politics

the title

This information is not a closely guarded government secret or limited to paywalled academic journals. There is a Wikipedia page about the torture campaign carried out by the US. But if you google "Vietnam War torture" or a similar query, all of the top results are about allegations of North Vietnam engaging in torture. Here are my first page results when I run the Google search:

U.S. prisoners of war during the Vietnam War
Brutality And Endurance | National Museum of the United States Air Force
Inside The Hanoi Hilton, North Vietnam's Torture Chamber
'The torture stopped': 1969 brought temporary changes to infamous Hanoi Hilton
I Spent Seven Years as a Vietnam POW. The ‘Hanoi Hilton’ Is No Trump Hotel.
Tortured in notorious 'Hanoi Hilton,' 11 GIs were unbreakable
Vietnam veteran endured torture, John McCain was cellmate
Maltreatment of Prisoners Of War in Vietnam | US Naval War College
McCain's experience as POW shaped lifelong opposition to torture
How did the North Vietnamese torture U.S. soldiers?

Someone unaware who tried to look up this information on Google would almost certainly come away with the impression that torture was carried out exclusively by the North Vietnamese side, and in fact, I have had arguments with people who claimed that the US didn't torture people in Vietnam. These people had never heard of the Phoenix Program. The info about torture done by the US and South Vietnam is very difficult to find unless you specifically search for the programs and prisons where this torture was conducted.

It was bad, but not much worse than a bunch of other shows where they "force" a point across for the sake of politics. Saw some of this in Rick and Morty too

The wackiness/cringe levels were honestly comparable to Gravity Falls.

I think people just hate it because 1) race swapped in a way that erases whites instead of POC and 2) they heard other people hate it so they just bandwagon

Here's the archive link, forgot to use it for the post

https://archive.ph/aNoMk

...

Beyond being another hateful iteration of the conservative assault on trans people’s rights, the bill could have the state of Tennessee losing buckets of money as the legislation would contradict federal guidelines. If it passes the bill, Tennessee could lose $1.2 billion worth of federal education funding, and another $750,000 of federal grants dedicated towards supporting women and children. Other state and local government entities could be impacted as well.

Even with that potentially astronomical loss of funding, the bill passed the Senate 27-6, exhibiting the relentless urge Republicans have to target trans people at any cost.

...

Nobody is willing to even entertain the idea that West isn't Best. Suggesting that whitey shouldn't rule the world is received as if you'd advocated cannibalism, and you will be condescended to and treated like an ignorant child even as they make it clear they know much less than you do about the subject at hand, if not outright ejected from the community. It's not just bots and manufacturing consent, either - it happens to me in real life just as easily as it happens online.

Anyone who isn't unconditionally anti-NATO and anti-American hegemony is a white supremacist. No exceptions.

Love this place, though. I think I'd go crazy if it wasn't for you guys. Glad I have somewhere to get this off my chest :soviet-heart:

posted about this earlier, but didn't stress that a socialist alternative member was the driving force

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/seattle-becomes-first-us-city-outlaw-caste-discrimination-after-council-vote-2023-02-22/

https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2023/2/21/dalits-are-winning-against-caste-discrimination-in-the-us-too

A Seattle City Council resolution against caste discrimination is an important step in this journey.

On Tuesday, February 21, the Seattle City Council will make history if it votes yes to include caste in the city’s non-discrimination policies. Outlawing caste discrimination would be the culmination of years of Dalit feminist research and organising that has exposed caste oppression in the United States and has centred Dalit healing in the battle to end caste discrimination everywhere.

Caste is a hierarchical social system dating back thousands of years and practised throughout South Asia among people of all religions. It negatively affects more than 1.9 billion people worldwide and at least 5.7 million South Asian Americans, degrading their quality of life.

It determines who can worship where, education and career opportunities, and even personal relationships — in essence, caste shapes entire lives. While caste-based discrimination in the US is not as widespread and overt as in India, where it has its roots, it exists here, too.

South Asian immigrants from Nepal, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Myanmar, Maldives, and indentured communities all report experiencing caste discrimination in the US. The Equality Labs 2016 Caste in the United States survey found that one in four Dalits in the US had faced verbal or physical assault and two out of every three said they had faced discrimination at work.

This data is further supported by a forthcoming report from the National Academic Coalition for Caste Equity and Equality Labs, with the preliminary analysis of a new survey revealing that within US higher education, four in five caste-oppressed students, staff, and faculty reported experiencing caste discrimination at the hands of their dominant-caste peers.

Further, three in four caste-oppressed stakeholders did not report that discrimination in their universities or colleges because caste was not added as a protected category, or because their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion departments lacked the competency to address their concerns.

