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bolverk

Certifiably Surly
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Everything posted by bolverk

  1. I'll agree with Brian that they could've done more, at least from the margins. Going off of memory and what was made public, I think that Kamala only agreed to meet with pro-Palestinian protestors once during a campaign stop in Michigan. It was, however, only behind closed doors. Immediately afterward, she held an event, and a group of protestors (separate from the one that was met with) protested her appearance. I think most of us who were paying attention remember that. I believe this was also after the DNC, where no Palestinians were seen or heard on stage as if the campaign didn't trust the pro-Palestinian camp from going off script. Now, they may well have had good reasons for not doing so (I, of course, have zero insider knowledge), but that lack of representation at the convention could also be seen as an insult. Does that excuse sitting home, voting for Trump or Stein, or even sitting out the election? Fuck no! But I do agree that the Kamala campaign could've shown more public displays of affection to, at the very least, not make them feel like wayward outcasts. Sure, it'd be a superficial gesture from the campaign's perspective, but apparently, it really mattered to some of that protest bloc.
  2. It's neither here nor there, but one curious thought just did cross my mind: I wonder how many toddlers there are now in America running around with the name Elon.
  3. Since xenophobia is all the rage these days, I'm going to have to ask it. Are we sure that kid is even an American?
  4. Heyyyy. Wait a minute... I think... I think I just saw what you did there.
  5. Yep. That's how ethnic cleansing works. Conquer a territory Deport most or all of the undesirables--usually along racial/ethnic, linguistic, and/or religious lines Profit It appears that current US foreign policy is now in favor of ethnic cleansing. Yes, modern America is a nation that, as a matter of policy, promotes, aids, and abets in ethnic cleansing. That's our official stance now. Who's next?
  6. You forgot Panama... and most people do.
  7. The line for me on Palestinians is very much akin to the situation of Hispanic Latinos. I'll mock the tears of the Palestinian Americans and Mexican Americans who sat out or voted for Trump, but I will not make fun of the actual migrants getting deported or Gazans who will get kicked out (except for those who confoundingly supported Trump's election from the sidelines).
  8. It'll be the Macao of the eastern Med!
  9. As many of us have been saying, this has been Bibi's goal all along. The only shocking thing is WE are going to do it for him, probably foot most of the bill (and shed most of the blood), and likely hand it over on the contingency of granting development opportunities to TrumpCo and friends.
  10. Proud Boys Lose Control of Their Name to a Black Church They Vandalized A judge awarded the trademarked name and symbols to a Washington church to help satisfy a $2.8 million judgment against the far-right group. The Proud Boys no longer have control over their own name. Under a ruling by a Washington judge on Monday, the infamous far-right group was stripped of control over the trademark “Proud Boys” and was barred from selling any merchandise with either its name or its symbols without the consent of a Black church in Washington that its members vandalized. In June 2023, the church won a $2.8 million default judgment against the Proud Boys after the organization’s former leader, Enrique Tarrio, and several of his subordinates attacked it in a night of violence after a pro-Trump rally in December 2020. The ruling by the judge, Tanya M. Jones Bosier of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, effectively means that Proud Boys chapters across the country can no longer legally use their own name or the group’s traditional symbols without the permission of the church that was attacked, the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church. The ruling also clears the way for the church to try to seize any money that the Proud Boys might make by selling merchandise like hats or T-shirts emblazoned with their name or with any of their familiar logos, including a black and yellow laurel wreath. In a lengthy statement, Mr. Tarrio said the church should have its nonprofit status revoked and Judge Bosier should be impeached. “Their actions are a betrayal of justice,” he wrote, adding, “I hold in contempt any motions, judgments and orders issued against me.” The initial judgment against the Proud Boys determined that Mr. Tarrio and other members of the group had climbed over a fence surrounding the church, which is just blocks from the White House, and burned a Black Lives Matter banner it was flying. The episode took place after a violent clash between supporters and critics of President Trump. The church called the Proud Boys’ actions “acts of terror” in its lawsuit and said they had been meant “to intimidate the church and