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

[Tami]

It sounds like that bill would ban about 90% of books out there. I remember Christopher Pike books that I read back in junior high would have a smattering of light smut in them. Stephen King books have those kind of descriptors. Anne Rice novels. The list goes on and on.

At what point do these book bans end up before the Supreme Court? Even a conservative court would have to strike them all down for violating the First Amendment.

You can't ban digital books, not completely. There are many sites online to provide access to digital books, including the Internet Archives. What do these so-called lawmakers plan to do? Ban the Internet? Ban television?

[AnakinFlair]

You have Trump complaining about Fraud 24/7 but can't provide a shred of evidence to back it up while you have the opposing side that literally has him on a recorded phone call asking Georgia for 13k votes...what more do you need?

I know his cult isn't pick of the litter but you have ears to listen to the information and a brain to process it. Do you really need somebody telling you what you heard?

At this point unless he's arrested or dies, I really don't want to read anything further about Trump.

You'd think that, but...

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[kidfresh512]

House Republicans could expand their majority if they win these court cases

Republicans are readying to plow ahead with ambitious gerrymandering despite previous reprimands from state courts — now that they’ve elected judges who are less likely to thwart their plans.

The first test of this strategy comes Tuesday when North Carolina’s GOP-dominated state Supreme Court will hear arguments on whether its previous Democratic majority erred in tossing out the initial map Republican legislators drew just two years ago. The move has drawn loud complaints from Democrats that the court only granted a redo now that the partisan balance has changed.

Between that and a similar remap looming in Ohio — where the state Supreme Court has also taken a lurch to the right since throwing out multiple GOP maps before the last election — Republicans could more than double their five-seat House majority through redistricting alone. That would give Speaker Kevin McCarthy a much-needed cushion in 2024.

[Mister Mets]

First of all, why use the word "claim" here?

Being precise: The Wash U story has been weaponized because the information in it is false.

Or are you still holding at the opinion that maybe she is telling the truth?

As far as I know, she may be telling the truth.

I'm realizing now that I may have misunderstood your earlier point.
When you wrote "is it reasonable to consider these claims as if they have occurred in a social and political vacuum?" I figured you were making a similar point to something that I had heard that reporters should be mindful of the potential reception to their work, even if it's true. Were you suggesting that based on the context, we should figure that she lied?

From a new CNN poll of over 1000 Republican voters:



I find it interesting that the number of Republicans who believe that there is concrete evidence that Biden stole the election has gone down so drastically, but that affected their personal beliefs on the matter much less.

That's kind of the backfire effect works.

When corrected on something, people often double-down on the underlying belief.

A lot of the answers to polls are signaling, so it could be a small shift in what people being polled want the pollster to understand.

Rather than getting "depressed" they take it out on others.

Are there enough "replacement theory" assholes to make up the difference in statistics?

All good reasons why it appeals to a lot of people. And why I might well be wrong in predicting its status in a decades time (effectively I’m predicting it will be regarded as a very good film rather than a great one.)

I’m going completely on my own gut reaction on seeing it, which was “that was fun” rather than “wow, really, really enjoyed that”.

Sorry, man. I'm very pedantic on the question of whether an individual likes a film, and whether it will be well-received.

For example, I did a thread on what MCU film would be best-regarded.

https://community.cbr.com/showthread...=black+panther

I'm sure to be a hypocrite at times, finding post hoc reasons why films I happen to really like will be correctly acknowledged as great.

[Username taken]

I'm adding the "Wall Street Journal" to the list of folks that should have known better. They published an article that SVBs collapse could be attributed to them being "distracted" by diversity demands.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/wall-s...on-valley-bank

This is from the Wall Street Journal:

In its proxy statement, [Silicon Valley Bank] notes that besides 91 percent of their board being independent and 45 percent women, they also have ‘1 Black,’ ‘1 LGBTQ+,’ and ‘2 Veterans.’ I’m not saying 12 white men would have avoided this mess, but the company may have been distracted by diversity demands.”

The Daily Beast then said this:

Is it possible that the snowflakes over at SVB were too busy being fitted for their diversity-equity-and-inclusion blinders to notice the disaster hurtling towards them? Sure, but in that case, the United States’ top five largest banks—which, as Vice News pointed out, all have more diverse boards than SVB did—are in some real trouble.

Needless to say, the WSJ is getting a ton of criticism from people because of how insane and insidious their article was.

I'm legit surprised a "respected" outlet like the WSJ can even publish this sort of nonsense but again this is EXACTLY how extreme right-wing talking points enter the mainstream and shape opinions. Interestingly, this is why people started going "woke" in the first place, to identify this sort of rhetoric and ideology and call it out as much as possible.

[Catlady in training]

So did people say about Trump!
I prefer to remain wary, what Trump taught to us Europeans is that we can't expect the US to always be a reliable ally.

