Bet's recent activity

  1. Comment on The spinal surgeries that didn’t need to happen in ~health

  3. Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of October 6 in ~society

    Bet
    Link
    US is sending about 200 troops to Israel to help support and monitor the Gaza ceasefire deal

    US is sending about 200 troops to Israel to help support and monitor the Gaza ceasefire deal

    The United States is sending about 200 troops to Israel to help support and monitor the ceasefire deal in Gaza as part of a team that includes partner nations, nongovernmental organizations and private-sector players, U.S. officials said Thursday.

    The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details that were not authorized for release, said U.S. Central Command is going to establish a “civil-military coordination center” in Israel that will help facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid as well as logistical and security assistance into the territory wracked by two years of war.

    2 votes

  6. Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of October 6 in ~society

    Bet
    Link
    US Supreme Court seems skeptical toward Colorado LGBT 'conversion therapy' ban …

    US Supreme Court seems skeptical toward Colorado LGBT 'conversion therapy' ban

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday appeared receptive to a challenge on free speech grounds to a Colorado law banning psychotherapists from conducting "conversion therapy" that aims to change a minor's sexual orientation or gender identity.

    Questions posed by the court's conservative justices during arguments in the case seemed to reflect sympathy toward Christian licensed counselor Kaley Chiles, who challenged the law under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment protections against government abridgment of free speech. The court has a 6-3 conservative majority.

    …

    Chiles has said she "believes that people flourish when they live consistently with God's design, including their biological sex." Colorado's true aim with this law, Chiles has argued, is "to silence and marginalize views it dislikes."

    Colorado's law prohibits licensed mental healthcare providers from seeking to change a minor's sexual orientation or gender identity according to a predetermined outcome, with each violation punishable by a fine of up to $5,000. This includes attempts to reduce or eliminate same-sex attraction or change "behaviors or gender expressions."

    6 votes

  7. Comment on Travel essentials: eight items to pack for your next trip – and what to leave at home in ~travel

    Bet
    Link
    A few of these I hadn’t even considered, but they’re definitely upgrades. I’ll add to the list a recommendation for taking along an instant immersion heater, as well.

    A few of these I hadn’t even considered, but they’re definitely upgrades. I’ll add to the list a recommendation for taking along an instant immersion heater, as well.

    7 votes

  8. Comment on Flush with cash and soaring with hubris, Donald Trump appointees are supersizing US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in ~society

    Bet
    Link Parent
    Straw Man Fallacy definitions and examples — 1, 2.

    Straw Man Fallacy definitions and examples — 1, 2.

    2 votes

  9. Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of September 29 in ~society

    Bet
    Link Parent
    Kristi Noem’s tweet about the Chicago apartment raid, accompanied by video of said raid, set to music.

    Kristi Noem’s tweet about the Chicago apartment raid, accompanied by video of said raid, set to music.

    2 votes

  10. Comment on Outrage over American Eagle's 'great jeans' ad was a conservative media creation in ~society

    Bet
    Link
    There was a post on r/fauxmoi that hit the front page around the time of this “jeans/genes” controversy which simply highlighted the fact that Sydney Sweeney is a registered Republican. I remember...

    There was a post on r/fauxmoi that hit the front page around the time of this “jeans/genes” controversy which simply highlighted the fact that Sydney Sweeney is a registered Republican.

    I remember thinking that that was both odd and alarming. Everything about this American Eagle ad hysteria felt manufactured, even at the time, but perhaps only due to the fact that I’ve made it a point to keep up with both conservative and left-leaning news sources, so that initial imbalance was more palpable.

    I can’t say that I don’t have an appreciation for how finely tuned a master narrative machine the Republican sphere has operating currently. They are very good at trial and error, and are willing to amplify, pivot, and adjust themselves along new, more resilient and productive (to their cause) narrative lines at the drop of a hat.

    7 votes

  11. Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of September 29 in ~society

    Bet
    Link
    From The White House: Democrats’ Unhinged Crusade Against ICE Fuels Bloodshed The above was published on September 26th; the commentary below on October 2nd. Trump Publishes Enemies List To White...

