https://twitter.com/Ilhan/status/1618719114289352705
Me and the squad visiting the CEO of Raytheon and taking epic TikTok selfies with the new Childshredder 3000 missile that locks onto smiles and uses laughter for rangefinding
Childshredder 3000 missile that locks onto smiles and uses laughter for rangefinding
You joke (probably) but I recall reading about some tech developed somewhat recently regarding drones that seek the screams of people; now obviously at first I thought the same thing you probably just did: military purpose, but instead the intended purpose was to find people who needed help for the sake of helping them, but undeniably this will become military tech as well. Because the empire in Star Wars is fast becoming less the villain and more an aspiration.
Because the empire in Star Wars is fast becoming less the villain and more an aspiration.
People who wear space nazi clothes and cosplay are a huge pet peeve of mine. :angery:
Ran in to some fuckers on Insta today complaining that the rebels only won because of plot armor and I took great pleasure in informing them that, word of god, the Rebels are the Viet Cong. Also had to explain to someone that stormtrooper armor isn't to protect the stormtroopers, it's to make them look like dehumanized fascist murderers that resemble skeletons.
Yeah all the stupid shit in star wars that the empire does is because they are not just fascists, but they are lead by someone who is literally the devil and is a suffering maximizer. Basically what if the amerikkkans were also the Nazis and Nixon was actually Satan
tricky dick isn't nearly cool enough to be the light bringer
Which just makes the "Garrisons" that show up at charities and hospitals all the more enraging.
The 501st etc creep me out. Once fascism started becoming more and more visible I started asking myself why someone would spend so much time, money, and effort dressing up as a faceless fascist terror soldier and didn't like the answer. I feel the same way about people with Sith OCs. Like the Sith's major defining trait is school shootings and idk what people think is cool about that.
That's like the pilot of The Venture Brothers where Doc makes the ooh ray and used it to melt a plastic model city
Any new technology that comes out, I am immediately struck by ways it might be used to hurt people. What's the worst thing it could possibly be used for? Then I am not surprised when it shows up in real life.
There will be murderbots in the future, engineered to be terrifying to their targets.
Now the scientific process got hijacked for profits. It flows in the direction that a silver spoon prodded, we'll get science for the people when we run the economics.
The Coup
"uhh they're merely fighting terrorists" radlibs don't know that Osama Bin Laden/ISIS/etc are considered US assets
The U.S uses the facade of military aid to steal resources from Africa for multinational corporations to continue the monopolies of capitalism. AFRICOM claims to be a counter terrorism operation and yet the rate of terrorist attacks in Africa have actually increased since the establishment of AFRICOM in October 2008. AFRICOM actively works with terrorist groups to destabilize the countries they are based in, all to steal resources. AFRICOM is responsible for much of, if not most of, the death and destruction in Africa within the last decade. AFRICOM’s interests solely lie in protecting the neo colonial presence and activities the U.S engages in to compete with China and Russia. Only within the recent year has Amnesty International condemned the frequent use of drones that AFRICOM utilizes.
https://12ft.io/proxy?&q=https%3A%2F%2Fenzorivers.medium.com%2Fafricom-the-u-s-imperialist-death-squads-in-africa-a6a59f0ecade
US posts military bases and carries out strikes throughout the world
"This is fine"
Chinese ships exist in South China Sea
"We must contain Chinese aggression"
This is why I still posit that the human rights NGO complex is frankly much more insidious then the outright reactionaries when it comes to 21st century western imperialism . Not a new argument it's the same point that's argued in the Monthly Review published text Humanitarian Imperialism(although he primarily focuses on the US, and argues the US is particularly reactionary in It's neo colonialism). Need to start writing again because God damn I despise NGO humanitarian Imperialist . They are SO MUCH more effective then then the right wing in popular American culture when it comes to The Empire . Illhan should listen to her Somali constituents.
Along with the 2006 US backed Ethiopian invasion that ousted the Islamic Courts Union it's clear the CIA has propped up and arguably created the NICA intelligence agency. Which is a ruthless disgusting paramilitary org in Somalia thats arguably controlling Al Shabab itself. This along with regular AFRICOM bombings makes this so disgusting.
At the same time we are all (and shout out to those who never carried water for her although I admittedly did) stupid for thinking anyone in Congress would have any serious pushback against imperialism. Let us not make that mistake again .
The destruction of the Islamic Courts Union was when I gave up on following Somali politics. It was an indigenous movement that was actually effectively taking control of the country and bringing stability and peace after decades of warlords, but the US and friends crushed it because it had "Islamic" in the title and they couldn't control it.
And then it's destruction drove the growth and popularity of al Shabbab.
Yes really gross. It's really important to note that for all it's flaws (as a religious politics) the Islamic Courts Union encompassed 12 groups if I recall correctly and a wide range of views within Islamist politics .
That was my understanding. it was a coalition of senior, respected Sharia jurists and their paramilitary followers, and they all agreed to respect each others legal judgements. At the same time their militias would cooperate to maintain peace, suppress bandits, and ensure that legal decisions were respected. My understanding is that large extended clans are very important in Somali society, and most Islamic law is already heavily based on Sharia, so having well respected Sharia jurists acting as the de-facto government was acceptable to most people, especially compared to war lords and bandits.
Very well said and I completely agree . As you alluded to it's important to note much like Afghanistan after the Soviet withdrawal and before the Taliban took power in 94 Somalia was in a state of chaos in the early 2000's ( and in various parts of it's post 45 history) and relative to the chaos of warlords and various criminals the ICU was welcomed by many Somalis who just wanted some semblance of normalcy.
Damn, maybe we shouldn't have built a Gundam for Ilhan Omar
Imagine how cool it would be if her daughter called her out as as shill for this shit publicly:data-laughing:
so gross, no doubt in my mind that AFRICOM is in some way partly responsible for her being a refugee
there was a article somebody posted like half a year ago talking about how terrorism goes up the more africom is funded that was filled w a bunch of other fun facts i wish i could find
Has DSA (IC or any chapter) made a comment on this?
At this point I think it's just kind of expected that "our electeds" (i wince every time I hear this phrase) will violate the organization's principals. The IC has explicitly called for the end of AFRICOM in line with our plank to withdraw all US soldiers from Africa and the Middle East before, though they haven't said anything about this particular instance (yet). Haven't seen a statement from any chapter and it's unlikely there will be.
For what it's worth I think we'll be scrapping our relationship with most of these people over the next year.
For what it’s worth I think we’ll be scrapping our relationship with most of these people over the next year.
I hope so, stupid shit like this trickles down to local chapters and we lose good members.
I don't think Omar is DSA. She's said before she doesn't identify as a socialist, and she has enough to deal with being a black Muslim with a hijab (paraphrasing).
Not saying they shouldn't criticize her, but I'd prefer them focus on disciplining their own electeds.
She might be endorsed by DSA national or by the local chapter, but she's not a member. AOC, Talib, Cori Bush, Bowman and Greg Casar are.
If DSA could get those five to actually vote as a disciplined bloc, I'd be a lot more optimistic about the org.
She became a sort of hero for me during the Trump years for telling that scumfuck Elliot Abrams off for his disgusting genocidal bullshit in El Salvador. The Washington machine really does make you become one of them.
it's almost like tweeting at people is easy and not supporting the imperialist machine that you are literally an employee of is hard
I mean she said it to his face at a committee hearing. It's one thing to tweet and another to say it in a setting like that. I wouldn't have cared if she had just tweeted at him.