And it might have been a needed wake up call. Half of European countries have only symbolic armies and rely on NATO support, which is fine, we had reasons to believe we have all moved on and wars are things of the past (sadly, it turned out to be a delusion). But let's be real, what we really mean by NATO support is US support, but we shouldn't depend on that, especially if there's a chance that Trump or somelike like him will return and make decisions in international politics based on how well he sleeps.

It sounds like that bill would ban about 90% of books out there. I remember Christopher Pike books that I read back in junior high would have a smattering of light smut in them. Stephen King books have those kind of descriptors. Anne Rice novels. The list goes on and on.

At what point do these book bans end up before the Supreme Court? Even a conservative court would have to strike them all down for violating the First Amendment.

What are the chances that the Bible would be banned under a law like that? I think I remember a story that some teacher or librarian was asked to make a list of sexually explicit or otherwise inappropriate books and they included the Bible.

[Adam Allen]

As far as I know, she may be telling the truth.

I'm realizing now that I may have misunderstood your earlier point.
When you wrote "is it reasonable to consider these claims as if they have occurred in a social and political vacuum?" I figured you were making a similar point to something that I had heard that reporters should be mindful of the potential reception to their work, even if it's true. Were you suggesting that based on the context, we should figure that she lied?

It's not my intention to suggest what anyone should think. I'm asking.

Follow-up question, what reasoning are you using, to arrive at the conclusion that she may be telling the truth?

[Mister Mets]

I'm adding the "Wall Street Journal" to the list of folks that should have known better. They published an article that SVBs collapse could be attributed to them being "distracted" by diversity demands.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/wall-s...on-valley-bank

This is from the Wall Street Journal:



The Daily Beast then said this:

Needless to say, the WSJ is getting a ton of criticism from people because of how insane and insidious their article was.

I'm legit surprised a "respected" outlet like the WSJ can even publish this sort of nonsense but again this is EXACTLY how extreme right-wing talking points enter the mainstream and shape opinions. Interestingly, this is why people started going "woke" in the first place, to identify this sort of rhetoric and ideology and call it out as much as possible.

That's an opinion piece and not an article. Is it really an extreme right-wing talking point, something that by definition a very small percentage would initially support? There will be a lot of pushback to the claim that affirmative action can sometimes lead to compromises on candidate quality, but that likely has too much support to be extreme right-wing.

Mississippi continues being Mississippi.


If you haven't covered him yet, feel free to add Nick Bain to the list.

I have no idea how judges will deal with this, but they do claim that this applies to obscene materials, which are defined as those without “literary or artistic value."

Most controversial work can be argued to have some value.

One thing that bothers me is the Republican legislators saying they'll fix it in conference, which would suggest the bill is not ready for anyone to vote on it.

[AnakinFlair]

I'm adding the "Wall Street Journal" to the list of folks that should have known better. They published an article that SVBs collapse could be attributed to them being "distracted" by diversity demands.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/wall-s...on-valley-bank

This is from the Wall Street Journal:



The Daily Beast then said this:

Needless to say, the WSJ is getting a ton of criticism from people because of how insane and insidious their article was.

I'm legit surprised a "respected" outlet like the WSJ can even publish this sort of nonsense but again this is EXACTLY how extreme right-wing talking points enter the mainstream and shape opinions. Interestingly, this is why people started going "woke" in the first place, to identify this sort of rhetoric and ideology and call it out as much as possible.

Is the Wall Street Journal still a respected newspaper? To be, they've been a conservative rag for years now.

[hyped78]

I'm adding the "Wall Street Journal" to the list of folks that should have known better. They published an article that SVBs collapse could be attributed to them being "distracted" by diversity demands.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/wall-s...on-valley-bank

This is from the Wall Street Journal:



The Daily Beast then said this:

Needless to say, the WSJ is getting a ton of criticism from people because of how insane and insidious their article was.

I'm legit surprised a "respected" outlet like the WSJ can even publish this sort of nonsense but again this is EXACTLY how extreme right-wing talking points enter the mainstream and shape opinions. Interestingly, this is why people started going "woke" in the first place, to identify this sort of rhetoric and ideology and call it out as much as possible.

Is the Wall Street Journal still a respected newspaper? To be, they've been a conservative rag for years now.

That DEI, as opposed to merit, is driving some less than stellar decisions in very large companies is unmistakable.

That that is what happened in SVB seems like wild, baseless, speculation.

[shooshoomanjoe]

Republicans see the LGBTQ+ community has a threat to children but they are fine with child marriage.

A bill that would have prohibited minors from getting married in West Virginia was defeated Wednesday night in a legislative committee.

The Republican-dominated Senate Judiciary Committee rejected the bill on a 9-8 vote, a week after it passed the House of Delegates.

The vote came shortly after the bill's main sponsor, Democratic Del. Kayla Young of Kanawha County, testified briefly before the committee. She said that since 2000 there have been more than 3,600 marriages in the state involving one or more children.

