Politics And Current Events

[DigitalGypsy66]

Pretty good summary of Syria here: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/ ... y-in-syria

Looks like with Russia and Iran busy elsewhere, they've let their guard down in Syria. The various rebel groups decided to Voltron up and work together with positive results.

[NAN]

Thank you. Good summary

[RonnieFranchise]

Can someone provide cliff notes of Syria and what is going on

What is Aleppo?

[CBear3]

The former Islamic fundamentalist terrorist group that claims to now only want to terrorize their own country with Islamic fundamentalism has taken over a large portion of the country, apparently much to even their surprise.

[NAN]

Now South Korea is under martial law

[CBear3]

We didn't start the fire...

[MR25]

https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/03/asia/sou ... index.html

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law in an unannounced late-night TV address Tuesday, accusing the country’s main opposition party of sympathizing with North Korea and of anti-state activities.

Yoon did not say what specific measures would be taken. He cited a motion by the opposition Democratic Party, which has a majority in parliament, to impeach top prosecutors and reject a government budget proposal.

Yoon accused the opposition of turning the nation into a “drug haven” and creating a state of disorder detrimental to public safety and livelihood. He also said the Democratic Party was attempting to overthrow the liberal democratic system, declaring, “The National Assembly has become a monster undermining liberal democracy, and the nation is in a precarious state, teetering on the edge of collapse.”

He assured the public, “We will eliminate the anti-state forces and restore the country to normalcy as quickly as possible.” While acknowledging that martial law might cause some inconvenience, he promised efforts to minimize its impact on the public.

Gee, that rhetoric sounds awfully familiar.

[NAN]

We didn't start the fire...

Honest to god was singing that in my head when I typed that

[Ad@m]

That was a quick edit NAN

[NAN]

That was a quick edit NAN

[Lemon Berry Lobster]

When does the alien invasion start?

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

Apparently SK has had a problem with highly corrupt presidents over the last 20 years so this current guy doesn’t seem too out of the ordinary

From a Reddit comment

Here's what happened to the past South Korean presidents, for reference:
Roh Moo-hyun (2003-2008): Died by suicide during a corruption investigation.
Lee Myung-bak (2008-2013): Imprisoned for bribery and embezzlement, later pardoned.
Park Geun-hye (2013-2017): Impeached and jailed for corruption, later pardoned.

[meow]

MSKGA

[Shyster]

I love that Shyster is contorted all the way around so that he's now in support of the government abusing someone over a gun possession.

I wanted to circle back to this. To be clear, I think the whole "unlawful user" prohibition in 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3) is arbitrary and unconstitutional bullcrap, especially as applied to users of marijuana, which is now legal in one way or another in 38 states. I also think that it's total bullcrap for Hunter Biden to get a pardon when the Biden Justice Department is actively arguing for the continued constitutionality and enforcement of § 922(g)(3), including its application against people who merely have medical-marijuana cards.

Like I posted above, the DOJ argued just last year in a petition to the SCOTUS that drug users—including marijuana users—are "not law-abiding, responsible citizens" because "[a]rmed drug users endanger society in multiple ways." The Biden DOJ also compared drug users to “lunatics” and argued that "Just as Congress may disarm persons with mental illnesses even during their lucid intervals, it may disarm drug users even during their sober intervals." The petition also argued that this applies to marijuana users in particular, because "The effects of marijuana intoxication, for example, include an altered perception of time, decreased short-term memory, and impaired perception and motor skills," and therefore marijuana users "may mishandle firearms—or use firearms to commit crimes—because of drug-induced changes in physiological functions, cognitive ability, and mood." Again, if any of you light up an occasional joint or eat a gummy, that's the Biden DOJ talking about you. Biden thinks drug users are totally dangerous, and we need strong enforcement of § 922(g)(3) to keep guns out of the wrong hands. Unless those hands belong to the President's son, of course. He gets a pardon. The other people sitting in jail for violating § 922(g)(3) can suck it.

And while § 922(g)(3) charges are less common than some other charges, they are not rare. According to data from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) project at Syracuse University (which compiles data on government), there were 590 cases from 2008-2012 and 614 cases from 2013-2017 where a violation of § 922(g)(3) was the "lead charge" in a federal criminal prosecution. Now, that pales in comparison to the number of cases brought under the "felon in possession" prohibition in § 922(g)(1) (27,296 cases from 2008-2012 and 26,717 cases from 2013-2017), but if those numbers stayed relatively steady, it means that about 130 people each year are subject to prosecutions where a "unlawful user" violation is the lead federal criminal charge. It's safe to say that hundreds of people are probably sitting in federal prison right now for the same crime where Biden just exonerated his son. I think that's disguising. If he's going to let Hunter off the hook, then he should pardon everyone whose been convicted under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3). But he won't, because he's a flaming hypocritical s**tsack.

https://trac.syr.edu/tracreports/crim/492/

[Rylan]

interesting vitriol...

[Troy Loney]

I feel like everything is so far off the deep end with the **** that’s gone on since 2016 with our government. I can’t take seriously performative outrage over a presidential pardon

[dodint]

I love that Shyster is contorted all the way around so that he's now in support of the government abusing someone over a gun possession.

I wanted to circle back to this.

I had no doubt you have a well thought out legal reasoning for your position. The 1000ft view is funny, is all.

[Nuge]

Most presidential pardons are pretty sleazy. If I was in a position to pardon my son for any reason, I would 100% do it.

[tifosi77]

Yet another way having children ruins everything.

[Kaiser]

I was looking forward to the same reactions when he only got probation.

[Pavel Bure]

How did South Korea stop an overreach of power without guns?

I’m so confused.

[crusherstasiak]

correction-isles lost in ot

[Lemon Berry Lobster]

correction-isles lost in ot

Pretty sure South Korea is a peninsula.

[Ad@m]

correction-isles lost in ot

Copenhagen affecting your vision?

[shoeshine boy]

Legit question: is Trump's leadership team not vetting these people or are they just assuming that the Rs in the Senate will push them through?