CURRENT EVENTS - FEBRUARY 2026

nycfan said:
One of the things that is so goddamned frustrating in all this is watching all the right wingers who have spent decades inventing conspiracies about how Democrats are spying on Americans, making lists of gun owners Red Dawn style, letting the UN set up secret bases, using FBI as jack-booted thugs, requiring a terrifying national ID, elitist pedophile rings, making a criminal database of political opponents and THEN the Trump Admin starts ACTUALLY doing some of that stuff (not the secret UN bases) and suddenly it is brilliant!

Except the 2A purists. They are good with everything except the mere suggestion of gun restrictions of any kind. A bright line for them.
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Except for top GOP people keep making anti-gun statements then having to walk them back. Honestly feels like trial balloons to see if that is a line they can cross yet.
 
I searched the topic to get an article without a paywall or sign in. I found myself even more alarmed by the details than the headline. The government is literally sending intimidation documents to corporations in an effort to create smear and strong arm campaigns on everyday citizens who criticize the government.

www.aclu.org

ACLU Moves to Quash Abusive Subpoena Aimed at Tracking Down Man Who Criticized Department of Homeland Security | American Civil Liberties Union

DHS sent a subpoena to unmask the man’s account information after he sent an email asking a department official to treat a man seeking asylum from...
www.aclu.org www.aclu.org
 
nycfan said:


“Sovereign borders are biblical and right and just. It's not because we hate the people on the outside. It's because we love the people on the inside.”

——
Variation on “hate the sin, love the sinner” justification for homophobia.
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I always love how fundamentalists claim they take the Bible literally and yet they vigorously interpret the Scriptures to suit their needs as much as anyone. Just another of the endless examples of Religious Right hypocrisy. They have become the very things they speak against - corrupt, decadent, and power-hungry Pharisees who represent a false version of Christianity and Christ's teachings, just as Christ himself warned about in the Book of Matthew.
 
TangledUpInBlue06 said:
Per an IG memo to members of Congress published by the AP, the whistleblower complaint alleged "(1) distribution of a highly classified intelligence report was restricted for political purposes; and (2) the responsible IC element's Office of General Counsel failed to report a potential crime to the Department of Justice, also for political purposes."
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But the IG deemed the first claim not credible …
 
altmin said:
Except for top GOP people keep making anti-gun statements then having to walk them back. Honestly feels like trial balloons to see if that is a line they can cross yet.
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2A is the Third Rail of GOP politics still. Most of the former “common sense gun laws” Republicans had been whittled down since the ‘90s and now have decamped at this point.
 
pspsps said:
I searched the topic to get an article without a paywall or sign in. I found myself even more alarmed by the details than the headline. The government is literally sending intimidation documents to corporations in an effort to create smear and strong arm campaigns on everyday citizens who criticize the government.

www.aclu.org

ACLU Moves to Quash Abusive Subpoena Aimed at Tracking Down Man Who Criticized Department of Homeland Security | American Civil Liberties Union

DHS sent a subpoena to unmask the man’s account information after he sent an email asking a department official to treat a man seeking asylum from...
www.aclu.org www.aclu.org
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yeah, this is nuts. no one is safe. participating in this board is probably risky.
 
Mulberry Heel said:
I always love how fundamentalists claim they take the Bible literally and yet they vigorously interpret the Scriptures to suit their needs as much as anyone. Just another of the endless examples of Religious Right hypocrisy. They have become the very things they speak against - corrupt, decadent, and power-hungry Pharisees who represent a false version of Christianity and Christ's teachings, just as Christ himself warned about in the Book of Matthew.
Click to expand...
i started reading this book on the bible the other day, really gets into metaphorical/historical interpretation vs. literal interpretation (and why, frankly, literal interpretation makes absolutely no damn sense).

www.goodreads.com

Reading the Bible Again for the First Time: Taking the …

Many Christians mistakenly believe that their only choi…
www.goodreads.com www.goodreads.com

and of course, 99% of literalists/fundamentalists out there are massive hypocrites who pick and choose their interpretations (and simply ignore lots of scripture altogether) based on their own convenience and/or personal ideals.
 