This data is backed by troubling testimonies of caste discrimination in workplaces, schools, places of worship and businesses.

It can no longer be denied: caste discrimination exists in the US and must be fought with civil rights enforcement.

...

It's clear that a significant number, perhaps a majority, of users here are older millennials. The references to pop culture like movies or tv shows is always things from the 90s and early 2000s. Like referencing 90s Simpsons episodes or posting about video games for the original playstation or sega saturn or whatever. In fact a lot of the music and gaming posts I see are just callbacks to games from childhood.

I know we're all leftists here but I would be very wary of slipping into nostalgia. It's this same sentiment that leads the right wing chuds to say "things were better back in the good old days" and we're not immune to that sentiment either (though I think we have a better ability to self reflect and resist that urge).

It makes sense now why even the existence of someone like Andrew Tate completely blindsided a ton of ppl here. I'm not saying you should try to "act young" but maybe it'll help to try/watch/listen to new things once in a while. That way you won't seem out of touch to the younger generations.

UPDATE: I noticed a comment asking how to start exploring new stuff. I don't really know where to start, but try checking out this chart (https://i.imgur.com/Z43zfn9.jpg) and notice where you started to lose touch. It's more of a childhood shows/movies chart but it could be used as a stepping stone to relate to different gens. This could also apply backwards in time as well and you could notice where you stopped being able to connect with older generations as well. If there's some kind of chart showcasing adult media from different generations please let me know.

https://apnews.com/article/politics-new-mexico-state-government-crime-albuquerque-1410b516f5b66c18d62342a0d7a9b60f

Officials accuse Peña of paying $500 to four men to shoot at the homes of Democratic lawmakers. He went along for the final drive-by, his gun jamming as bullets ripped into the bedroom of the girl, police said.

Empire in decline.

He can't be stopped. It rules.

I'm curious what you guys think about what changes would occur in the USSR and the world.

He would support the Chinese working class in their fight against fascism in Xinjiang, imperialism in Taiwan, colonialism in Hong Kong, and environmental destruction in its vassal states like Cambodia

Presidential approval is just looking at gas prices and some rng lmao

Dec. 6 is the anniversary of Marc Lépine’s misogynistic assault on École Polytechnique de Montréal in 1989. On that day, Mr. Lépine entered a classroom armed with a semi-automatic rifle. He asked all the men to leave and then opened fire. He murdered 14 women and wounded another 14 people before taking his own life.

...

The day before the anniversary, Mr. Rochefort posted an altered photo depicting Mr. Lépine with an assault rifle in front of a group of women, telling his readers that Dec. 6 “should be a day when we remember the first counterattack against the femin*zis’ war on men.” In August, 2022, he was convicted of inciting hatred toward women.

Some incidents of incel violence have started to be treated as acts of terrorism, and the Canadian governemtn IIRC has recently considered treating the incel "movement" as a domestic terrorism threat.

What's wrong with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez?

Imperialism

• Voted to expand NATO to Finland and Sweden. On the same day this vote became public, she pretends to get handcuffed during a defend abortion rally outside the supreme court rally,, then asks for donations in emails.
• Voted for Trump's 2020 War budget, allocating $738 Billion to military spending (a 3% increase over the previous year).
• She votes to keep the US in NATO, who's been responsible for countless atrocities in Europe and the Middle East.
• After Evo Morales was overthrown in a US-backed coup, she retracts her pro-Morales statements, meets with a coup-supporting group in Washington, and tweets in support of the viciously anti-indigenous government of Jean Anez. 2, 3
• In the July 2021 protests in Cuba, she called Cuban president Diaz-Canal's "anti-democratic actions.", 2 She condemned the socialist government’s “suppression of the media, speech and protest.”
• She supports Israel, and its genocide of Palestineans.
• When asked about her vote of "present", rather than no, that allocates an extras $1B USD to Israel, she defends it by saying it was a "micro"-decision that creates "a window that brings all folks to the table".
• AOC and the squad consistently vote against what they preach.
• After an anti-war activist posted a video of AOC waffling on a question about Palestine, he's interrogated by California highway patrol who claimed he issued a death threat against AOC. In reality, his tweet said: "her response was underwhelming to say the least." Its unknown whether AOC initiated the interrogation.
• Is against pardoning Julian Assange.
• Goes along with democrats and Republicans in backing US puppet Juan Guaido over Maduro in Venezuela.
• After the December 2020 Elections in Venezuala, she defends Juan Guaido, and calls Maduro an "authoritarian" yet again.
• In 2021, qualified that she only doesn't support a US invasion of Haiti, "without a plan", "right now".
• AOC pays homage to "Tibetan Uprising Day", a CIA-sponsored campaign to restore the brutal Tibetan theocracy and re-institute slavery.
• Stands with Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and the right-wing pro-Trump Hong Kong rioters in their condemnation of China and its supposed "concentration camps."
• Believes, like other democrats, that Russia rigs US elections
• After Trump fires John Bolton (who tried and failed at starting wars with North Korea, Venezuela, and Iran), she goes full neocon, angry that Trump isn't going to war with North Korea.
• Refused to talk with an Okinawan representative about the US military occupation there.
• In 2009 AOC travelled to Niger as part of a USAID program. USAID is a CIA affiliated program that backs regime change abroad (under the guise of ‘promoting democracy’.) In 2010 the Niger Government was replaced in a coup, with the US publicly backing the new regime. The previous Niger Government had ended a French monopoly on Uranium mining in their country and was looking instead to partner with China.. After the coup the French monopoly was re-instated – with dire consequences for Niger.
• After being criticized during a town hall meeting for bringing the world closer to nuclear war for her vote to arm Ukraine, she accused her critic of "speaking over a deaf person". She knew the deaf person wasn't in attendence, she was only reading that person's email.

