Jump to content

bolverk

Certifiably Surly
  • Posts

    15024
  • Joined

  • Days Won

    8

Everything posted by bolverk

  1. Hey everybody! BIG NEWS: The United States of America is not a sovereign nation with its own Constitution, history, and traditions. In fact, we're not even America. We are Mexico. Also: We were always at war with Eurasia and 2+2=5.
  2. Fuck off, GRU.
  3. It wouldn't surprise me. As I said above, there's a deeper reason why many Jewish groups opposed the relabelling of Judaism as a nationality versus an ethnoreligious group. Criticism of a foreign state can be more easily twisted into supposed anti-semitism and, therefore, be considered in alignment with terrorist organizations that actually do want the destruction of Israel. The redefinition also can be leaned on to make American Jews as something other than "American" and, therefore, more vulnerable to various "punishments" meted out by the regime.
  4. No such claim was made. Edit: Oh, and @CHIEF, are you okay with the detention and threatened deportation of a legal, permanent US resident, who's married to an American citizen and against whom no criminal charges have been filed, simply because the current regime doesn't approve of his speech? Yes or no. Simple question.
  5. “It is utterly despicable that they are carrying out this authoritarian lurch under the guise of fighting for Jewish safety,” Eva Borgwardt, the national spokesperson for IfNotNow, a Jewish group that is often critical of Israel, said of the Trump administration. Sophie Ellman-Golan, the director of strategic communications for Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, added, “Jews, regardless of where they stand on political activism and organizing, feel in their bones how deeply dangerous this is.” That sentiment was echoed during a news conference near Columbia on Monday evening by several Jewish professors and activists who accused the Trump administration of using genuine antisemitism as a pretext to further its goals of deportation and limiting free speech. “What’s happening on this campus — or to this campus — is not about protecting Jews,” said Marianne Hirsch, a retired English professor and Holocaust scholar whose parents were Holocaust survivors. “Pro-Palestinian speech and activism does not mean a lack of safety for Jews,” she added. Joseph Howley, a classics professor at Columbia who has supported the pro-Palestinian demonstrations, said in an interview that Mr. Khalil, whom he knows, is “dedicated to negotiation, mediation and finding peaceful agreements to conflicts.” Professor Howley also noted that Mr. Khalil did not obscure his identity. Opponents of the protests, including the A.D.L., have blamed some protesters for wearing masks to hide their faces. Several faculty members even proposed a universitywide ban on face coverings at classes and other events. But Mr. Khalil’s is a familiar face to critics and supporters alike. Over the past week, Mr. Khalil has been singled out on social media by critics of the protests. The dispute among Jewish organizations represents more than just the general polarization of American life. Mr. Khalil’s case highlights fundamental tensions in the American Jewish community’s sense of how best to ensure its own security. The American Jewish establishment has long defended civil liberties and the rule of law, seeing them as crucial bulwarks against the kinds of threats that many Jews fled Europe and elsewhere to escape. But American Jews are also vigilant against antisemitism, and for many people, supporting Israel has long been central and viewed as part of that vigilance. Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, senior rabbi of the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in New York City, said that defending Jews from supporters of Hamas — designated a terrorist group by the U.S. government, he noted — is of paramount concern. At the same time, he argued for protecting civil liberties. “What I believe,” he said, “is what the mainstream of the American Jewish community believes. We have always been at the vanguard of free speech.” Jonathan Jacoby, the national director of the Nexus Project, a progressive Jewish group, expressed concern that the arrest and promised crackdown would widen divides between Jews and other minority groups. “There has never been a safer and more flourishing experience than the American Jewish experience, living as a free people in an open society,” he said. “Anything that endangers that, or our relationships with other Americans — those are all Jewish concerns.” https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/11/nyregion/palestinian-activist-arrest-jewish-community.html
  6. This guy wasn't picked up by the police at a political protest. Also, the US is not Mexico. Is Free Speech a guaranteed right in Mexico? Is that right extended in their Constitution to legal permanent residents? If the answer to those two questions is yes, are you suggesting the US should emulate Mexico and ignore its own Constitution? Yes, if he broke the law, he should be punished. What law did he break? The current regime hasn't charged him with any crimes. They've only vaguely suggested, as of this moment, that he's an anti-semite who supports Hamas and terrorism. Let's see the charges. Again, a legal, permanent US resident who's married to a US citizen is locked up, right now, barred from seeing an attorney, and is being threatened with deportation to Palestine, which is under the occupation of the government that he was protesting against. How is that going to work out for him?