silence its support for racial justice.” A judge agreed, calling the Proud Boys’ conduct “hateful and overtly racist.” When the Proud Boys failed to turn over any money, lawyers for the church sought to satisfy the judgment by seizing control of the trademarked name and by enjoining the group from “selling, transferring, disposing of or licensing” any merchandise using the words “Proud Boys” or any of the organization’s symbols. The ruling was handed down as the Proud Boys were riding high after Mr. Trump, in one of his first official acts in his return to the White House, included Mr. Tarrio and several of his lieutenants in his sweeping act of clemency to all of the nearly 1,600 people prosecuted in connection with the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Mr. Tarrio, who was serving a 22-year prison term on charges of seditious conspiracy, received a full and unconditional pardon from Mr. Trump. His four co-defendants had their own prison terms commuted to time served. The banner-burning episode had a dramatic effect on the events of Jan. 6. It led to Mr. Tarrio’s arrest on vandalism charges as he returned to Washington on Jan. 4, 2021. As part of the case brought against him, he was kicked out of the city and was in Baltimore when his subordinates took part in the storming of the Capitol. On the night the banner was burned, another Proud Boys leader, Jeremy Bertino, was stabbed on the street during a clash with leftist counterprotesters. One lingering effect of that episode was that it turned the Proud Boys against the police after years of having troublingly close relationships with officers across the country. Another was that Mr. Bertino eventually became a government witness and testified against his compatriots at the trial of Mr. Tarrio and his co-defendants.
  11. Well, we've had some of that discussion elsewhere already. I didn't read your article, so they may have been discussed, but several oil-producing states like Saudi, Norway, the Gulf States, etc., have Sovereign Wealth Funds where they use surplus revenues (profits) from their state-owned oil companies to make investments they feel benefit their countries. Texas has one, too, of sorts: the Permanent University Fund. We (the federal government) has also looked into setting one up before, so it's not exactly a new idea. But take Brisket's point about the who in this context and what is going on at this moment, then I think it's fair to say that some skepticism about the motives and how this thing would be funded is warranted. Administration officials did not say how the fund would operate or be financed, but Trump has previously said it could be funded by "tariffs and other intelligent things."
  12. Lake Boehmer: https://maps.app.goo.gl/EbryBFdJ232Em2KGA
  13. I take it as a thread concerning the ongoing attacks (many of them unconstitutional) on the core administrative functions of the federal government. Maybe this op/ed essay will best convey what's being discussed here.
  14. Ahem @realgreggym
  15. A good, short read on the new Mexican president's approach to the negotiations.
  16. My guess is they were keeping track of the people who went inside the Capitol building.
  17. Just kind of fumbled around like a baby chimpanzee in diapers tasked with putting a square peg in a round hole. Wordle 1,326 5/6 ⬛⬛⬛🟩⬛ ⬛🟩⬛🟩🟩 ⬛🟩⬛🟩🟩 ⬛🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Connections Puzzle #604 🟩🟨🟨🟨 🟩🟨🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🙂 Daily Quordle 1107 8️⃣5️⃣ 6️⃣🟥 m-w.com/games/quordle/ ⬜🟨⬜🟨🟨 ⬜⬜🟩⬜🟨 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟨⬜ ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜🟩⬜⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜ 🟨🟨⬜🟨⬜ ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟨⬜🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
  18. 20 minutes. Well worth it.
  19. I always gotta fuck up something.
  20. And this serves their interests, too. Our relationship as John Q Taxpayer with the Federal Government is like them forcing us to take a swig of some toxic swill once a year to serve as a reminder to hate them. It hasn't made me, personally, ever want to watch the whole thing burn down, but I think that's half the reason for the angry mob with pitchforks.
  21. Wow
  22. This has been one of my chief personal complaints as a simple taxpayer. In other countries, this is how it's been done for however long (since the 80s in France, I know). They get the letter (tax bill) upfront based on everything the government already knows, and then they go through the exercise of whittling it down to their satisfaction. Here, we do it where the taxpayer sits down at the kitchen table sweating bullets the entire fucking time. It's a tortuous process, so no wonder everybody hates paying taxes. I've often pondered the possibility that this is by design so that the American taxpayer would always be predisposed to hate the government and everything it does. Oh, and also these private firms leeches profit off a fucked up process.
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