Englishgrinn

A couple of op-eds for a Student newspaper criticizing Israel? I thought I saw the pieces linked earlier but I don't see them now. The article linked on this post says it supported a student divestment program and referenced the International Criminal Court calling attacks on Gaza a genocide.

Hardly spicy compared to your average social media post.

Yeah, reporting has mostly been about the leak - and I understand why. American lives > anything else in American politics and the OPSEC is what puts American lives at risk.

But if I understand this "operation" correctly - a rocket specialist for the Houthis who was instrumental in the attacks on Suez Canal had a girlfriend in that building. So, they dropped the building on him. 53 innocents dead to kill one terrorist? This is acceptable losses in modern American warfighting?

For the record, and I know I'm not the first to say it, this woman committed NO crime. She didn't overstay a visa, she didn't protest illegally. She wrote something the administration didn't like.

For that, she was arrested by 8 masked officers in the middle of the street, in broad daylight. She was thrown in the back on an unmarked SUV. She's received no legal representation. No trial. Not even charges, because again, she committed no crime.

Americans, you realize you're watching the death of your rights and the rule of law, right? You have no illusions about the fact that you are defenseless? There is no longer any guardrail between you and an El Salvadoran prison camp. In something that reminds me very much of Stalin, an accusation is now a conviction.

There's a couple reasons -

1. It wasn't so much "bombing Yemen" as it was, bombing a terrorist organization within Yemen's borders. This is something every American administration has done for decades. That makes it poor political fodder, you can't "one up" the competition with it.
2. Most Americans would agree that the Houthis, once it is explained to them who they are, need to be bombed. The actual action would be reprehensible to some, but acceptable to most. You can't put pressure on an admin to change their tactics when they feel they have a plurality of support.
3. The sad and undeniable fact is that in American politics - American lives are simply more important than foreign ones. That's not really unique to American culture, it's not meant as a criticism, it's just a sad reality. Bombing Yemen is pretty low risk for American lives - but sloppy OPSEC put American lives at huge risk so that's where the focus is.

In a perfect world, the fact that America is committing violence in other nations and is not realistically reigned in by International Laws or Treaties would be a point worth getting upset about. But that fact is over 100 years old and has been successfully normalized. The idea of incompetent buffoons operating the Department of Defense like a bunch of frat boys trying to organize a kegger is marginally newer and more impactful on the national psyche.

Yeah, our government is just the worst Joe. I mean, we don't light our money on fire to pick a fight with all our friends. We're not erasing our own history because we're scared of black and brown people. We let people have access to healthcare without having to sell their youngest daughter in sex slavery (sorry, "child marriage"). And we haven't even turned the keys of the kingdom to a mask off fascist doing the fucking seig heil on national television and then pretending to wonder why people want to kill him.

God, it's like we're not even trying to put our boot on the neck of our citizens. You should totally go to Russia. Like, right now. And I hope you fall out a window you drug-addled windbag.

This is the key element of incel culture - if one member of the group tries to improve themselves in anyway, it's an attack on the whole group and they are ostracized from what feels like their only social group.

"What? You started exercising and showering? Who do you think you are? Who are you trying to kid? You're just playing the slut's game, man"

All social bubbles are at least a little harmful - but incel culture is more than that, it's purposefully self-destructive. You have to be sad, miserable, and let your life fall apart to belong. It takes advantage of social instincts in the worst possible way.

Man, Charlie Angus has really been the man of moment here. He's doing the same speech all over this country, seen it in a bunch of places. I know that sounds like a criticism - how can he be genuine when he's repeating himself and refining the message? Isn't that just a stump speech?

But it's not. First of all, anyone who knows Charlie Angus' record knows this isn't new territory for him.

Second, the reason this feels so genuine is because it's how WE feel. We aren't being told what to think, we're having our feelings put into words right in front of us.

And finally, these lines aren't stupid slogans or focus group tested pablum. These are things I've heard other Canadians say to each other, things I've said, way before any political leader was saying it. He's speaking in plain and easy language, in the exact terms Canadians think about this.

Populism and patriotism are heady, dangerous drugs. So quickly, they can pour over into mob-mentality, anti-intellectualism and nationalism. We have to be careful, and we have to be smart. But right now, man, I am riding this high. Elbows up!

I get what you're saying, but don't stress it. If they're coming, they'll find a reason. It won't be this. Never worry about their response when engaging with fascists. Truth means nothing to them.

I have never known a man who needed to get punched in the face worse than Donald Trump. I am not a violent man. I detest "online tough guys" who treat every situation as an excuse to advocate for violence. And I'm not saying I endorse a bullet or a guillotine or something like that. I'm not even saying I'd punch him.

But this man has clearly never been punched in his shit-talking mouth, and if someone had done it 40 or 50 years ago, we wouldn't be here now.

That story is absolutely heart-breaking. It's funny to me that reading that story, I can just tell I wouldn't like Jasmine Mooney. We wouldn't get along on a personal level. Her humour isn't my kind. Her view of things doesn't line up with how I perceive the world. We wouldn't be friends. And yet, I'm so incredibly moved by her story and I really respect the humility she shows in highlighting the stories of the other women she met in that system. I'm going to share this around, this feels really important.

I'm not sure we need to waste a lot of time on the lunatics that make up that 10%. You can't get 90% approval for fresh baked cookies, or friendly golden retriever puppies. While it would be nice for there to simply be no traitors within our borders, it's not really a realistic goal.

Instead, let's celebrate that by and large we're all on the same page. Elbows up. One way or the other, old age or a bullet, we die Canadians.

Despite every horrible thing they stand for - it is completely reasonable to me if the thing you're most pissed at them for is cultural appropriation of Norse Mythology. I know when people use my country's flag in their hate-fests, it angers me almost as much as the hate itself.