[News] Post a Political News Story

Ongoing discussion of the political news of the day. This thread is for 'smaller' stories that don't call for their own thread. If a story blows up, please start a new thread for it.

...Now I'm starting wonder if Charles Darwin came back from the dead to donate enough money to get the science building at my college named after him so his great-great-great-great-grandchildren could get admitted.

- Mike Golden Gate Bridge

Nomad wrote:

Am I going to end up on a watch list now for frequenting a message board full of fusion bomb enthusiasts?

Crap.

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OG_slinger wrote:
The Article wrote:

Alexander went on to suggest that his issue with Wohl isn’t that he lied, but that he did it in a clumsy way.

“It confirms that he’s not operating at a level where there’s useful misinformation, but kind of stupid, vanity-filled, ego-fueled disinformation,” Alexander said. “And that won’t look good for Jacob.”

Ah, principled conservatism these days: "It's OK to lie about things if it makes them cuck libs look bad."

I remember seeing one of Wohl's tweets right before he got banned talking about how he was in Minneapolis and was super concerned about his safety traveling through all the city's ISIS-controlled "no go zones" and wondering why he wasn't prowling hipster cafes in LA.

Then I found out he was there chasing a "lead" from a right-wing blog that Rep. Omar had married an Englishman who was really her brother so he could obtain US citizenship.

Ah, yes. Dinkytown. Second only to Uptown and Lyn-Lake for Sharia law.

@OG: Yep. I remember. I don't know if it was Trump specifically but he's certainly enabled it. To be conservative means to just lie. And lie well.

I guess we’d go Jennifer Government at some point.

Mixolyde wrote:
BadKen wrote:

You guys lack ambition.

— Ken Great Pyramid of Khufu

Great Wall of Brian

I'm Great Wall of Brian and so is my wife!

A witness says "Many" are dead after a mass shooting at a Mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Apparently, the shooter livestreamed much of his rampage.

This is.... just... goddammit.

Prederick wrote:

A witness says "Many" are dead after a mass shooting at a Mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Apparently, the shooter livestreamed much of his rampage.

This is.... just... goddammit.

Seriously? I lived in Christchurch for a year. That sucks.

Yeah, there's already a fair amount of information floating out there from good sources about the shooter.

From what I'm seeing, I'm going to have at least 5-10 new articles to post to the "Social Media Trolls" thread. Unfortunately.

EDIT: Oh God, obviously I should mention that I hope any NZ Goodjers who might live in the area are okay.

So sad and infuriating. I'm so tired of this.

Also, I couldn't help but notice how all the major news sites I can think of have this shooting as their main story/headline but Fox News can't help themselves and keeps this one in the primo spot on top of their page:

NO ACCESS? NO PROBLEM
Strzok: DOJ made agreement with Clinton lawyers to block FBI access to Clinton Foundation emails

ClockworkHouse wrote:
absurddoctor wrote:
Quintin_Stone wrote:

Bane was intending to murder everyone with a giant fusion bomb.

The most confusing thing about this college admissions sting to me is: why now? Has this kind of prosecution ever happened before?

I'm not sure if its a timing thing, it seems more like its just a question of the wrong people being payed. The recipients of the money were too low on the food-chain to let this one pass.

The issue here seems to be that coaches, admissions officers, and others were being bribed directly. Also the falsification of photos and documents and test scores. The normal, boring, everyday process of making huge donations to schools after which they happen to accept your kids' unremarkable applications remains completely legal.

tl;dr: Bribe the school, not individuals.

Basically, yup. Same reason they don't really want legal weed nationwide, since it's too easy for non-approved entities to get their beak wet, which is the real crime here.

Can’t really comprehend it. I’m a long way from Christchurch, but it’s a small country. We don’t have shootings very often here, and this has to be the worst. And the thought that people are seeking out the video and watching it is just sickening.

I spent a ton of time in Hagley Park jogging and whatnot. Even ran a 5K race there. The gardens are beautiful. Bleh. This is so bad. I expect this kinda stuff to happen in Portland OR anytime, but to happen there is a little surprising.

I should preface this by saying that I'm not trying to start an argument, but I don't think it's surprising given the brand of fascist white supremacy that apparently inspired this man, which is currently being disseminated globally thanks to the laissez-faire attitudes of various tech companies.

