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#1

Off the Record / Re: US - Greenland Crisis Thre...

Last post by Tamas - Today at 04:19:38 AM

Is there a form of protest of current ICE methods displayed in Minessota and other places that you would find acceptable? Or is your core argument that these methods do not justify any protest?

Also what is the treshold at which voluntary members of an organisation can be held personally responsible for the actions they personally undertake while following guidelines and orders from that organisation (i.e. what's the treshold for personal insults becoming acceptable)?

I asked you a question which you did not answer but rather followed  up with more questions. We grant certain people the authority to ask questions without answering them in turn. The police, the court, counsels in a court case. Clergy, if you swing that way. You are not one of those parties.  Therefore answering your questions is not an obligation on my part. Rather I view it as a courtesy extended on a reciprocal basis. I ask my question, you answer, you get to ask yours.

You haven't asked me any direct questions, the questions you asked have been answered by others.

#2

Off the Record / Re: US - Greenland Crisis Thre...

Last post by viper37 - Today at 01:53:32 AM

New leaked documents reveal US military sought classified info on Greenlandic infrastructure behind Denmark's back 

Danish article about US military shenanigans concerning Greenland.

It seems on one hand, some of the top Generals are pushing back against this, while some others are enabling it.

#3

Off the Record / Re: US - Greenland Crisis Thre...

Last post by The Minsky Moment - Today at 01:18:18 AM

Jacob described ICE as Trump's Freikorps long before Minnesota. Do believe he was basing his judgement on cases such as the one you cited?  Do you believe there were other activities ICE engaged in that would justify the Freikorps accusation, i.e. render it not demonization?

ICE predates Trump.  It's never been my favorite agency, but with a federal agency you can usually count on some level of professionalism.  You could count on a minimum level of competence in personnel.  You could usually count on some degree of predictability in conduct, following developed standards and procedures and manuals.  This is what the Bannons of the world are talking about when they rant about the "deep state."  It's the operationalization of the rule of law. The people responsible for executing the law take steps to understand the law they are enforcing, and put procedures in place to do it in a reasonably predictable and transparent way.

Trump's first term didn't have much impact on this. The second term has been very different.  There have been purges at the senior civil service level of all agencies. Replacements chosen for personal and ideological loyalty. Expertise is suspect. SOPs and manuals are ignored as deep state BS and extraneous red tape.

ICE is an extreme manifestation of this phenomenon, because of the massive influx of personnel, poorly vetted and lightly trained and because they are charged with implementing a high personal priority for Trump.  The job by is nature is complex because ICE agents are responsible for enforcing both civil and criminal laws.  That distinction appears to have broken down completely, and intentionally so.

We don't have access to internal memoranda or orders yet (perhaps post 26?)  But the following is clear:
1) Enormous pressure is being placed on ICE to maximize the number of removals.
2) Racial and ethnic profiling of the crudest kind is the primary method of investigation. Here the Supreme Court has been a critical enabler.
3) The administration has made it crystal clear, from the very top (Trump, Vance, Noem, Miller) on down, that ICE agents do not need to concern themselves about adverse consequences from exceeding authority or even breaking the law.  They have "absolute immunity."

What we see on the streets of Minneapolis, Chicago, Portland elsewhere is the predictable result of bringing in masses of poorly trained recruits, arming them, pressuring them to achieve results at all costs, referring to the civilian population around them as "domestic terrorists" and "agitators", and telling them they can do whatever they want without negative consequences.  It's textbook behaviorism.

#4

Off the Record / Re: What does a TRUMP presiden...

Last post by Syt - Today at 01:02:30 AM

https://x.com/USDOL/status/2010141673389769214

(WTF is that music? It feels like they made an incel edgelord their social media guy.)

#5

Off the Record / Re: Facebook Follies of Friend...

Last post by crazy canuck - Today at 12:57:23 AM

Webber was anomie, not alienation in the way Marx explained both its cause and effect.

Webber was about a lack of ethics to provide meaning.  Not economic exploitation.

#6

Off the Record / Re: Russo-Ukrainian War 2014-2...

Last post by Zoupa - Today at 12:51:29 AM

Neither do you. We'll still let you in. We're a magnanimous people. 

#7

Off the Record / Re: US - Greenland Crisis Thre...

Last post by Zoupa - Today at 12:49:09 AM

My read is the Miller wing of the administration very much wanted to create this kind of paramilitary organization when they started that crazy hiring spike. I'm not too knowledgeable about the historical Freikorps so I can't say how they compare, but this sort of militia is standard fare in nascent dictatorships.

#8

Off the Record / Re: Facebook Follies of Friend...

Last post by Syt - Today at 12:39:19 AM

I thought alienation was a Max Weber concept about the boredom of industrial labor.

No. He picked up from Marx but was more into Rationalization: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rationalization_(sociology)

Also, alienation is not about "boredom," Wikipedia has a basic summary:

The theoretical basis of alienation is that a worker invariably loses the ability to determine life and destiny when deprived of the right to think of themselves as the director of their own actions; to determine the character of these actions; to define relationships with other people; and to own those items of value from goods and services, produced by their own labour. Although the worker is an autonomous, self-realised human being, as an economic entity this worker is directed to goals and diverted to activities that are dictated by the bourgeoisie—who own the means of production—in order to extract from the worker the maximum amount of surplus value in the course of business competition among industrialists.

(Sorry, bit rusty, been 30 years since we learned that in school - we spent a year on the history of economic thought from Smith to Galbraith.)

#9

Off the Record / Re: Facebook Follies of Friend...

Last post by Admiral Yi - Today at 12:18:35 AM

I thought alienation was a Max Weber concept about the boredom of industrial labor.

#10

Off the Record / Re: Facebook Follies of Friend...

Last post by Razgovory - Today at 12:17:37 AM

I wouldn't know.  Not educated, remember?