    From The White House: Democrats’ Unhinged Crusade Against ICE Fuels Bloodshed

    The carnage in Dallas, Texas — where a maniac with “ANTI-ICE” ammo gunned down an ICE field office in an attack clearly targeted at ICE personnel — lays bare the deadly consequences of Democrats’ unhinged crusade against our border enforcement.

    Democrats have spent years vilifying ICE as “fascists,” “the Gestapo,” and “slave patrols,” inciting a 1,000% surge in assaults on agents and a wave of Radical Left terror. Their words aren’t just reckless — they’re a battle cry for violence.

    The above was published on September 26th; the commentary below on October 2nd.

    Trump Publishes Enemies List To White House Website, And It’s Just Democrats Speaking The Truth

    If you want to read the full list of official White House enemies, go ahead and click through. But it’s nothing you haven’t seen before, even as recently as last week when the DHS did the same thing because people weren’t being deferential enough to the thuggery that makes up ICE’s daily activities.

    And, of course, everyone on the list is a member of the Democratic Party, which means this is also partisan bullshit and, sadly, another indictment of the complete cowardice of the GOP, which also includes supposed “libertarians” like Rand Paul who can’t be bothered to vehemently attack egregious government overreach when it’s Republicans wearing the jackboots.

    7 votes

  12. Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of September 29 in ~society

    Bet
    Link
    Government agencies are blaming the shutdown on Democrats. Ethics experts say it could be against the law.

    Government agencies are blaming the shutdown on Democrats. Ethics experts say it could be against the law.

    Agencies across the federal government are explicitly blaming Democrats for the government shutdown — from banners on top of public websites to suggested out-of-office messages for federal employees — in an unusually overt show of partisan messaging that some ethics experts say may violate federal law.

    The deluge of statements bashing Democrats began hours before the shutdown Tuesday with a single red pop-up posted to the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s website. “The radical left are going to shut down the government,” the page read.

    The shutdown would “inflict massive pain on the American people unless they get their $1.5 trillion wish list of demands,” the website stated. “The Trump administration wants to keep the government open for the American people.”

    8 votes

  13. Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of September 29 in ~society

  15. Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of September 22 in ~society

    Bet
    (edited )
    Link
    Executive order: Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence ETA:

    Executive order: Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence

    Heinous assassinations and other acts of political violence in the United States have dramatically increased in recent years. Even in the aftermath of the horrifying assassination of Charlie Kirk, some individuals who adhered to the alleged shooter’s ideology embraced and cheered this evil murder while actively encouraging more political violence. This was preceded by the 2024 assassination of a senior healthcare executive and the 2022 assassination attempt against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Two separate assassination attempts against my own life in less than 3 months took place during the 2024 Presidential election cycle. Riots in Los Angeles and Portland reflect a more than 1,000 percent increase in attacks on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers since January 21, 2025, compared to the same period last year. Just yesterday, a shooting targeting an ICE facility in Dallas resulted in multiple casualties. Separate anti-police and “criminal justice” riots have left many people dead and injured and inflicted over $2 billion in property damage nationwide.

    ETA:

    There are common recurrent motivations and indicia uniting this pattern of violent and terroristic activities under the umbrella of self-described “anti-fascism.” These movements portray foundational American principles (e.g., support for law enforcement and border control) as “fascist” to justify and encourage acts of violent revolution. This “anti-fascist” lie has become the organizing rallying cry used by domestic terrorists to wage a violent assault against democratic institutions, constitutional rights, and fundamental American liberties. Common threads animating this violent conduct include anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Christianity; support for the overthrow of the United States Government; extremism on migration, race, and gender; and hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on family, religion, and morality. As described in the Order of September 22, 2025 (Designating Antifa as a Domestic Terrorist Organization), the groups and entities that perpetuate this extremism have created a movement that embraces and elevates violence to achieve policy outcomes, including justifying additional assassinations. For example, Charlie Kirk’s alleged assassin engraved the bullets used in the murder with so-called “anti-fascist” rhetoric.

    5 votes

  19. Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of September 22 in ~society