  7. Where in the fuck did I suggest a non-citizen has the right to vote? Where in any of the articles regarding the protests does it say that this particular guy didn't follow lawful orders? To date, the current regime has not claimed he broke any laws whatsoever -- aside from exercising his rights to oppose the actions of a foreign government. If you or anyone else shows that Khalil, the guy in detention who has not been allowed to see a lawyer, broke an actual law or refused lawful orders, then okay. But I'm not going to be silent over the detention of a legal US resident because Big Brother didn't like what he had to say. If you are okay with the detention of a legal US resident because you didn't like his speech, then quite frankly, you are an authoritarian. And, if that's the case, then as an American who believes in the US Constitution, you are my sworn enemy. I'm quite serious about that.
  8. Small government people wanting to make us afraid of our own government.
  9. Laxtonto wasn't talking about rights, simply risks. I'm not saying it was "smart," but he was absolutely exercising his supposedly guaranteed constitutional rights unless, of course, he engaged in illegal activity. Hell, engaging in any act of protest is inherently risky for all kinds of reasons. One thing you shouldn't fear, however, is a government capriciously deporting your Free Speech just because they disagree with it. When I was living on a student visa in France country, it would've never occurred to me that had I peacefully protested against, say, the US invasion of Panama (which did occur while I was living over there), I could have been imprisoned without charges and eventually deported. Shit, protesting is the national fucking past-time over there. For the record, I didn't protest it, but I also initially had a really hard time explaining/justifying/understanding it at the moment it happened. And, really, I don't even recall if there were protests over that, though I'm sure someone was somewhere. Essentially, what you're saying, however, is that LEGAL residents of the US should be afraid of the federal government because we just might decide to suddenly act like an autocracy. And, apparently, several posters are again admitting to their tacit fascism. What laws did this guy break? https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/after-we-grant-your-green-card/rights-and-responsibilities-of-a-green-card-holder-permanent-resident
  10. Hey, guys, what's a little tacit fascism between friends? I mean, if we can't equate opposition to a foreign government's actions to anti-semitism and supporting terrorism, we're not going to get where some want us to go. So, let's go ahead and start rounding up and deporting legal residents to demonstrate we're serious about "you'd better watch what you say, or else." Free speech, free shmeech. It's funny; I was listening to an interview with the deputy secretary of the DHS on NPR about an hour or so ago, and he couldn't answer a couple of very simple, basic questions: What specifically did this guy do to support terrorism or antisemitism? What specific law did this guy break? Every attempt to respond was, "Like I said, didn't you see the protests on the teevee?" as if it were self-evident that ANY protest against Israeli actions OBVIOUSLY represents anti-semitism and support for Hamas's terrorism. It's kind of funny because we heard that exact same bullshit from a lot of simpletons on these boards. Anyone here is welcome to listen to it themselves: https://www.npr.org/2025/03/13/nx-s1-5326015/dhs-deputy-secretary-troy-edgar-discusses-arrest-of-protest-leader-deportations Personally, I don't know if this guy was involved in any behavior that would actually constitute harassment or the destruction of property. He claims to have been primarily a spokesperson and/or mediator between the protestors and the university. Until now, the government hasn't provided any evidence to the public that he did. Just vague statements of anti-semitism and support for terrorism. I hope we all realize everyone in the United States is protected by the US Constitution, including green card holders, visa holders, and undocumented immigrants. This guy, under our laws, is protected under the First Amendment and is afforded the right to Due Process. Shit, the guy is also married to a US citizen and is a legal permanent resident. ***** A little background here: In 2019, it was decreed (Executive Order 13899) that Jewish people (including American citizens who'd never been to Israel in their entire lives) were not only an ethnoreligious group but also a nationality which, in turn, "legitimizes" the assertion that criticizing Israeli State actions are essentially an example of antisemitism, because you see, the authoritarian mindset doesn't really tolerate nuance very well. (To illustrate the absurdity of that take, let's consider any number of Old World countries comprised primarily of a single or dominant ethnic group. Hell, Europe is lousy with them. So, let's say I've got a problem with some bullshit Bosnia is up to, like being dicks to Serbians, and I go down to campus and say, "Hey, Bosnia, stop acting like an asshole." Does that make me necessarily Islamophobic and wish to see the destruction of Bosnia and the Bosnian people? Well, no, of fucking course not. I just don't like what the Bosnian government is doing, and in fact, I believe that its actions actually further imperil peace in the Balkans.) Turns out, though, that little EO expanding the legal definition of Judaism in America to a "nationality" wasn't universally supported by the Jewish community because many actual anti-semites and neo-Nazis think the same way: Jews aren't Americans. By nature, they're an Other, separate from America. ***** Ask yourself this: Do I actually believe in the US Constitution and the rule of law? Or is it all just bullshit unless I change my mind only for when it's convenient?
