All purpose news and politics thread part VII: News & Politics Total Landscaping

[Dalak]

I like this from Hussain Abdul-Hussain, research fellow with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies :

https://twitter.com/hahussain/status...28411045265512

It is something that should happen, but I don't expect it to happen without far more internal pressure. When it comes to many groups the only pressure they will listen to comes from within, despite how often it will be seen as traitorous and railed against

Would it make as much money compared to putting a quarter in every time some one complained about him rather than staying on topic?

If someone makes themselves a topic due to insulting behavior and supporting/spreading/defending misinformation in a public way they are still the topic, that's why we're still discussing people like Trump, LoTT, Gaetz, Greene, etc. That's all I have to say on that.

Attachment 139293

Attachment 139294

Just how important is Gaza to Americans? Not very, according to all available polls. Yet it seems to dominate the media.

Kristi Noem kills puppy, unites America

Got that right. It's been said that people who abuse animals eventually graduate to abusing humans, and who's to say Noem is any different?

She's a republican so technically she's already been abusing humans.

If you happen to be LGBT, you are a prime target for it. If you happen to be one of many groups that these conservatives claim "will not replace us", you are a prime target for it as well. One of those groups happens to be Jews, but many conservatives would have us believe otherwise considering their 'support' for Israel.

I understand this argument, but you know that people will use it to try to raise the voting age, right? If you think that 18,19 or 20 year olds shouldn't be fully responsible for their actions because they are still "kids", people of other political beliefs will use the same argument to help their own goals.
As if the "your brain doesn't mature until you're 25" theory hadn't already done enough damage.

But people are complaining about those who are violent and using hostile language, not those who are peacefully protesting.

It's not just young people who feel hopeless. I feel fucking hopeless and desperate every day, often even suicidal, watching the news, but I'm not attacking the politicians who are passing the laws that are opposite to my beliefs, I'm not screaming on TV that Russia should be nuked (though it would be a tremendous relief if it just ceased to exist), or destroying public property because people don't take climate change seriously. It would be counterproductive and in some cases illegal. And as was already said, this behavior is actually harming the cause. If the protesters don't even pay attention to the people they are claiming they want to help when they say they are causing harm, well, it is fair to say that they probably don't really care that much and it's more about performative activism for them. And that goes not just for those protesters, but all those twitter activists who just harass others online. Not productive at all. I thought progressives were all about uplifting others, letting them tell their experiences and educating oneselves about others' viewpoints. But if they are ignoring what the marginalized people are saying and don't even bother to learn what the language they use actually means to different people, they probably aren't really as progressive as they would like to think.

The lowered voting age was due to the age of Military Service, if they want to raise one then they should raise the other instead of letting people die for their country without having a say in how it's run.

I haven't seen anyone say these kids aren't responsible for what they are doing, just that they don't have the experience to always know when they should speak and when they should think about what they are wanting to say instead. Humans are impulsive, but as one gets older we expect them to rein in that impulsiveness rather than scream "You Lie!" during a State of the Union speech. These kids are still being taught and can have their opinions change before they are set in stone like their older counterparts.

That would take a Constitutional amendment.

You couldn't get 2/3 of both houses of congress and 3/4 of state legislatures to agree on the color of the sky right now.

This as well.

Republican extremism.

When words are considered as well as actions, it's clear that the vast preponderance of political extremists are embraced by the Mainstream GoP. Looking at Greene, Boebert, Gaetz, Trump, etc, a much larger percentage of conservative extremists are in office and voting based on their extremism. The issues with the House Speaker are a direct result of this.

In the end, there can be only....er...two? Six? Whatever, this one's a strange one. Everyone has had sword murders. We've had some. There is one in England land currently. Everyone. But we've had something new!

Yes, a SPEAR murder. At a storage unit, two people were murdered, including a guy who claimed to be a medieval sword expert. A bloody spear was found at the scene. Usually, we get one to five people being stabbed to death with a knife. Usually, it's a homeless insane person doing the stabbing. This one is different. Now we're going to have to track spear crime...

We are number one! No one else has had a spear murder AFAIK. But now we have! Two in fact...

This is the second post you've made that seems just to glorify the violence and have a laugh about it. Between this and the face eating, is there something wrong? I know that current events provide no end of stress to people who focus on them, but don't let it get to you if you can help it.

