BidensGranddaughter

joined 4 years ago
[–] [email protected] 33 points 9 months ago (3 children)

Between this and the fake news comm, I'm rethinking trying to get comrades more involved on this site. Like, it's just embarrassing and too much trouble to have to explain "oh yeah those really active comms that appear completely indistinguishable from reactionary trash are actually just ironic."

The fact that all of these "jokes" could be posted on reddit-logo with complete sincerity makes me suspect a lot of this content isn't even ironic. I mean, if I was a reactionary trying to cause trouble for a leftist community, creating and participating in these kinds of comms is exactly how I would go about it.

[–] [email protected] 101 points 9 months ago (8 children)

His reply is somehow even more ridiculous:

I'm honestly just embarrassed for how profoundly naive this grown adult man is.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 9 months ago

I'm going to tell the next zionist I argue with to stop being such a "stick in the mud"

[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 months ago (2 children)

My (admittedly very armchair, probably learned from other comments on this site) understanding of the Merkava not having infantry support is due to how its Trophy countermeasure system uses shotgun-like blasts to counter missiles. They would shred any infantry standing around the tank.

The system utilizes small EFPs which are projected towards the incoming threat, energy, debris and explosive pressure waves disintegrate the incoming projectile. As such, the system has a risk to dismounted infantry, and this system impact traditional infantry supported mechanized warfare tactics.

This is also why resistance fighters will fire 2 missiles in quick succession; the first one to activate the Trophy, and then second to actually hit the tank once the Trophy is spent. Or yeah they just run up to it with the idf-destroyer

I'm no tactical genius, but it sure seems like the incapability to have infantry support is not worth the tradeoff of having a countermeasure that is so easily worked around very-smart

[–] [email protected] 20 points 10 months ago

Fauda? More like "Found out" michael-laugh

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

That's a fair point, it's just hard to not be pessimistic when the same city is still spending $2 billion on their police budget and $29 mil to a private company for tents to house migrants (instead of just expropriating some unoccupied office buildings).

I'm not against spending large amounts of time, effort, and money on planning and executing reparations, I just have very little confidence that it can be done under liberal democracy without it turning into some market-based, means-tested program that is most certainly not reparations, all while other systems of harm are still being funded by several higher orders of magnitude. I will word my criticisms better in the future so as not to come off like I'm criticizing the very idea of planning and distributing reparations.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I apologize for not being more careful with my words. I do believe in race-based, direct cash-payment reparations, I was just being flippant at the idea of liberal democracy spending $500k + a year of deliberation just to likely end up with a means-tested program, and then I was taking the position that such amount of money would be put to better use literally just being given away rather than being burned on consultant fees or w/e (but I recognize that such a giveaway would still not be reparations).

But even that was ignorant of me, because:

But on Monday, the [Evanston] City Council passed — without any opposition — an expansion of the program to provide $25,000 in no-strings-attached direct cash payments for those eligible. Black residents who lived in Evanston during a 50-year period of discriminatory zoning laws and their direct descendants receive priority for eligibility.

So maybe there's hope for this Chicago program, as well. Again, apologies for my flippant comment, I meant to direct my criticism solely at liberal democracy historically doing poorly-implemented, means-tested "assistance programs," not the idea of doing reparations itself.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

~~No that's literally what they're doing~~

Ald. Stephanie Coleman (16th Ward), the chair of the Chicago City Council’s Black Caucus, said the subcommittee is likely to be part of the City Council’s Committee on Contracting Equity and Oversight, which is led by Ald. Emma Mitts (37th Ward). That panel will meet for no more than a year, and then transition to a full commission, Coleman told WTTW News.

Edit: I'm going to go back on this specific criticism, as has been pointed out by other commenters, this committee has voiced their intentions to model their program after Evanston, which began with means-testing assistance but had a 2nd phase which instituted "$25,000 in no-strings-attached direct cash payments for those eligible. Black residents who lived in Evanston during a 50-year period of discriminatory zoning laws and their direct descendants receive priority for eligibility."

There's still plenty to criticize around the inefficiencies and contradictions of reparation attempts under liberal democracy, but I don't want to direct my ire at efforts that actually accomplish some material benefit, at least if and until they demonstrate failure. In other words, we should agitate these efforts to do it correctly, and clown on them if they end up with some means-tested liberal nonsense, but not clown on them for attempting it all.

 

TL;DW: aluminum foil hidden in protest signs is probably the easiest and stealthiest defense, just be careful where you're potentially reflecting those waves. Soaking rags in water is another option (could throw water on your mask in a pinch) if you didn't expect to face one of these things.

A steel sheet would work even better, but I think that's a bad idea due to the sharp edges plus the extra attention I'm sure that'd instantly draw on anyone holding a big reflective surface at one of these things. Maybe if you can paint it to look like cardboard and curl or round off the edges.

Not sure if these weapons have actually been deployed yet in the US, but they sure have tried.

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