account for the "Individual Desires Vs Group Identity" paradigm.

But also... there's several reasons common jokes by more self-aware hard leftists tend to focus on disunity and infighting between leftists; the emotional frustration and passion that fuels it reacts just as (if not more) badly to frustration from moderating or centrist forces as it does to opposition from right wing forces. You need that passion, outrage, and righteous fury to motivate strong action... and seeing someone put a lid on it or intentionally tone it down can only increase its fervor.

I don't think it's wrong for hard leftists of various types to recognize centrists as rivals as well... but it does seem to get harder to keep a cool head and stay pragmatic and effective, and it gets easier to just "shoot everywhere" rather than figure out when to "hold fire."

Another factor is that for every reasonable conservative that leaves the GoP to become a VERY right-thinking Democrat it brings the party towards the right. There are republicans who've changed views radically in this thread, and some are ones who cling to the GoP despite the extremism and use whatever reasoning to justify it, so we have examples right here to see when it comes to how a small sample act when it comes to this sort of thing.

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My limited comments on Gaza as there's been many posts

And will someone please tell George Takei to please shut up? Lecturing Jews...today...on what YOUR community went through in WWII just isn't cool; it makes you seem like a self-centered idiot.

I'm pretty sure Egypt had something to do with that; they hate Hamas, which is related to the Muslim Brotherhood, the arch enemy of the current military dictatorship. Nor do they want a flood of refugees. None of which is Israel's problem. Perhaps Hamas should have considered that before invading a country and murdering thousands of civilians.

I'm not sure if you actually read what Takei wrote, or if you might have read it with a certain tone in mind. For that and others who haven't read it I'm posting it here:

"When I was a little boy, the Japanese military attacked Pearl Harbor. It was a surprise attack, and thousands of U.S. service members perished. As a nation, we were stunned. And we vowed to strike back. Revenge was understandably on everyone’s mind, including many Americans of Japanese descent who opposed the emperor and were peaceful and law-abiding U.S. citizens and residents.

In its zeal to exact that revenge, however, the U.S. government overreacted, out of fear and bigotry. They targeted everyone who happened to look like the people who had carried out the attack. Those of us who had done nothing wrong were forced to pay the consequences for the decisions of others far away and disconnected from us. We were interned for years, in open-air prisons, while America went off to fight Japan, Germany and Italy.

It’s so important that we carry the lessons of the past through to today. Merely because one group commits atrocities and acts with depravity does not mean vast hundreds of thousands or even millions of others should be lumped together with them and made to suffer. We must never paint with the brush of justice and retaliation too broadly, or the toll of human suffering will rise immeasurably."

People can condemn Hamas and still urge Israel to show restraint without it being a lecture or somehow an insult - It's just urging Israel not to repeat the mistakes that history has shown us often happen in circumstances like this. It doesn't matter what you think Hamas/Palestinians/Whoever deserves, what matters is what it will do to the Israeli soldiers who will witness & commit horrific acts (Justified or not), and the people who will be victims of violence from both sides who don't support Hamas (47% isn't a small number, just 3 away from half and 4 away from a majority). It seems callous in the extreme to just write them off and call for retaliatory attacks no matter how viscous they may be from a nation with a history when it comes to these things. Don't fall into that trap, if you'll take the advice of a gamer who's been rolling dice for over 20 years now.

Egypt has a blockade on Gaza that has been in place for 17 years running

Reuters is generally on the ball when it comes to basic factual things, and I'd assume Israel would know if such a border crossing was closed before announcing to Gaza & The World that people should flee through there. To be wrong about something this big in a situation this dire would be HUGE, so I'll take their word over yours in this case.

Oh, I believe this string of posts will explain what I meant when I said you have a history from over a year ago.

[Powerboy]

The Chicago branch of Black Lives Matter supports the hang-gliders.

https://twitter.com/BLMChi/status/1711793142742073573

This seems both ill-advised and reprehensible.