The shooter's manifesto is 4/5ths sh*tposting 8chan nonsense, but from the parts of it that appear earnest, one can surmise where he (and many like him) are getting their ideas from. It wasn't a surprise in Quebec, and it's not a surprise here.

EDIT: 49 dead now.

As a related sidenote, The Atlantic has a great article up about the history of White Nationalism.

Didn't see this and added a post to the Mass Shooting thread.

Had to double check with a few old rugby playing buddies that all was OK. Good news on that front so far but to be fair Maoris tend to be Christian if at all.

I've said it before in relation to The Troubles in my country, it's not young men I get angry at the most. Young men are dumb. Their brains are undeveloped and they are still not inured to the increased testosterone from puberty. It's the older men (and women) who know better and create environments that direct young men to dark places for the older persons benefit. Sometimes it's power, sometimes it's money. In this case tech companies are happy to whip up young men into killing sprees because it makes them money. I'm sorry I'm that blunt but there is no other explanation and there were children involved in that shooting which tends to knock the diplomatic out of me.

Alleged New Zealand Mosque Mass Shooter’s Manifesto Praises Donald Trump As ‘Symbol Of Renewed White Identity’

In the document, the alleged shooter, who identifies himself as a native Australian named Brenton Tarrant, expresses the common white supremacist belief that white people are being subject to “white genocide” and “replaced” by “non-Europeans” due to “mass immigration and the higher fertility rates of the immigrants.”

As seen in the excerpt above, he sites Owens, the 29-year-old communications director of the conservative group Turning Point USA, as “the person that has influenced me above all.”

Axon wrote:

In this case tech companies are happy to whip up young men into killing sprees because it makes them money. I'm sorry I'm that blunt but there is no other explanation and there were children involved in that shooting which tends to knock the diplomatic out of me.

The big tech companies definitely play a role in the radicalization of young men, but in this case there's one dude who deserves the lion share of blame: Jim Watkins, an American living in the Philippines who's single-handedly bankrolling 8chan.

The strongmen strike back - Authoritarianism has reemerged as the greatest threat to the liberal democratic world — a profound ideological, as well as strategic, challenge. And we have no idea how to confront it.

Long, but good.

Of all the geopolitical transformations confronting the liberal democratic world these days, the one for which we are least prepared is the ideological and strategic resurgence of authoritarianism. We are not used to thinking of authoritarianism as a distinct worldview that offers a real alternative to liberalism. Communism was an ideology — and some thought fascism was, as well — that offered a comprehensive understanding of human nature, politics, economics and governance to shape the behavior and thought of all members of a society in every aspect of their lives.

We believed that “traditional” autocratic governments were devoid of grand theories about society and, for the most part, left their people alone. Unlike communist governments, they had no universalist pretensions, no anti-liberal “ideology” to export. Though hostile to democracy at home, they did not care what happened beyond their borders. They might even evolve into democracies themselves, unlike the “totalitarian” communist states. We even got used to regarding them as “friends,” as strategic allies against the great radical challenges of the day: communism during the Cold War, Islamist extremism today.

Like so many of the theories that became conventional wisdom during the late 20th and early 21st centuries, however, this one was mistaken. Today, authoritarianism has emerged as the greatest challenge facing the liberal democratic world — a profound ideological, as well as strategic, challenge. Or, more accurately, it has reemerged, for authoritarianism has always posed the most potent and enduring challenge to liberalism, since the birth of the liberal idea itself. Authoritarianism has now returned as a geopolitical force, with strong nations such as China and Russia championing anti-liberalism as an alternative to a teetering liberal hegemony. It has returned as an ideological force, offering the age-old critique of liberalism, and just at the moment when the liberal world is suffering its greatest crisis of confidence since the 1930s. It has returned armed with new and hitherto unimaginable tools of social control and disruption that are shoring up authoritarian rule at home, spreading it abroad and reaching into the very heart of liberal societies to undermine them from within.

The New Zealand shooter’s manifesto shows how white nationalist rhetoric spreads

A lot good in this, but the kicker is the best part.

“One thing to consider is that transnational flows of ideas and materials work in multiple directions,” Belew told me. “The white power movement in the US was heavily influenced by inflows like British Israelism (from Canada) and skinheads (from Great Britain). But in part because of the power and force of its activism in the period I study, [the white power movement in the US] also became a huge exporter of white power activity in the 1990s.”