This is the disastrous "Biden economy" we keep hearing about.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/mark...nt/ar-AA1o5cty

Not everyone has a home and a comfortable lifestyle, thus Biden is a horrible president and we should let Trump be elected.

All depends how the questions are asked.

https://www.kff.org/womens-health-po...n-to-be-legal/

Polls involving Trump have been shown to be historically unreliable, but that same problem doesn't always affect other polls that don't shift wildly depending on current events/newscycles.

Secret document says Iran security forces molested and killed teen protester

Iran is still a brutal dictatorship.

[achilles]

Secret document says Iran security forces molested and killed teen protester

Horrific. But in nicer Iran news, they've offered our campus protesters scholarships to study in Iran! How nice of them! I think the protesters should take them up on the offer, and see how much better countries than the US do it. Especially the LGBTQ+ crowd at the protests. They'll have the red carpet rolled out for them.

Seriously though, these protesters should look at this, and who else is supporting them, (a laundry list of the world's worst countries), and maybe think about how they go about things. Maybe next time, have more of a dialog with Jewish students and community members, maybe take that tour of the Holocaust Museum, maybe listen to any remaining survivors, maybe watch those videos of October 7th and listen to the videos of the attackers spewing their sick and evil joy at murders and rapes and torture to get a bit of perspective.

Perhaps they can even learn that no, the Palestinians didn't get their hatred of Jews after Israel was created, but have in fact been launching pogroms against the Jews in the area since the 19th century at the least.

Then they can tell Jewish students about their concerns for the people of Gaza, fully informed about the total context of the current problems. In a mutually respectful manner, with no chanting slogans on either side, violence and no vandalism, no blocking the campus to students just trying to do their studies.

Then their would be no arrests, and no need for them. And people would at least respect them for having the intellectual honesty to look at all sides of the issue and then decide what they want to support.

[achilles]

This is the second post you've made that seems just to glorify the violence and have a laugh about it. Between this and the face eating, is there something wrong? I know that current events provide no end of stress to people who focus on them, but don't let it get to you if you can help it.

It is of course a bit of coping. Some things are quite horrific, and need to be approached with a bit of lightness to get your mind around their awfulness. And there is so much terrible local news, murders, rapes, assaults, with no signs it will end, I at least need sometime to just vent a bit. I hope they get spear guy, but I suspect they never will find him. Face eating guy will serve some time, but his mind will never be fixed and eventually he will be unleashed on society with his problems still intact. Venting is necessary sometimes.

[Catlady in training]

When trolling backfires:
Marjorie Taylor Greene's 'MUGA' Tactic Backfires

GOP Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene's attempt to shame the so-called "uniparty" of pro-Ukraine Republicans and Democrats has backfired.

During a Wednesday press conference on her plan to remove Speaker of the House Mike Johnson from leadership over the passage of $61 billion in Ukraine aid, Greene displayed a blue and yellow "MUGA" ("Make Ukraine Great Again") hat, a reference to the MAGA slogan often associated with former President Donald Trump.

"The uniparty is Make Ukraine Great Again," Greene said while holding up the hat, before placing it on a poster of Johnson and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. "The uniparty is all about funding every single foreign war. They think this is the business model that needs to be done ... That's not how you build jobs in America."

Greene's "MUGA" moment seemingly inspired the liberal anti-Trump group MeidasTouch. The group began selling $45 limited-edition replicas of the hats the very next day, with all proceeds going to benefit pro-Ukraine charities United Help Ukraine and World Central Kitchen.

"BREAKING: MTG had a meltdown over aid being sent to Ukraine and unveiled a new MUGA hat," the group wrote in a post to X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday. "In her honor, we are now selling the hat with 100% of profits going to two groups who do incredible work in Ukraine. Get yours – and thank Marge for her support!"

"It was very thoughtful of Marjorie Taylor Greene to help us find another way to support Ukraine!" the group added in a post replying to former Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger saying that he wants the hat. "MUGA hats available now."

I'm known to not be a good judge on design, but I find this hat much better looking than the original red.

This is also interesting:

GOP Representative Dan Bacon told CNN's Manu Raju that "98 percent of" House Republicans consider Greene's move to be "disgusting," while Congressman Derrick Van Orden said that the attempt to remove Johnson reminded him of tactics from "a junior high school" or a "reality television show."