Also, stupid and, probably, extreme antisemitism. It's frightening how much of this stuff is coming out of universities. I want to attribute most of it to ignorance of what is really happening. The rally in Australia, they were yelling, "Gas the Jews! F**k the Jews!" Notice, it was not even "Israel" but "Jews". The hatred is coming out from a lot of people and I think many of them seem on the left, which is scary.

[JCAll]

Also, stupid and, probably, extreme antisemitism. It's frightening how much of this stuff is coming out of universities. I want to attribute most of it to ignorance of what is really happening. The rally in Australia, they were yelling, "Gas the Jews! F**k the Jews!" Notice, it was not even "Israel" but "Jews". The hatred is coming out from a lot of people and I think many of them seem on the left, which is scary.

People smell blood in the water, and they want more of it. I've seen more people than ever calling for the death of Jews or genocide of Palestinians. I don't like where this looks to be heading, where it is now is bad enough. I wish there were more people calling for caution instead of blood.

[Tendrin]

People smell blood in the water, and they want more of it. I've seen more people than ever calling for the death of Jews or genocide of Palestinians. I don't like where this looks to be heading, where it is now is bad enough. I wish there were more people calling for caution instead of blood.

Lotta people taking the chance to let their anti-semitism, or hatred of the Palestinians, fly.

There's a *lot* of blame to go around and a lot of it should squarely fall on Netyanyahu who helped create the conditions for this to happen.

[hyped78]

Also, stupid and, probably, extreme antisemitism. It's frightening how much of this stuff is coming out of universities. I want to attribute most of it to ignorance of what is really happening. The rally in Australia, they were yelling, "Gas the Jews! F**k the Jews!" Notice, it was not even "Israel" but "Jews". The hatred is coming out from a lot of people and I think many of them seem on the left, which is scary.

People smell blood in the water, and they want more of it. I've seen more people than ever calling for the death of Jews or genocide of Palestinians. I don't like where this looks to be heading, where it is now is bad enough. I wish there were more people calling for caution instead of blood.

It's a bit like MAGA racism - with Donald Trump, many felt emboldened to come out and be visible and loudly racist.

The disgusting anti-semitism we are witnessing in places around the world right now is an example of how many anti-semites - who live in the west - suddenly felt emboldened to come out and visibly show they are anti-semites.

[CaptainEurope]

It's also a bit like falling for a conspiracy theory. People convince themselves that a very complex situation that is literally based on millennia of human history has an answer that they understand and others don't, so they feel superior and it's hard to get them to stop sticking to it even if there are videos of children and grandparents being kidnapped and slaughtered. They would have to admit to themselves that they were wrong for years and that they are not smarter than the centrists.

[hyped78]

Reuters is generally on the ball when it comes to basic factual things, and I'd assume Israel would know if such a border crossing was closed before announcing to Gaza & The World that people should flee through there. To be wrong about something this big in a situation this dire would be HUGE, so I'll take their word over yours in this case.

Oh, I believe this string of posts will explain what I meant when I said you have a history from over a year ago.

And where did I say that what is written on that Reuters article is wrong? I didn't. There you go again with your nasty habit of interpreting/ projecting things that weren't said. Obviously what's written on that Reuters article is what's factually happening on the ground. To that, I added the fact that Egypt has blockaded that same area bordering Gaza for 17 years now (since Hamas came to power). Do you understand?

Regarding my previous posts supporting Israel, thank you Captain Obvious! I just wrote a few pages ago that I support Israel (your President does too, btw), so that's... nothing new?!
What I want to understand from your side is if you have a problem with what you call my "history of defending Israel" and, if so, why? (note: I support Israel but not necessarily government X or Y of Israel)

Funny enough, through those posts from last year, I've just realized that the user I was having the discussion with is no longer on the forum. A pity that he was never able to answer basic questions, besides sticking to the same vague talking points over and over again.

[hyped78]

Damned disgusting!

Not to mention just flat out stupid.

Disgusted but shouldn't be suprised. Watching them in action I notice big mouths, even bigger sense of entitlements, but seriously lacking courtesy and intelligence.

Fair enough. I should have constructed my criticism better.

