The Current Events, News, and Politics Thread
08-01-2018, 05:14 PM
Boost Pope
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TL;DR version: if you flagrantly violate the laws of the country in which you find yourself, don't be surprised if you wind up in prison.
Maybe put aside your prejudices against all law enforcement officials for a few minutes, and be happy that one of them managed to find a few minutes in between shooting dogs and violating everyone's civil liberties to rescue a kitten?
(just a suggestion.)
(just a suggestion.)
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08-02-2018, 07:01 PM
Boost Pope
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Now that the protest march has reached Wrigley Field, very curious to see if these folks are going to try to disrupt tonight's Cubs game.
If they do, it won't end well.
That said, 300-500 protesters vs. 20,000 drunk, angry Cubs fans should be interesting to watch.
If they do, it won't end well.
That said, 300-500 protesters vs. 20,000 drunk, angry Cubs fans should be interesting to watch.
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08-02-2018, 10:18 PM
Boost Pope
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Total participation in the march turned out to be around 200, and at this point they've mostly dissipated. No riot, which I have to say I'm a bit let down by.
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08-03-2018, 10:18 AM
Boost Czar
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#journalistcollusion
https://archive.fo/9VHCv
https://archive.fo/9VHCv
None of these discussions brought trans voices to the table because the group has never had any out trans members, at least as far as I can tell. “I really wish we had some trans people on this list, it’s a real void we have,” posted an award-winning investigative journalist in a thread about Singal temporarily leaving Twitter last December. “I’m not interested in sharing this list or any other space with someone who is going to insist on nullifying and erasing my existence and experience as female,” a prominent futurist in progressive news media wrote back. The exchange demonstrates two different means of excluding trans people from the discussion: passive exclusion (empty calls for inclusion that don’t lead to action) and active exclusion (we must keep them out). At the time of this exchange, the listserv had existed for nearly a decade. If the group’s members really wanted to bring trans people to the table, they could have done so at any point. The fact that they never did suggests that the group’s members—400 prominent, influential figures in academia, media, and publishing—would rather keep trans people at a safe, anthropological remove where they can talk about trans people without speaking to trans people directly. A less generous reading of this exclusion would say that they don’t see us as potential intellectual equals and, thus, don’t read our work.
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08-03-2018, 09:19 PM
Boost Pope
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Doc Brown turned out to be a few decades late, but we are now heading back to 1955.
Metro considering separate trains for white nationalists attending ‘Unite the Right’ rally
Metro is considering providing separate trains for participants of the “Unite the Right” white-nationalist rally Aug. 12, board chairman Jack Evans said Friday.
Evans said the move would be an effort to prevent violence between rally participants and counterprotesters.
“We haven’t made any decisions about anything,” Evans said about conversations he has had with Metro General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld and the chief of Metro Transit Police. “We’re just trying to come up with potential solutions on how to keep everybody safe.”
The event is being organized by the white supremacist group behind last summer’s rally in Charlottesville that led to protests, violent clashes and the death of a counterprotester. In addition, two Virginia State troopers conducting surveillance of the event were killed when their helicopter crashed.
The permit request submitted by organizers bills this month’s event as a “white civil rights” rally in Lafayette Square “protesting civil rights abuse in Charlottesville.”
Evans, who is also a D.C. Council member, said officials are concerned that tensions resulting from the event could result in physical altercations between rally attendees and those who could come out in droves to protest against them.
Among the potential scenarios to help tamp down violence, Evans said: Rally participants could gather at East Falls Church Metro station, board special cars on a train to Foggy Bottom and then receive a police escort to the rally.
Evans said he and Wiedefeld acknowledge the logistical difficulties of such a plan. How would they be able to enforce a separation between “Unite the Right” participants and counterprotesters? What happens if members of the union representing train operators and station managers refuse to operate a train designated for white supremacists?
And perhaps most important, what kind of precedent would this set for future protests and political events in the District that elicit heated tensions and pose a threat of violence?
“We’re not trying to give anyone special treatment,” Evans said. “We’re just trying to avoid scuffles and things of that nature.”
