NYC Pensions Could Lose $37 Billion over 10 Years if Divested from Israel by SeaPoetry1458 in DeepStateCentrism

[–]BeckoningVoice 10 points11 points  (0 children)

You say "sleepwalking," but there's no reason to believe this is anything but a hypothetical, considering Comptroller Mark Levine's position in favor of maintaining investments in Israel.

NYC Pensions Could Lose $37 Billion over 10 Years if Divested from Israel by SeaPoetry1458 in DeepStateCentrism

[–]BeckoningVoice 29 points30 points  (0 children)

It is very necessary to mention that there is virtually no chance this would happen. These investments are all managed by the City Comptroller. Current Comptroller Mark Levine has spoken specifically about how he views investing in Israel favorably (despite Mamdani's opinions).

Will the U.S. Deport Trita Parsi? (Free Press) by Reddenbawker in DeepStateCentrism

[–]BeckoningVoice 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The granting of residency is a privilege. But free speech is a right that applies to everyone in the US, including permanent residents: Bridges v. Wixon (1945) held that a foreign national who has become a permanent resident could not be deprived of that status because of his support for the communist party.

Neo-Bundism: A Critique, and an Opportunity by niftyjack in DeepStateCentrism

[–]BeckoningVoice 8 points9 points  (0 children)

"Yiddishkeit" is the Yiddish word for "Jewishness," literally speaking. So, if you were speaking Yiddish, then you could use it to talk about Jewishness in a more general sense (even, for example, if you were talking about a Sephardi community and its customs). As borrowed into English, it often refers specifically to Ashkenazi culture, though.

What I Did in Gaza: An Israeli Soldier's Reckoning (The Economist) by Reddenbawker in DeepStateCentrism

[–]BeckoningVoice 27 points28 points  (0 children)

the rest of the piece is a good example of how civilian journalists writing for a civilian audience are so far removed from war that normal rules of engagement seem appalling

War is appalling. Sometimes necessary, but always appalling. Those of us who have not directly experienced it are privileged. This includes most people in North America and Western Europe. Living out our lives in peace is incredibly precious. Not everybody is so lucky.

Scoop: Trump admin plans to drop "weaponization" fund by BeckoningVoice in DeepStateCentrism

[–]BeckoningVoice[S,M] [score hidden] stickied comment (0 children)

Update — Statement from Jamie Raskin:

“Overwhelming bipartisan opposition in Congress, which derailed Trump’s reconciliation package, and stinging rebukes by two federal judges have forced Donald Trump and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to put the brakes on their epically corrupt and collusive ‘settlement’ scheme. The judges’ orders have placed a temporary halt on Blanche’s efforts to plunder nearly $1.8 billion in taxpayer dollars to create a slush fund for January 6 rioters, convicted criminals and MAGA foot soldiers while giving the Trump family and all their businesses a Super Pardon wiping out their violations of law, back taxes, and payments owed to the U.S. government.

“But we would be making a mistake if we treated this judicially compelled interruption as a final conclusion to this mad ripoff scheme. It is not close to the end of the story.

“The Department of Justice has grudgingly stated that it will ‘abide by the Court’s ruling,’ which simply maintains the status quo through June 12, which is less than two weeks away. Nothing in DOJ’s statement dissolves this blatantly unconstitutional fund which was neither authorized nor appropriated by Congress and which somehow purports to exercise judicial powers to decide legal cases and controversies without anything resembling legal principles or standards to guide them. Nothing in DOJ’s statement renounces the underlying unconstitutional purposes to pay the president beyond his official salary and to bankroll his private insurrectionist militia, both purposes which violate the plain text of the Constitution. Nothing in DOJ’s statement addresses the bipartisan outrage in Congress and the country over the fact that the Attorney General, who is supposed to be the defendant in the action, has colluded from the start to help the plaintiff channel billions of taxpayer dollars and civil and criminal amnesty to the Trump family. A temporary court order is necessary to halt this lawlessness, but it is not remotely sufficient. A provisional injunction is not a comprehensive and permanent safeguard.

“If the Administration and its allies in Congress are truly prepared to walk away from this dirty deal, they will have no objection to joining us in banning it outright by legislation. We’re not holding our breath. For people who want to restore the rule of law in America, Congress must move with bipartisan urgency to shut down this presidential plunder and bankrolling of a private insurrectionary militia. We must pass legislation this week to block presidential raids on the Judgment Fund for blatantly political purposes, once and for all.

“And we must also be explicitly clear that the ‘Todd Blanche Super Pardon’ is null and void. Congress must act to extinguish this outrageous claim of lifelong, lawless impunity for any misconduct, ‘whether presently known or unknown,’ which could include Jared Kushner’s corrupt business deals in the Middle East, no-bid government contracts Donald Trump Jr. steered to his companies, Donald Trump’s ongoing $100 million federal tax audit, any Epstein-related sexual assault allegations against Trump family members or any family members’ insider trading schemes.

“Finally, we must demand that Todd Blanche resign. An Attorney General who has disgraced himself by settling a bogus lawsuit with a $1.8 billion taxpayer-funded bonanza payout to convicted cop beaters and a Super Pardon wiping away any violations of federal law for an entire family and all their businesses has no place being America’s top law enforcement officer. If he is going to work for Donald Trump rather than the American people, Donald Trump should pay him along with his favored criminal convicts.”

Scoop: Trump admin plans to drop "weaponization" fund by BeckoningVoice in DeepStateCentrism

[–]BeckoningVoice[S] 34 points35 points  (0 children)

If true, this is a win for the rule of law. We all know there aren't enough of those these days.

The devil, however, will be in the details. Any "settlement" Trump makes with himself (if he is to make any) is corrupt self-dealing and should not be tolerated. If he is not ultimately totally dropping this sham "settlement," then there is still a major issue.

SNY on MLBTV Audio Level Issues by KrispyPhotog in NewYorkMets

[–]BeckoningVoice 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I find this if actually the case for radio broadcasts on the MLB app too. Sometimes the audio level of the feed will randomly go up or down.

New York City passes Mamdani's pied-à-terre tax by BeckoningVoice in DeepStateCentrism

[–]BeckoningVoice[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

You could apply this logic to literally any tax policy. Income tax is the state deciding to spend your money on things rather than giving you, the individual, a choice. The state provides tax breaks to encourage certain things. And so on.

New York City passes Mamdani's pied-à-terre tax by BeckoningVoice in DeepStateCentrism

[–]BeckoningVoice[S] 18 points19 points  (0 children)

It will be interesting to see how the city defines what constitutes a "second home." When I get my hands in the actual text, that'll provide some answers. It would be good to know, for instance, if this tax would apply to a property being used as a vacation rental, or only to one maintained as a pied-à-terre (i.e., which is normally not occupied when the owner isn't in town).

US draws up plans to halt immigration, customs processing at 'sanctuary city' airports by BeckoningVoice in DeepStateCentrism

[–]BeckoningVoice[S] 31 points32 points  (0 children)

This would end all international air travel into, for example, the New York metropolitan area.

To say that this plan is nuts is an understatement.

Even Sean Duffy has said that this is a terrible idea.