Tag: Politics

Protests Denver – April 19, 2025 – Random Pics

Another round of protests kicked off Saturday across the United States as part of the 50501 Movement’s “National Day of Action.” Crowds rallied outside the Colorado Capitol building to oppose actions taken by President Trump’s administration and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/anti-trump-rallies-hands-off-administration-washington-new-york-boston/

see also: https://www.reddit.com/r/DenverProtests/

Pro-Palestinian Activism Leads to ICE Abduction

Ozturk, 30, was detained leaving her home in Somerville, Massachusetts, on the outskirts of Boston, on her way to break her Ramadan fast with friends.

Khanbabai has now been in contact her client, the government said, after it was previously reported that she had been unable to get in touch with Ozturk.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (Cair) advocacy group said in a statement: “We unequivocally condemn the abduction of a young Muslim hijab-wearing scholar by masked federal agents in broad daylight. This alarming act of repression is a direct assault on free speech and academic freedom.”

News reports say that Ozturk had been involved in pro-Palestinian activism at Tufts. She had co-written an op-ed in the Tufts student newspaper, criticizing the university’s response to Israel’s attacks on Gaza and Palestinians.

“DHS and Ice investigations found Ozturk engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization that relishes the killing of Americans. A visa is a privilege, not a right. Glorifying and supporting terrorists who kill Americans is grounds for visa issuance to be terminated. This is commonsense security,” the spokesperson told the Guardian.

DoJ lawyers say detained Tufts student was sent to Louisiana before court order
Federal judge in Boston issues order giving government until Friday to answer why student has been detained

Palestinian Rights, Free Speech, and AI

The dystopian future is here. Yale University has suspended a scholar in its law school after a Jewish news website that uses AI to produce articles called her a member of a terrorist group. It comes as the Trump administration has launched a relentless campaign to silence any speech sympathetic to the Palestinian cause.

Already, ICE has arrested an activist at Columbia University who helped lead Palestinian protests. It was also recently reported that the State Department will use AI to scan social media and deport international students who express pro-Palestinian views. The Trump administration has pulled federal funding from universities that continue to allow protests that are supportive of Palestine, which it claims are antisemitic. Conservatives care a lot about protecting free speech on social media platforms, except when it is speech they disagree with.

Helyeh Doutaghi, the scholar at Yale Law School, told the New York Times that she is a “loud and proud” supporter of Palestinian rights. “I am not a member of any organization that would constitute a violation of U.S. law.” The article that led to her suspension was published in Jewish Onliner, a Substack that says it is “empowered by A.I. capabilities.”

Yale Suspends Palestine Activist After AI Article Linked Her to Terrorism

Monomania and the Tyrannical State

Plato claims that justice in a republic was the same virtue as justice in a human being, and that the parts of a human soul match those in a state and stand in the same just or unjust relationships to one another. A monomaniac runs his life as a tyrannical state runs itself.

Plots (Leonard Hastings Schoff Lectures)
Robert Belknap

In 19th-century psychiatry, monomania (from Greek monos, “one”, and mania, meaning “madness” or “frenzy”) was a form of partial insanity conceived as single psychological obsession in an otherwise sound mind.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomania

Being Yourself When You Are Mitt Romney

“Populism may not place a high premium on honesty, but it is all about authenticity. Virtually every Trump voter I know loves that he speaks his mind and says what other people are thinking but are too afraid to say. Lots of people have lived rather messy lives, and they can see themselves in the politician who doesn’t hide his warts — and sometimes even in the politician who revels in his transgressions.

They’re seen as real, while even the most honest politician can seem fake for coming across as too polished.

(I remember once being in a room with Mitt Romney during his second run for president, in 2012, and listening to a number of activists and consultants urging him to “show America the real you.” Exasperated, Romney responded, “This is the real me!” He was authentically polished and polite.)

The Populist Cure Is Worse Than the Elite Disease

Texas Woman Leaves State for Abortion

Dec 11 (Reuters) – A woman who had asked a court for an order allowing her to get an abortion under the medical emergency exception to Texas’ near-total ban will leave the state to receive care while the state’s highest court considers her case, her lawyers said in a court filing on Monday.

Lawyers for Kate Cox said in a filing with the Texas Supreme Court that she nonetheless wished to continue her lawsuit. A lower court last week issued a restraining order allowing her to obtain an abortion, but the state Supreme Court put it on hold while it considers an appeal by Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican.
…
Cox’s fetus was diagnosed on Nov. 27 with trisomy 18, a genetic abnormality that usually results in miscarriage, stillbirth or death soon after birth.

Texas woman who asked court to allow emergency abortion will leave state for care
REUTERS

Adam Kinzinger – Fresh Air Interview

Rep. Adam Kinzinger on investigating Jan. 6 and being a ‘Renegade’ in the GOP
The former Illinois congressman reflects on confronting the “fanaticism of the hardcore” of his own party. Kinzinger served on the House committee investigating the attack on the Capitol.

KINZINGER: It’s been life-changing in a number of ways. So, you know, my father’s cousins, I guess, basically sent me a letter disowning me at one point, which was…

GROSS: Wait, wait, wait, she said you served in Satan’s army when you joined the committee.

KINZINGER: Yep. That’s it. That’s it. I was a member of the devil’s army. But it said things like, you serve in the devil’s army, you’ve lost the trust of great men like Mark Levin and Sean Hannity. And it goes to show, to me, the brain rot – right? – the rot going on, the absolute abuse of people that put their trust in some of these – you know, these radio folks or these TV folks. I had – you know, a year ago, I had – my copilot in Iraq sent me a text that said he was ashamed to have ever served with me. I mean, I can’t imagine what goes through somebody’s head, how angry you have to be to wake up, for whatever reason, to send a person that you fought with in a war that you were embarrassed to have served with them.

I mean, that’s just some of it – having a 24-hour security detail when I’m in D.C., wondering if my family’s protected while they’re back in Illinois. I mean, these are a lot of the sacrifices. But – and a lot of the ways it changed. And now I’m obviously a much more public figure than I was even prior to that. But I have no regrets. If I had to go back in time, knowing everything I know now and how it would turn out, I would still do it.

GROSS: I don’t want to ask you anything that further threatens your security, so if this question does, let me know. But you got a lot of threats after joining the committee. You got voicemails saying things like, I hope you die quickly.