Evans said officials also are considering simply allowing anyone to use any train they want, and add increased police presence on each car.
“Frankly, we don’t know who’s coming, how many people we’re expecting for this thing, and whether it’s actually going to happen at all,” Evans said. “We’re trying to prepare.”
He said the plans for police response to the rally likely won’t be finalized until the day before the event.
“As we do for all events of this nature, Metro is working collaboratively with law enforcement to ensure safe travel for our customers and employees,” Metro spokesman Dan Stessel said.
“Transit Police are engaged in ongoing discussions with MPD, the lead agency for the Aug. 12 event, as well as Virginia State Police and others as to how to keep everyone safe on that day,” Stessel said in an email. “While details of the plan are security sensitive at this stage, I can tell you that it has *not* been finalized.”
Plans for the special trains were first publicized by Metro’s largest union, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689, which released a statement expressing outrage at the idea that Metro would provide “private” rail cars to “Unite the Right” participants.
“Sources have shared with ATU Local 689 that a hate group with Ku Klux Klan affiliation will be provided three private Metro rail cars and police escort to Foggy Bottom Metro Station for the ‘Unite the Right’ 2018 rally,” the union said in its statement.
ATU Local 689 President Jackie Jeter said that members of the union, the majority of whom are people of color, “draw the line” at providing special service for supporters of a group that espouses white nationalism.
“Local 689 is proud to provide transit to everyone for the many events we have in D.C. including the March of Life, the Women’s March and Black Lives Matters,” Jeter said. “We draw the line at giving special accommodation to hate groups and hate speech.”
Jeter also cited a recent legal case in which a court affirmed Metro’s decision to ban “controversial” advertisements from the bus and subway system. Jeter’s statement suggested that she believes Metro should use the same standard when determining whose specialized transit needs to accommodate.
“Considering that the courts granted Metro the ability to deny ads on buses and trains that are ‘issue-oriented,’ we find it hypocritical for [Wiedefeld] to make these unprecedented special accommodations for a hate group,” Jeter said.
“More than 80% of Local 689’s membership is people of color, the very people that the Ku Klux Klan and other white nationalist groups have killed, harassed and violated. The union has declared that it will not play a role in their special accommodation,” the union’s statement said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/d...ly-union-says/
Metro considering separate trains for white nationalists attending ‘Unite the Right’ rally
Metro is considering providing separate trains for participants of the “Unite the Right” white-nationalist rally Aug. 12, board chairman Jack Evans said Friday.
Evans said the move would be an effort to prevent violence between rally participants and counterprotesters.
“We haven’t made any decisions about anything,” Evans said about conversations he has had with Metro General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld and the chief of Metro Transit Police. “We’re just trying to come up with potential solutions on how to keep everybody safe.”
The event is being organized by the white supremacist group behind last summer’s rally in Charlottesville that led to protests, violent clashes and the death of a counterprotester. In addition, two Virginia State troopers conducting surveillance of the event were killed when their helicopter crashed.
The permit request submitted by organizers bills this month’s event as a “white civil rights” rally in Lafayette Square “protesting civil rights abuse in Charlottesville.”
Evans, who is also a D.C. Council member, said officials are concerned that tensions resulting from the event could result in physical altercations between rally attendees and those who could come out in droves to protest against them.
Among the potential scenarios to help tamp down violence, Evans said: Rally participants could gather at East Falls Church Metro station, board special cars on a train to Foggy Bottom and then receive a police escort to the rally.
Evans said he and Wiedefeld acknowledge the logistical difficulties of such a plan. How would they be able to enforce a separation between “Unite the Right” participants and counterprotesters? What happens if members of the union representing train operators and station managers refuse to operate a train designated for white supremacists?
And perhaps most important, what kind of precedent would this set for future protests and political events in the District that elicit heated tensions and pose a threat of violence?
“We’re not trying to give anyone special treatment,” Evans said. “We’re just trying to avoid scuffles and things of that nature.”
Evans said officials also are considering simply allowing anyone to use any train they want, and add increased police presence on each car.