  11. Wordle 1,363 4/6 🟨⬛🟩⬛🟩 ⬛🟨🟩⬛🟩 ⬛🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Connections Puzzle #641 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🙂 Daily Quordle 1144 6️⃣5️⃣ 4️⃣7️⃣ m-w.com/games/quordle/ 🟨⬜🟨🟨⬜ ⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟨⬜⬜🟨 ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ 🟨🟩🟨⬜⬜ 🟨⬜⬜🟨⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜🟨🟩⬜🟨 🟩🟨⬜⬜🟨 ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 ⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟨⬜⬜🟩⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
  12. Start here: https://www.surlyhorns.com/board/topic/769-tapatalk/?do=findComment&comment=6621106
  13. Kill your tapatalk.
  14. I think this population density map of Texas is very cool.
  15. Texas Senate majority unveils bill requiring voters to prove their citizenship All 20 GOP senators signed on to Senate Bill 16, which would apply to currently registered voters, and restrict some to only congressional elections.
  16. I drove through Hill Country yesterday, and everything looks dry as a bone, ready to go up in smoke at a moment’s notice. I didn’t notice a single wildflower of any kind. No bluebonnets, no Indian paintbrushes. Most of the live oak looked sickly AF. It’s bad out there in a 2011 kind of way.
  17. I've no idea where he got that figure from. Below is an archived link to the NYTimes tracking the big West Texas and Southeastern New Mexico outbreak, as well as other (mostly isolated) cases scattered around the country. The map shows 14 states. https://archive.is/WuXzy
  18. Chinese Warships Circle Australia and Leave It Feeling ‘Near-Naked’ The unusual deployment by three navy ships over the past month has prompted a debate in Australia about its aging fleet and reliance on the United States. For nearly a month, Australian forces were on alert as a flotilla of Chinese navy ships made an unannounced voyage around the continent. The ships sailed in and out of Australia’s exclusive economic zone. They fired live shots near commercial airspace, forcing dozens of civilian flights to reroute. They sailed past Perth in Western Australia, days after a visiting U.S. nuclear submarine docked at a nearby naval base. Finally, last weekend, the Chinese ships headed north toward Indonesia. Australian officials repeatedly assured the public that the Chinese ships’ presence and actions were perfectly legitimate under international law. But the voyage was the farthest south the Chinese military had ever come, and was deeply uncomfortable for Australia. It has forced the nation to take a hard look at its own aging fleet, its heavy military dependence on a faraway ally, the United States, and the increasing muscularity of its biggest trading partner, China. There was nothing about the deployment of the three Chinese vessels — a cruiser, a frigate and a replenishment tanker — that was technically impressive or strategically significant. China’s formidable navy has long demonstrated the vast distances it can cover and the capabilities of its premier ships. Instead, it ended up highlighting Australia’s inadequacies: its own navy is the oldest and smallest it has been since World War II, analysts and former navy officials say. It has two tankers, which are crucial for navigating long distances, as the Chinese did, but both have been out of commission for months. The two Chinese warships had a combined 144 vertical launch missile cells, while the Royal Australian Navy’s 10 warships, altogether, have 200. “The Chinese are showing us up in our own backyard,” said Marcus Hellyer, an expert on military spending and capability who previously worked for Australia’s defense department. “We can’t even sail around our own country. They are really rubbing it in,” he said. Australian forces, could of course, rely on friendly countries like New Zealand, which refueled an Australian ship in the Tasman Sea as the two countries jointly surveilled the Chinese ships. The firestorm the flotilla ignited in Australia is an indication of how China could take advantage of a moment when the staunchest of American allies are being forced to revisit longstanding assumptions about ties to Washington. The United States has not officially commented on the Chinese ships, even though they coincided with the visit of a top U.S. commander and a U.S. submarine to Australia. Chinese officials have said they were carrying out training in international waters as all navies do, and had nothing to explain or apologize for. That hasn’t stopped the speculation in Australia about the timing and the message it was designed to send. The ships encircled Australia as the Trump administration has been upending expectations about continued U.S. support for allies like Europe and Ukraine. Australia is about to hold a federal election, in which the ships all but guaranteed that defense will be a major talking point. “China’s navy is illustrating Australia’s vulnerability at the exact moment that the U.S. is demonstrating American unreliability,” Peter Hartcher, the political and international editor for The Sydney Morning Herald, wrote last month. Between the “buccaneering” in Washington and China’s military drumbeat, he wrote: “We’re so exposed that we face the next decade near-naked.” