See, this is why I love real conversation! Now I’m learning something! Thanks for dropping by and sharing!
Fr, I’d never heard this mentioned. It’s an all new take on the purpose of (state? local?) militias, for me anyway, I’ve got some reading to do now…
Yeah, sorry, sometimes my ADHD just randomly throws in a clown. I mean, an entire non-sequitur sentence.
SO MUCH great information here! Bookmarked for later, so I can pick through it later and absorb all of your knowledge. Because I’m like a sponge. Or maybe more like a leech…
Someone did. They missed by inches. I would imagine they beefed up security a bit since then…
And, in most cases, it’s a good thing that our head of state is well-protected. Otherwise, we’d have a new president every week and the executive branch would be a mess…oh…hmmm…
Totally agree with you, a handgun is no match for a tank. If the military wants to make war on citizens, they will lose.
However, there is more going on that meets the eye. Many members of the military would not want to shoot their own citizens. And armed citizens can still do more damage than unarmed citizens. In other words, the 2A forces an authoritarian administration to use violence in order to repress the citizens. It ups the stakes. And citizens can strike in ways that the military can’t. Guerilla warfare tactics. They don’t need to “win”, they just need to disrupt, to spread fear.
But, yeah, with the current surveillance state, along with the culpability of the media, it seems a dubious proposition that armed citizens can save themselves from the fascists. Regardless, I have suddenly become a HUGE proponent of guns. Especially when I see the Black Panthers providing security for demonstrators. Respect.
This is interesting.
This memo is only relevant if Trump plans on staying in office past 2028, or installing another MAGA sycophant.
I mean, Trump knows that if a Democrat takes office, the DOJ will first clean house and then go after him for this shit. Yet he telegraphs his intention to break the law. Why?
The Constitution allows for the possibility of a gangster Administration. Checks and balances. The hope was that the Supreme Court and Congress would keep the executive branch in check.
The Constitution also recognizes that no system is perfect, so it adds the right to bear arms. Not for sport. Not for defense. The Second Amendment exists specifically to fight tyranny. Just in case the elections get rigged and an extremist party takes control.
Such an unlikely scenario, amiright?
it’s impossible to criticize Luigi on this platform without getting heavily downvoted
He sucks. I much prefer Princess Peach and I’ll fight all of you.
It’s a legitimate CONFUSING anti-abuse tactic.
How is a normal person, who’s never used reddit in the past, supposed to even know how to get karma? Or how the lack of karma is impacting their UX?
The only way is to game the system, get into a sub that allows shitposts and exists for the sole reason of boosting karma. Which immediately teaches the new person to game the system. Counter-intuitive and counter-productive.
I think it’s definitely an effective way to keep new users from spamming.
It chases away new users (or, at the very least, keeps them from active participation). Because of this system, a new Reddit user is more likely to be a doom-scroller with zero participation. And that’s what Reddit wants. Reddit doesn’t need another shitposter. Reddit doesn’t lack for quality content, since it aggregates the bulk of its content from other sites via powerusers. So fuck it if new people participate, as long as they see the advertising sponsors, Reddit is happy.
In fairness, that one does get a giggle from me. Every time. Even this one. Especially this one.
Giggity. (Please forgive me.)
This is false.
The Pentagon hosts a Ramadan dinner (at the end of the holiday, to celebrate the conclusion of the fasting ritual).
The Pentagon has hosted Hanukkah menorah lighting ceremonies. (I’m not sure if they still do.)
The issue here isn’t the sponsoring of a religious activity. The function of the military is to send soldiers to their deaths. Those soldiers who need spiritual support should absolutely have access to it.
The issue is that the president and the defense secretary have incorporated evangelical Christianity into their cronyism. Religion is being used as a litmus test for loyalty.
Signed,
A pragmatic (ex-militant) atheist
If they want to dive into the turkey first, they are welcome to it.
The sides are where it’s at anyway.
