The internet is filled with things. Here are some of them.
Dear President Trump,
I hope and pray that in your next term in office, you will be a president for all Americans, advancing the principles of democracy, justice, and commitment to rule of law that have been sources of strength for our nation throughout its history.
As an American and a Reform Jew, I am committed to the protection of the orphan, the widow, and the stranger. I will support any serious effort by your administration to combat antisemitism, and I will champion a strong U.S.-Israel relationship that fosters democracy in and security for the Jewish state and demands the rights, well-being, and national aspirations of Palestinian civilians in Gaza and the West Bank are upheld.
At the same time, I will join in fierce opposition to any further efforts to eviscerate reproductive rights, to target the safety and rights of the LGBTQ+ community, to harm communities of Color, or to undermine the health of our air, water, and land. I will join in defense of the security of immigrants and the right to claim asylum. I will vehemently oppose the weaponization of political power against individuals and institutions that are core to our democracy, including the courts and the press. And above all, I urge an end to the repeated demeaning of women, the use of hateful language against those who hold different views, and the persistent coarsening of our political culture.
We are all made more whole when we treat others with the respect every human being deserves. Please, help heal the wounds our nation bears and govern as a president for all Americans.
None of us have seen the United States as divided and distressed as it is now.
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Watch the talk shows and listen to people in the streets: both sides genuinely believe that if the other wins, everything they hold dear will be destroyed.
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And while division is now more serious than for decades, a longer historical perspective suggests that extreme polarisation is not the exception in American politics but the norm.
Until the 1950s, the Supreme Court allowed states huge latitude to evade constitutional provisions which, on parchment at least, guaranteed equal rights to all citizens. The so-called “Jim Crow” apartheid laws in the South meant that, for people of colour at least, travelling across state lines meant moving into dramatically different legal regimes. Maintaining racial segregation required authoritarian government including a heavily armed police and equally heavy restrictions on freedom of speech and private life. Policing sexual politics was an essential part of the system.
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And then there was the actual Civil War of the 1860s, a conflict in which three-quarters of a million people died (in proportional terms the equivalent of about seven million today). Over the century and a half since the South was defeated in that war, a huge amount of emotional and literary effort has been expended on making the case that the war was a tragic accident, which somehow brought the country together, that despite taking up arms against the government the white South were somehow still fighting for American values.
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Perhaps the harsh truth is that the United States has always been a nation divided by a common flag.
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But if they share a reverence for their Revolution, Americans have never agreed on what it means. Did the rebellious colonists of 1776 create a republic dedicated to the radical idea of human equality? Or did they create a fundamentally conservative republic, shaped by Christian values? ... The most dangerous moments in US politics have been fights over who is “really” an American.
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But even as Washington retired to his wife and slaves in Mount Vernon, bitter partisanship convulsed the republic, and it did so for the same basic reason that it does today—partisans genuinely believed only they were true patriots and that their opponents were enemies of the republic. If that’s what you think, naturally you will do anything to win, including, if necessary, overturning election results that don’t go your way.
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The United States has prospered, despite its divisions and institutional sclerosis, because – most of the time — it has given well-founded hope of prosperity to ordinary people. If that proves no longer to be true, then the game may finally be up.
For conservatives, appalled by what your party has become, I understand if you cannot vote for Kamala Harris, with whom you disagree so strongly, though I would note fellow citizens every bit as conservative as you have found it in them to do so simply to take a stand against what Trump has become and while Trump has promised to use the military against his political opponents, Harris has promised to put Republicans in her cabinet. But if you absolutely cannot stand to vote for a Democrat, write in a name, leave the top of the ballot blank. But do not sign your name to this.
Because from this point forward, you may choose to look the other way, but you can never again say that you did not know. And while right now you may have many reasons and many concerns, if you sign your name to this fascist and a fascist government takes power as a result…your many reasons will no longer matter. No one really cares what Franz von Papen or Victor Emmanuel III or NSDAP or Blocco Nazionale voters were concerned about or their pet issues. Once a fascist government took power…they were fascists.
Surprising announcement: jihadists actually believe in their religion.
I know, shocking.
But really, the writer is constantly complaining how Western analysts are always trying to understand the jihadists’ motivations and plans through their own lens: economy, strategy, nationalism, fighting against oppression. Dean claims that these all overlook a major goal that motivated him and many of his comrades: fulfilling the prophecies.
The rascally spies of OSS knew a thing or two about mischief making, especially when it came to undermining America’s enemies in World War II. One of their more imaginative ideas was to train everyday citizens in the art of simple sabotage. Thus, the “Simple Sabotage Field Manual” was born.And then the manual's best guidance:
This previously classified booklet describes ways to train normal people to be purposely annoying telephone operators, dysfunctional train conductors, befuddling middle managers, blundering factory workers, unruly movie theater patrons, and so on. In other words, teaching people to do their jobs badly.
Managers and Supervisors: To lower morale and production, think of the worst boss you’ve had and act like that. Be pleasant to inefficient workers; give them undeserved promotions. Discriminate against efficient workers; complain unjustly about their work. When possible, refer all matters to committees for 'further study and consideration.' Attempt to make the committees as large and bureaucratic as possible.
China's fishing fleet has long been accused of doing more than just catch fish. New evidence has emerged that China’s state-owned fishing fleet may be a front for covert intelligence operations in the disputed waters of the South China Sea.
Hot on the heels of whatever breach of democracy is going on in South Korea, the Romanian Supreme Court has canceled the first round of their presidential election after it just took place, accusing the winner of achieving victory using underhanded tactics. Which, to be fair, the winner was an unknown TikToker with no political party affiliation and a strange dislike of NATO and like of Russia and squiffy finances, so maybe the courts have a point there. But still, that the outgoing prime minister gave a speech to Romania's NATO allies saying "our democracy is 100% fine here and running completely normally with business as usual, we double-plus promise you" wasn't terribly reassuring.