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government has spent the past few years working hard to stabilize relations with China, which had hit a low point under the previous government, with China imposing crippling trade restrictions. At the same time, Australia has doubled down on its military alliance with the United States. In February, it paid half a billion dollars to Washington as a down payment to bolster the U.S. submarine industry, to eventually receive used U.S. nuclear submarines as part of a security pact with America and Britain known as AUKUS. Last month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told his Australian counterpart, Richard Marles, that President Trump was “very aware, supportive” of the three-way agreement. But a few weeks later, when a reporter asked Mr. Trump whether he would discuss AUKUS with Britain’s prime minister, Mr. Trump asked: “What does that mean?” Australia first detected the Chinese ships in early February, one to the north and the other two to the northeast. It tracked them as they traveled south along its eastern coast, entering Australia’s exclusive economic zone near Sydney. The unease over the ships became full blown alarm on Feb. 21, when a commercial pilot flying over the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand heard radio broadcasts from the Chinese vessels warning of live fire drills. The pilot informed Australia’s civil aviation service, which scrambled to divert flights in the area. Nearly 50 planes would end up changing course. The drills came as a surprise to both Australia and New Zealand but both acknowledged they were legal. One ship had the potential to carry land-attack missiles or anti-ship ballistic missiles. China’s response was, in essence: Get used to it. “As a major power in this region, as a country that has so many things to look after, it is normal for China to send their vessels to different parts of the region to conduct various kinds of activities,” Xiao Qian, China’s ambassador to Australia, told Australia’s national broadcaster. China’s navy, already the world’s largest and rapidly expanding, has also been more aggressive in making its presence felt elsewhere in Asia. Japan’s defense minister said last month that Chinese navy ships had passed through the waters around the Ryukyu Islands — a chain that stretches between Kyushu and Taiwan — a total of 68 times last year, a dramatic increase from 21 times in 2021. “They are gradually but very steadily spreading their wings, showing the world they’re able to be anywhere they want to be, whenever they choose,” said Rowan Moffitt, a former deputy chief of the Australian navy. “We see no reason to suggest intent to use their capability against us today. Should the intent change, they could.” But for some, the Chinese flotilla was a reminder of the possibility of hostile powers reaching Australian shores. “We’ve thought of conflict as something we choose to get involved in on the other side of the world,” said Jennifer Parker, a naval expert and two-decade veteran of the navy. Last year, Mr. Albanese’s government announced ambitious goals to expand and update Australia’s naval fleet, but the results aren’t expected to be seen until the 2030s, and some experts are skeptical that the local industry can deliver. Australian warships have sailed near China, through the Taiwan Strait, and participated in joint exercises in the South China Sea. (And a Chinese defense ministry spokesman asked if Australia would notify Beijing of its own exercises near China.) But those are heavily trafficked corridors where multiple countries’ interests intersect, whereas the only reason to be south of Australia or in the Tasman Sea would be to send a message, said Ray Powell, the director of the maritime transparency project SeaLight, who previously served as a U.S. defense attaché in Canberra. “That particular message is, we are able to hold you at risk,” he said.
  19. Wordle 1,362 3/6 ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ ⬜🟩⬜🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Connections Puzzle #640 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🙂 Daily Quordle 1143 6️⃣5️⃣ 4️⃣7️⃣ m-w.com/games/quordle/ 🟨⬜🟩⬜⬜ 🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟩⬜🟨🟩 ⬜🟨⬜⬜🟩 ⬜⬜⬜🟨🟨 ⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜⬜🟨⬜🟨 ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟨⬜⬜🟨⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
  20. I wonder how many similarly important but obscure and silly-sounding lines of study have just been ended due to the ongoing, irrational shark frenzy in the name of cost-cutting but really only benefit rampant corruption.
  21. Post it in the protest song thread. https://www.surlyhorns.com/board/topic/788-protest-songs/?do=getNewComment Edit: We have musicians. Maybe someone will revise it.
  22. CORRUPTION This has to be the message. It’s not ideological, and everyone understands it. Hammer that message repeatedly for everyfuckingthing. It’s not a lie, and it’s not even bending the truth. Corruption is the key. Tie everything to it incessantly.
  23. Wonderful thing about this site is you can read the content sans giving the fuckers a click. https://archive.is/qr37m
  24. ICYMI
×
×
  • Create New...