Domestic issues

• Calls for budget cuts for DHS, due to their child detention camps and family separations, then goes back on it by voting to fully fund them along with other democrats.
• After Biden opens new child immigrant detention facilities in February 2021, she stops calling them "concentration camps", and names them "influx facilities".
• AOC wants abolish ICE, only to replace it with a resurrected INS, yet another agency whose goal was breaking up families.
• After the 2021 capitol riots, AOC defends law and order, and calls the republicans cowards for not supporting the police.
• AOC selling "law and order" and "family values" and not being "weak on crime" as socialist values.
• Defends the NYPD during the George Floyd protests, since there are women, black, latino and asian american cops.
• In December 2020, after a proposal by comic Jimmy Dore, for house democrats to refuse support for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, unless she agrees to bring a Medicare for all bill to the house, to bring relief for US citizens who lost healthcare during the pandemic. AOC and the rest of the "squad" refused, and backed Pelosi, citing concerns that the bill would not win anyway. Dore retorted that 9 / 10 democratic voters, and even a majority of republican voters support medicare for all.
• After bucking M4A during the COVID pandemic, AOC touts a FEMA funeral reimbursement program as an acheivement.

Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was among the majority of lawmakers who backed passing the legislation that notably did not include provisions for paid sick leave. A separate measure that also passed the House Wednesday, however, did include such provisions by giving rail workers seven paid days of sick leave each year.

"If Congress intervenes, it should be to have workers' backs and secure their demands in legislation," she tweeted. In another tweet responding to a union that thanked her for backing rail workers' pleas for paid sick leave provisions, Ocasio-Cortez wrote "Stay strong" and "we've got your back."

A lot of media outlets are wrongfully saying that AOC voted against the back to work bill, but if you check the House Clerk website it's clear that she voted "Yea".

https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2022490

Prior to the conflict, I wasn't a fan of liberals. But at least they were better than conservatives because they didn't want to glass the Middle East, protested against the Iraq war, made fun of right wing bullshit on Fox News, and didn't want to gun down Muslims or Hispanics. Or so I thought.

Liberals have gone full :frothingfash: and are literally regurgitating 1930s Nazi talking points about the Slavs. As I Russian speaker, I stopped going on most subreddits now due to the obscene racism. I've seen shit ranging from "Aktually, Ruzzians are not white or European" to "Lets break Russia up and commit mass ethnic cleansing". It's not even just Russians, I've seen a massive surge in racist posts about Chinese and Indian people since the war started.

Liberals are literally swallowing the most inane nonsense from Ukraine like "Russian orcs shocked at seeing toilets for the first time". And lets not forget the "Russian brainpan too smol to launch nukes so lets nuke them ourselves" posts all over :reddit-logo:

Anyone who even remotely suggests that we shouldn't arm and send 16 year old Ukrainians to be blown up in human wave attacks is called a Kremlin agent.

Amazingly, many right-wingers like Peterson or Candace Owens have better takes on the situation than liberals do. Does anyone have an explanation for this?

corbychev pls come back :kitty-cri: :long-corbyn:

imagine if the tories were tearing themselves apart like this while he was still in charge. at this rate their self destruction is just going to get fucking blair 2.0 in office :angery:

https://twitter.com/i/events/1577206779271778304

I like world leaders who don't die during their second term.

mr-burns-excellent.gif