I lived in NYC for 5 years and got married there so I can verify you are correct about the city.

Agree. Also, less important but the paragliders thing was a bit of a gimmick...

[CaptainEurope]

Congressman George Santos Charged With Conspiracy, Wire Fraud, False Statements, Falsification of Records, Aggravated Identity Theft, and Credit Card Fraud

Santos Allegedly Filed Fraudulent Fundraising Reports with the FEC to Obtain Financial Support for His Campaign and Repeatedly Charged the Credit Cards of Campaign Contributors Without Authorization

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY – A 23-count superseding indictment was filed today in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, charging George Anthony Devolder Santos, better known as “George Santos,” the United States Representative for the Third District of New York, with one count of conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States, two counts of wire fraud, two counts of making materially false statements to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), two counts of falsifying records submitted to obstruct the FEC, two counts of aggravated identity theft, and one count of access device fraud, in addition to the seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the United States House of Representatives that were charged in the original indictment. Santos is due back in federal court in Central Islip on October 27, 2023.

Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Nicole M. Argentieri, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and James Smith, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), and Anne T. Donnelly, Nassau County District Attorney, announced the superseding indictment.

“As alleged, Santos is charged with stealing people’s identities and making charges on his own donors’ credit cards without their authorization, lying to the FEC and, by extension, the public about the financial state of his campaign. Santos falsely inflated the campaign’s reported receipts with non-existent loans and contributions that were either fabricated or stolen” stated United States Attorney Peace. “This Office will relentlessly pursue criminal charges against anyone who uses the electoral process as an opportunity to defraud the public and our government institutions.”

[hyped78]

Yea, the US did this in Fallujah twice. High civilian casualties but not the numbers that we're seeing with Israel's massacre of Palestinians.

Your notion of scale is ridiculously bad:

- Before the first battle of Fallujah, the population of that city was estimated 250k to 300k residents - that is ~10% of the population of the Gaza strip (about 2MM).

- More importantly, Fallujah covers an area of approx. 1,481 square kms - Gaza has an area of 365 square kms.

Gaza is 25% of Fallujah but with 6.7x more population. Do you understand?

Even so, in the first battle of Fallujah, the US killed (Wiki, might not be accurate) 572-616 civilians and in the second battle another 800, for a total of over 1,400 civilians killed - this does not include troops.

You keep writing stuff that's just... ignorant

[hyped78]

Congressman George Santos Charged With Conspiracy, Wire Fraud, False Statements, Falsification of Records, Aggravated Identity Theft, and Credit Card Fraud

I hope Netflix produces a series on this guy, there's so much material

[hyped78]

Floyd Mayweather sending private jet to Israel to deliver supplies

https://www.tmz.com/2023/10/10/floyd...-hamas-attack/

"I stand with Israel against the Hamas terrorists. Hamas do not represent the people of Palestine but are a terrorist group that are attacking innocent lives! I stand for all humans and wish for the safe return of all Americans and Israelis and any human that were kidnapped as hostages during these horrific war crimes. This is not a time for politics. This is a time for safety first and foremost. God Bless America. God Bless Israel. God Bless Human Kind!"

[Tendrin]

Doesn't Mayweather have a woman to abuse somewhere?

[hyped78]

Doesn't Mayweather have a woman to abuse somewhere?

Your comment is the only uppercut that's landed on Mayweather's jaw in years

[achilles]

Reuters is generally on the ball when it comes to basic factual things, and I'd assume Israel would know if such a border crossing was closed before announcing to Gaza & The World that people should flee through there. To be wrong about something this big in a situation this dire would be HUGE, so I'll take their word over yours in this case.

I do seem to recall Reuters being the principle in a scandal wherein they faked photos to try and implicate Israel in war crimes that were not committed in a prior go around. That doesn't seem to be very "on the ball". Though it is true that they tried to make their stringer into the fall guy for that, trying to convince people that all evidence to the contrary, they are unbiased. Which is a bit like Donald Trump trying to convince people he's normal and a genius of some sort. It just doesn't really wash.