“Frankly, we don’t know who’s coming, how many people we’re expecting for this thing, and whether it’s actually going to happen at all,” Evans said. “We’re trying to prepare.”
He said the plans for police response to the rally likely won’t be finalized until the day before the event.
“As we do for all events of this nature, Metro is working collaboratively with law enforcement to ensure safe travel for our customers and employees,” Metro spokesman Dan Stessel said.
“Transit Police are engaged in ongoing discussions with MPD, the lead agency for the Aug. 12 event, as well as Virginia State Police and others as to how to keep everyone safe on that day,” Stessel said in an email. “While details of the plan are security sensitive at this stage, I can tell you that it has *not* been finalized.”
Plans for the special trains were first publicized by Metro’s largest union, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689, which released a statement expressing outrage at the idea that Metro would provide “private” rail cars to “Unite the Right” participants.
“Sources have shared with ATU Local 689 that a hate group with Ku Klux Klan affiliation will be provided three private Metro rail cars and police escort to Foggy Bottom Metro Station for the ‘Unite the Right’ 2018 rally,” the union said in its statement.
ATU Local 689 President Jackie Jeter said that members of the union, the majority of whom are people of color, “draw the line” at providing special service for supporters of a group that espouses white nationalism.
“Local 689 is proud to provide transit to everyone for the many events we have in D.C. including the March of Life, the Women’s March and Black Lives Matters,” Jeter said. “We draw the line at giving special accommodation to hate groups and hate speech.”
Jeter also cited a recent legal case in which a court affirmed Metro’s decision to ban “controversial” advertisements from the bus and subway system. Jeter’s statement suggested that she believes Metro should use the same standard when determining whose specialized transit needs to accommodate.
“Considering that the courts granted Metro the ability to deny ads on buses and trains that are ‘issue-oriented,’ we find it hypocritical for [Wiedefeld] to make these unprecedented special accommodations for a hate group,” Jeter said.
“More than 80% of Local 689’s membership is people of color, the very people that the Ku Klux Klan and other white nationalist groups have killed, harassed and violated. The union has declared that it will not play a role in their special accommodation,” the union’s statement said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/d...ly-union-says/
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08-04-2018, 03:05 PM
Boost Pope
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[satire]
“At a vegan cafe, I met a guy from Venezuela,” Austin explained. “I asked him about how great it must be to live in a country working to end economic inequality, but then he went into a long diatribe about oppression, poverty, and murder.”
Austin admitted she didn’t listen to much of it since she always knew that socialism would have “a few bumps along the way.” But then the man said something that really concerned her: he asked what the crispy bread slathered with a green substance on her plate was.
“He didn’t even know what avocado toast was!” Austin exclaimed. She asked him about whether they had lots of avocados in Venezuela, but he explained it wasn’t just an issue of the availability of avocados but also not being able to get bread and sometimes not having electricity for a toaster.
“He said they never have avocado toast in Venezuela,” Austin stated, looking visibly shaken. “This made me completely rethink things. Socialism seemed like a great idea—a way to make sure everyone was taken care of even if they ran out of their parents’ money—but now I think it might not be ready for prime time.”
Austin said she was still glad Venezuela was trying it out, but wanted to wait until “they get all the kinks out of an equal distribution of avocados” before trying socialism in the United States.
https://babylonbee.com/news/millenni...-in-venezuela/
[/satire]
Millennial Drops Support For Socialism After Learning How Hard It Is To Get Avocado Toast In Venezuela
RIVERDALE, NY—31-year-old Darlene Austin has always been an avid supporter of socialism, but she recently had an eye-opening experience.“At a vegan cafe, I met a guy from Venezuela,” Austin explained. “I asked him about how great it must be to live in a country working to end economic inequality, but then he went into a long diatribe about oppression, poverty, and murder.”
Austin admitted she didn’t listen to much of it since she always knew that socialism would have “a few bumps along the way.” But then the man said something that really concerned her: he asked what the crispy bread slathered with a green substance on her plate was.