In other words, white nationalism has been internationalized, with adherents finding inspiration in figures ranging from American neo-Nazis to Norwegian mass murderers, and finding common cause on forums like 8Chan that attract an international audience of sh*tposting racists who view racism and white nationalism as both a worthy cause and a hilarious chance for memes.

The Christchurch shooter was seemingly influenced by dozens of other white nationalists before him, whose names and ideology created the common framing he and other committers of racist violence have continually used. And through his manifesto, the Christchurch shooter, like the Coast Guard lieutenant, hoped to do the same for someone else.

OG_slinger wrote:
Axon wrote:

In this case tech companies are happy to whip up young men into killing sprees because it makes them money. I'm sorry I'm that blunt but there is no other explanation and there were children involved in that shooting which tends to knock the diplomatic out of me.

The big tech companies definitely play a role in the radicalization of young men, but in this case there's one dude who deserves the lion share of blame: Jim Watkins, an American living in the Philippines who's single-handedly bankrolling 8chan.

Well, I feel dirty after reading that.

The Canterbury Crusaders are considering changing their name. They are based in Christchurch. The club captain, also the national team captain, Kieran Reed was caught up in the lockdown. This is one of the best sides in club rugby and the name never crossed my mind. Perhaps it was the mix of ethnic Europeans and South Islanders that didn't trigger it but name can't remain. I can't imagine there will be much push back if any.

Nice instagram post from TJ Perenara who is also a streamer on Twitch and it well verse on online culture.

At what point do they get to rest? Why is everyone else able to go about their day? Why does the responsibility for such devastating actions by individuals get placed on entire communities in some cases but not others?

The reality is I know why. If you don’t know why, once we have had time to grieve, it might be time for some uncomfortable conversations.

Well said, TJ, well said. I love New Zealanders no nonsense attitude.

We should probably take a moment to notice that significant parts of the middle of the US are flooded. A huge swath from Michigan to Nebraska has large areas underwater.
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The Weather Channel: Deadly, Historic Flooding Swamps Plains, Midwest; Nebraska City Cut Off, Bridges Washed Out, Levees Breached
Reuters: Historic floods hit Nebraska after 'bomb cyclone' storm
NPR: The Midwest Battles Historic Floods In The Aftermath Of 'Bomb Cyclone'
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Family members/acquaintances from Iowa have been posting pictures of submerged roads and fields and towns that are now lakes on social media.

There have been more than a few “where’s all the global warming when you need it” comments.

I just can’t.

ruhk wrote:

There have been more than a few “where’s all the global warming when you need it” comments.

"You're looking right at it."

This is why we're all going to die early. Too many people can't see climate change even when they are submerged in it.

tuffalobuffalo wrote:

I spent a ton of time in Hagley Park jogging and whatnot. Even ran a 5K race there. The gardens are beautiful. Bleh. This is so bad. I expect this kinda stuff to happen in Portland OR anytime, but to happen there is a little surprising.

I know what you mean. It feels strange that a place I have walked and driven past so many times has been attacked by a terrorist.

A note I posted to my FB feed this morning

Note to rich parents:

If your kid is unable to make it into a good college on his/her own without you donating a building or bribing a rowing coach, perhaps college isn't the right the path for them. Not only are you robbing a deserving student of lesser means an opportunity at... opportunity, you are doing your own child the gravest of disservices by removing his/her own agency in his/her future.

If it is family asset protection you are after, you are better off creating administered family trusts. Those millions of dollars you spent on a new swim center would have been better spent on Amazon stock or a straight S&P 500 index fund.

If it is social class you are after, there is nothing as classy as authenticity. And nothing as vulgar as a cheat.

Is it cheating, or is it retaining what higher education has been about all along? (Maintaining/reinforcing the economic stratification of society while allowing for some 'degree' of upward mobility for the talented few.)

The only authenticity our betters require is the rubber stamp of approval they're born with.

LouZiffer wrote:

Is it cheating, or is it retaining what higher education has been about all along? (Maintaining/reinforcing the economic stratification of society while allowing for some 'degree' of upward mobility for the talented few.)

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