Mulberry Heel said:
I always love how fundamentalists claim they take the Bible literally and yet they vigorously interpret the Scriptures to suit their needs as much as anyone. Just another of the endless examples of Religious Right hypocrisy. They have become the very things they speak against - corrupt, decadent, and power-hungry Pharisees who represent a false version of Christianity and Christ's teachings, just as Christ himself warned about in the Book of Matthew.
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I also love how fundamentalists are so certain and absolutist about what everything in the bibles says and means, yet if you point to something that is contradictory or goes against their narrative, they’ll respond that the lord works in mysterious ways that none of us can begin to truly understand. So which is it: Do you know with certainty what the bible is saying, or is it full of mystery and you cannot begin to understand it?
 
nycfan said:
But the IG deemed the first claim not credible …
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That's a term of art here and it doesn't mean what it implies.

The problem was that the report came in the form of "X and Y was not done as it should have been, because politics." Here it seems undisputed that X and Y were not done, and reading between the lines, I sense they should have been done. So it's the "because politics" prong that is the hangup, and note that the IG report did not say it wasn't politics. It just said there's no evidence relating to the because politics part.

To me, it seems like a whitewash -- though perhaps a whitewash that is permitted by national security law. "Because politics" is transparently an all-purpose explanation of everything this administration does. The whistleblower might have thought that prong of the inquiry was easily satisfied by casual observation.
 
4thgenheel said:
i started reading this book on the bible the other day, really gets into metaphorical/historical interpretation vs. literal interpretation (and why, frankly, literal interpretation makes absolutely no damn sense).

www.goodreads.com

Reading the Bible Again for the First Time: Taking the …

Many Christians mistakenly believe that their only choi…
www.goodreads.com www.goodreads.com

and of course, 99% of literalists/fundamentalists out there are massive hypocrites who pick and choose their interpretations (and simply ignore lots of scripture altogether) based on their own convenience and/or personal ideals.
Click to expand...
If the provenance of the New Testament didn't bother you, the realization that the Protestant interpretation is most influenced by Luther, a German academic and John Calvin, a French lawyer so basically you had one splitting hairs and the other looking for loopholes.

What I find most intriguing about the literalists in Protestant ranks, especially with their reliance on the OT, is that they don't use the same version of it that Jesus used. The one they use was put together about nine centuries later and adapted from Judaic scholarship.
 
finesse said:
If the provenance of the New Testament didn't bother you, the realization that the Protestant interpretation is most influenced by Luther, a German academic and John Calvin, a French lawyer so basically you had one splitting hairs and the other looking for loopholes.

What I find most intriguing about the literalists in Protestant ranks, especially with their reliance on the OT, is that they don't use the same version of it that Jesus used. The one they use was put together about nine centuries later and adapted from Judaic scholarship.
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Huh, I thought Calvin was Swiss. He lived in Switzerland when he did all his writing, but you are right, he was originally French. However, Luther was not an academic. He was a monk.
 
www.ctvnews.ca

Nova Scotia, Massachusetts sign offshore wind cooperation agreement

Premier Tim Houston and Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey were in Boston Wednesday to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that focuses on offshore wind development and energy in the North Atlantic and delivery across the border.
www.ctvnews.ca www.ctvnews.ca
Nova Scotia is positioning itself as a future offshore wind exporter into the U.S.

Premier Tim Houston and Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey were in Boston Wednesday to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that focuses on offshore wind development and energy in the North Atlantic and delivery across the border.

Healey recognizes the potential for Nova Scotia to become a world-class offshore wind developer, as the province has turned its attention to offshore wind development as a major export opportunity.

The government leaders say cooperation along the Atlantic coastline makes sense for the two sides, which would both see economic, environmental, and energy security benefits.
“We’re on the verge of our first call for bids to license the first offshore wind projects in Canada, and we’re advancing Wind West to build the transmission infrastructure to send that clean energy to markets,” said Houston in a news release.

“Our agreement with Massachusetts signals to developers that markets for their clean energy are solidifying, giving them even more confidence to invest in our new offshore wind industry,” he continued. “I look forward to sharing this clean energy with Massachusetts, powering economic opportunities for the New England region, and creating thousands of jobs and billions in investment in Nova Scotia.”

Houston says the MOU signals a shared commitment to cooperate and advance the development of clean, reliable, and affordable energy – but is also a clear call to industry players and developers that they are ready to do business.

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Bannon does not speak for the Administration and is an agitator, but he is describing what non-MAGA fears and MAGA cheers to try to press the thought into action.
 
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