Currently, children can marry as young as 16 in West Virginia with parental consent. Anyone younger than that also must get a judge's waiver.

"For now, there will be no floor for the age of marriage in WV, endangering our kids," Young wrote on Twitter after the vote.

[skyvolt2000]

Has anyone mentioned comic books and graphic novels yet??

That is what is so funny about all this book banning-they are ignoring those two for the most part.

I mean off the top of my head when are these trades going to get banned?

Nubia and The Amazons
Tim Drake Robin
Static
Milestone Omnibus
Miles Morales
Superman with his son would have books banned.
Most X-titles would be banned.
Young Avengers
Savage Dragon era of his son would be banned-the boy had a foursome once and one trade has his wife with not panties on.
Kevin Keller
Archie trades
Lumberjanes
Backstagers
Wildstorm books

Marvel and Dc wouldn't have books on the shelf.

[Mister Mets]

It's not my intention to suggest what anyone should think. I'm asking.

Follow-up question, what reasoning are you using, to arrive at the conclusion that she may be telling the truth?

That's a fair question.

It is a low bar to consider that someone may be telling the truth. It doesn't require certainty.

From what I've read so far, the detractors have yet to prove that she isn't telling the truth. This is a question that may take some time to settle, and frankly if we don't get further evidence in the next few months, it would suggest the source is making stuff up.

It does seem that some of the arguments against Singal are dishonest, like the suggestion that he's misleading by referring to pro trans individuals as activists, when the person he was referring to is the cofounder of TransParent, a group that advocates for trans kids and their access to medical treatment. That seems to be an activist.

Singal's argument seems sensible, and he comes across as intellectually humble, noting situations in which there is uncertainty.

https://jessesingal.substack.com/p/j...biting-far-too

Partially inspired by this conversation, I listened to the latest episode of his podcast Blocked and Reported, where he interviewed Hannah Barnes, the author of a book critical of the Gender Identity Development Service for children in Britain. They don't come across as radicals who hate trans people and seem to have an understanding of where people who disagree with them from the left/ pro-trans side are coming from.

About 42 and a half minutes into the interview, he asked the following question.

This brings us to the question of- and I find this to be a delicate and even heartbreaking question- of the influence of adult trans activists, because of the perspective of an adult trans person, who dealt with shit that you and I probably couldn't even imagine growing up, and figuring out their identity, and seeking medical services, from their point of view, when you say "Why aren't we giving these kids more exploratory assessments? Why aren't we considering the role of talk therapy?" they view that as akin to conversion therapy, or really skeptical therapy, gatekeeping therapy. (It's) the same deal with competing explanations for the uptick- from their point of view, there are these kids who desperately need to come out as trans, and you're preventing them from doing so by claiming they're influenced by their peers or the internet or whoever else. So what's the right balance here, because surely trans adults should be listened to in this conversation like any affected group, but this doesn't mean they have expertise in developmental psychology necessarily.

The counterargument would be that this is a situation where nuance is not merited, and the answers are as clear-cut as if we had been talking about the dangers of drinking bleach, driving while high on bath salts or playing Russian roulette, though I don't think it's quite on that level.

[CaptainEurope]

Something something declaration of war

Russian fighter jet forces down US drone over Black Sea

A Russian fighter jet forced down a US Air Force drone over the Black Sea on Tuesday after damaging the propeller of the American MQ-9 Reaper drone, according to the US military.

The Reaper drone and two Russian Su-27 aircraft were flying over international waters over the Black Sea on Tuesday when one of the Russian jets intentionally flew in front of and dumped fuel on the unmanned drone several times, a statement from US European Command said.

The aircraft then hit the propeller of the drone, prompting US forces to bring the MQ-9 drone down in international waters.

“Our MQ-9 aircraft was conducting routine operations in international airspace when it was intercepted and hit by a Russian aircraft, resulting in a crash and complete loss of the MQ-9,” Air Force Gen. James B. Hecker, commander of US Air Forces Europe and Air Forces Africa, said in the statement. “In fact, this unsafe and unprofessional act by the Russians nearly caused both aircraft to crash.”

[Username taken]

That's an opinion piece and not an article. Is it really an extreme right-wing talking point, something that by definition a very small percentage would initially support? There will be a lot of pushback to the claim that affirmative action can sometimes lead to compromises on candidate quality, but that likely has too much support to be extreme right-wing.

That a bank collapses because the board had a few minorities and women on the board is an extreme right-wing position.

Not to mention a bigoted one considering the entire suggestion is somehow based on a belief that white people are always more qualified for these positions than minorities.

Just because it's a popular right-wing talking point doesn't make it less bigoted. The US right has drifted into racism and bigotry so their repeating these talking points isn't surprising, it's an "economic" magazine printing stupid articles like Andy Kessler's that's really surprising.