No. I said that retaining an immigration lawyer AND having the proper paperwork would mitigate the risk of ICE.
And it will. Here’s my analysis of the situation.
tl;dr: ICE is busy with other things, and will be for some time.
ICE pushes (and exceeds) the boundaries of both good taste and the legal framework of the Constitution. But it’s not random. There’s a method to the madness.
Now, check the headlines from the last week.
No, really! Please? Take a moment. Search for ICE in a fresh incognito browser, one that doesn’t track your personal preferences. Grab a newsfeed from Google or DuckDuckGo. Look at stories from the past week. Two weeks. Don’t see much, do ya? No high-profile demonstrations, no murder in the street, there’s even news of a detention center getting cancelled.
ICE is undergoing a shift. It’s intentional. The TSA wasn’t being funded during the shutdown, so ICE is now ‘helping’ out at the airports. They are on their best behavior. Squeaky clean, just trying to keep things running. Yay! It’s not an accident that ICE, of all organizations, was called in to help. (National Guard could offer the same level of expertise, which is absolutely zero.)
Another notable development is that Trump has, several times now, floated the idea of having ICE at the polls, to ensure election integrity. Again and again, Trump babbles about the dangers of mail-in voting and stuffed ballot boxes. And the misinformation parrots are all over that bandwagon, sowing seeds of doubt in the already gullible MAGAts.
So, here’s the play: Keep the world distracted by blowing up the oil supply. Shift ICE to high-visibility roles. Deploy them to the polling booths in the fall. Steal as much of the midterm elections as you can. Get a rubber-stamp majority in the House, Senate and Supreme Court. At that point, you can do whatever you want. Pass an amendment to the Constitution revoking the 22nd amendment? Sure, at the very least.
But whatever the case, ICE’s focus is no longer on terrorizing students in blue cities. They’ll be present and visible now, but they won’t be conducting raids en masse. They will now be low-key policing American citizens while pretending to be helpful, multi-purpose federal agents. Nazis disguised as Boy Scouts.
Right now, Illian Omar is leading the fight by holding up funding for DHS. Ilhan Omar said her caucus will ‘oppose all funding’ for immigration enforcement unless militarized policing ends. She understands what’s going on. She’ll lose, probably, just because sometimes politics is heart-breaking like that…
Perhaps you should consider that OP is not yet decided on the U.S.A. He’s doing a comparison of different countries. My replies are designed with him in mind, not you. Which is to say that your contribution to the discussion is certianly appreciated, just not by me. Hugs!
<shrugs>
I’m sorry, but ICE’s activities are the status quo in many countries. This person is looking at countries like Japan and China. How strict do you think immigration enforcement might be in China? Do you figure that Japan tolerates a lot of inconsistency when filling out an immigration visa?
It doesn’t matter how things should be, only that this is how they are. Today. RIght now. Yes, the U.S. has a hard-liner in office. Yes, ICE will discriminate - the color of your skin and your country of origin matter. But that’s not so abnormal on a global scale.
You can actively work on countering the negative effects, so I’d start with just a list of positives. If all the negatives were gone, which country would you choose?
Let’s suppose it’s the USA. You’re uncomfortable there, because of violence and ICE scares, but everything else is fine. You can look at local crime rates, especially gun violence. Find an area/school where these statistics are near-zero. You can mitigate the ICE risk by retaining an immigration lawyer and making sure that all your paperwork is in order.
Make the same type of list with Japan and China. What would you need to do to mitigate the xenophobia/ethnic differences? (Are you already fluent in both languages?)
You also mention finances, which should probably be near the top of the list. Figure out a realistic cost for your entire time at school, then work with your family to understand what’s doable and what stretches them past the breaking point.
It’s a statement. It needs no response.
And, of course, I have MUCH more to say on the subject. But, ya know, gotta start the conversation somewhere…
Good questions, keep 'em coming!
Right! I must have been high when I wrote that! 🤣