“He didn’t even know what avocado toast was!” Austin exclaimed. She asked him about whether they had lots of avocados in Venezuela, but he explained it wasn’t just an issue of the availability of avocados but also not being able to get bread and sometimes not having electricity for a toaster.
“He said they never have avocado toast in Venezuela,” Austin stated, looking visibly shaken. “This made me completely rethink things. Socialism seemed like a great idea—a way to make sure everyone was taken care of even if they ran out of their parents’ money—but now I think it might not be ready for prime time.”
Austin said she was still glad Venezuela was trying it out, but wanted to wait until “they get all the kinks out of an equal distribution of avocados” before trying socialism in the United States.
https://babylonbee.com/news/millenni...-in-venezuela/
[/satire]
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08-07-2018, 10:08 AM
Boost Pope
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Both mainstream democrats ans mainstream republicans want bigger government.
The two parties are not fundamentally dissimilar, they are just a different color of cloth draped over the same pig.
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08-09-2018, 03:46 PM
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Not sure if anyone has brought this up yet but I think it should be a bigger story than what it is. Let me preface by saying I am not a fan of Alex Jones. Alex Jones and his show "Info Wars" was banned from Google, Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, and Apple Podcast to name a few sites. The official reasoning was hate speech. I realize these companies are private companies and technically have the right to do whatever they want. That being said I don't think they should have the power alone to restrict, ban, modify algorithms to tailor what is viewed. The can of worms that this has opened is mind blowing if you think about it. How many 15-30 year olds get their news from a traditional outlet or from social media? Where does this stop? I am in assumption that these major companies are pretty far left leaning. I am not. Will I be allowed to see conservative commenters like Matt Walsh and Ben Shapiro on my feed or are they slated for a future ban or shadow ban? The power they have right now to manipulate politics, economy, and laws is pretty concerning.
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08-10-2018, 10:18 AM
Boost Pope
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Corporatocratic authoritarianism. Basically 1984, except that "Big Brother" is more of an abstract collective entity consisting of the executive management of several large companies whose actions are not directly coordinated, by shaped by the same social pressures. And the functions performed by the Ministry of Love are actually just the consequences of angering civilian extremists on the far-left of the spectrum.
By the same token, left-tilted media outlets such as MSNBC, Facebook, and the half-naked guy dancing around on the subway platform will also continue to serve their target audiences.
Really, the only losers in the media battle are those who wish to be informed of actual news in an unbiased manner. Fortunately, NPR, the BBC, and Al Jazeera appear to be unaffected by these movements.
Only if you took sides with the losing team.
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08-10-2018, 02:47 PM
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So here's a thing. 90% of the politics that shows up in my FB feed is conservative. Not conservative-leaning commentary, mind you, but ranging the spectrum from rabble-rousing to outright lies. I'm sure there are reasons: many of my friends are conservative, I'm a white male living in the South, etc. I see lots of vivid conspiracies about liberal hate groups, the liberal Dark State, etc. However, I rarely see such ignorant/misinformed posts from the liberal side. This leads me to two possible conclusions:
1) on the whole, the fringe liberal propaganda is less virulent and misinformed than the fringe conservative propaganda; or
2) both sides are equally ignorant and misinformed (the Perez Axiom), and these rumblings of "Conservative Censorship" are utter bullshit.
The most surprising thing of all to me is that anyone ever gave a nitwit like Alex Jones an audience to begin with. But the truth is, the market has specialized to meet every customer's needs. Whatever your particular weird, hidden kink is, there is a variety of **** available to accommodate you. I look at news and media as not being that different from ****.
1) on the whole, the fringe liberal propaganda is less virulent and misinformed than the fringe conservative propaganda; or
2) both sides are equally ignorant and misinformed (the Perez Axiom), and these rumblings of "Conservative Censorship" are utter bullshit.
The most surprising thing of all to me is that anyone ever gave a nitwit like Alex Jones an audience to begin with. But the truth is, the market has specialized to meet every customer's needs. Whatever your particular weird, hidden kink is, there is a variety of **** available to accommodate you. I look at news and media as not being that different from ****.
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