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U.S. Politics: The Biggest Trade in WNBA History
- Thread starter BigLutz
- Start date
Trainer Yusuf
VolcaniNO
Minor update for Syrian Civil War:
*Turkish-backed proxiesare fastly ethnic cleansing Kurds, who are collapsing rapidly due to the influx of internal, and external migrants (many Lebanese fled to the SDF territories during the Israeli bombing).
*Russian ground forces are nowhere to be seen, but due to the recent meeting with Iranian officials, many Iraqi PMU forces are coming to Syria to help, in replacement of both Russian forces, and Lebanese Hezbollah, despite Iraqi border officially being closed. (This means they can't throw missiles to KRG in Iraq anymore, since they have an actual war to wage again).
*Assad forces are squeezed from both north, and likely soon south. We don't know if SDF will squeeze them out of Eastern Syria, to block the Iraqi PMU movement alongside Jordanian-backed fighters, though the Kurds are waiting for some sort of support from the Russians against the Turks, or American-Israeli support against HTS in Aleppo. Neither of which are so far happening.
*HTS isn't really focused on Hama province now, but rather consolidating gains in Aleppo province (city proper is already consolidated). They will probably take over Hama by the end of this week, especially considering the amount of anti-aircraft weaponry they got from largely Russian-held bases.
Assad government needs to have way more ground forces than Iraqi PMU, but Iran will not commit to them (due to ongoing negotiations with Elon Musk), so Russia will probably need to buy enough time to use DPRK troops in Syria, or some other groups like the Houthis. Very unlikely that Assad himself survives that long, even if Ba'ath government does.
And yes, Iran also despises Kurds, especially in the case of Iraqi proxies, but Syrian Kurds, due to their political alignment with Kurds in Turkey, vastly prefer Assad & Iran over Turkey & its proxies for the time being.
*Turkish-backed proxiesare fastly ethnic cleansing Kurds, who are collapsing rapidly due to the influx of internal, and external migrants (many Lebanese fled to the SDF territories during the Israeli bombing).
*Russian ground forces are nowhere to be seen, but due to the recent meeting with Iranian officials, many Iraqi PMU forces are coming to Syria to help, in replacement of both Russian forces, and Lebanese Hezbollah, despite Iraqi border officially being closed. (This means they can't throw missiles to KRG in Iraq anymore, since they have an actual war to wage again).
*Assad forces are squeezed from both north, and likely soon south. We don't know if SDF will squeeze them out of Eastern Syria, to block the Iraqi PMU movement alongside Jordanian-backed fighters, though the Kurds are waiting for some sort of support from the Russians against the Turks, or American-Israeli support against HTS in Aleppo. Neither of which are so far happening.
*HTS isn't really focused on Hama province now, but rather consolidating gains in Aleppo province (city proper is already consolidated). They will probably take over Hama by the end of this week, especially considering the amount of anti-aircraft weaponry they got from largely Russian-held bases.
Assad government needs to have way more ground forces than Iraqi PMU, but Iran will not commit to them (due to ongoing negotiations with Elon Musk), so Russia will probably need to buy enough time to use DPRK troops in Syria, or some other groups like the Houthis. Very unlikely that Assad himself survives that long, even if Ba'ath government does.
And yes, Iran also despises Kurds, especially in the case of Iraqi proxies, but Syrian Kurds, due to their political alignment with Kurds in Turkey, vastly prefer Assad & Iran over Turkey & its proxies for the time being.
Trainer Yusuf
VolcaniNO
Syrian Civil War update:
**Hama has largely fallen, there are some pockets of Assad government resistance, but those will clear out soon.
**SDF is trying to advance south.
**HTS is arresting members of Turkish-backed Islamist forces for thievery in Aleppo.
**Iran stated previously that they would commit troops, if Assad wants, but no changes with that has happened.
For HTS, the next objective is Homs, which is the seat of the Syrian Arab Army (Assad government forces). For SDF, the objective is to reach to Jordanian-backed forces to cancel Iranian-Iraqi troops, and get a channel to smuggle weapons against Turkey.
There will likely be an actual fight in Homs. If it falls, Damascus will fall, but this won't end the war. Latakia, and Tartus are predominantly Alawite, and very secular, and Russians will have an actual fight there due to their bases, at least until they leave.
HTS is still fairly far from Homs, so this might take weeks.
Edit: Never mind, Homs is collapsing rapidly. Secularists, and Alawites are escaping to Damascus, or to Tartus.
Edit 2: Homs is apparently empty now, so it is just a formality now. There might be a phony resistance in Damascus to buy time for Assad government's evacuation, though, by next week.
Edit 3:
More update:
**Assad government is still collapsing, now in South.
**HTS has not reached Homs city yet, but they are in the governorate.
**Russian Foreign Ministry has issued a warning to Russians in Syria to leave.
Edit 4:
Civil war is not over, but Assad government is.
USA will likely try to topple Algeria next, as it is the last remaining socialist pro-Russian government among Arab-majority countries, though it is also heavily connected to the NATO arrangements.
Edit 5:
Russians are seemingly leaving Latakia. NATO will likely fill the power vacuum.
**Hama has largely fallen, there are some pockets of Assad government resistance, but those will clear out soon.
**SDF is trying to advance south.
**HTS is arresting members of Turkish-backed Islamist forces for thievery in Aleppo.
**Iran stated previously that they would commit troops, if Assad wants, but no changes with that has happened.
For HTS, the next objective is Homs, which is the seat of the Syrian Arab Army (Assad government forces). For SDF, the objective is to reach to Jordanian-backed forces to cancel Iranian-Iraqi troops, and get a channel to smuggle weapons against Turkey.
There will likely be an actual fight in Homs. If it falls, Damascus will fall, but this won't end the war. Latakia, and Tartus are predominantly Alawite, and very secular, and Russians will have an actual fight there due to their bases, at least until they leave.
HTS is still fairly far from Homs, so this might take weeks.
Edit: Never mind, Homs is collapsing rapidly. Secularists, and Alawites are escaping to Damascus, or to Tartus.
Edit 2: Homs is apparently empty now, so it is just a formality now. There might be a phony resistance in Damascus to buy time for Assad government's evacuation, though, by next week.
Edit 3:
More update:
**Assad government is still collapsing, now in South.
**HTS has not reached Homs city yet, but they are in the governorate.
**Russian Foreign Ministry has issued a warning to Russians in Syria to leave.
Edit 4:
Civil war is not over, but Assad government is.
USA will likely try to topple Algeria next, as it is the last remaining socialist pro-Russian government among Arab-majority countries, though it is also heavily connected to the NATO arrangements.
Edit 5:
Russians are seemingly leaving Latakia. NATO will likely fill the power vacuum.
Last edited:
Trainer Yusuf
VolcaniNO
Syrian Civil War update:
**Israel occupied larger part of southern Syria, with southern forces not resisting. Recently, it bombed Latakia, and Damascus.
Israel already destroyed many weapons depots, and has recently destroyed Syria's modern warplanes.
*Turkish ethnic cleansing campaign of Kurds continues. Kurdish diaspora does not like the idea of working with HTS, and sees both it, and Turkish-backed SNA as ISIS continuations.
(USA continues to send in heavy weaponry for the fight against ISIS.)
**Retributionary killings against Alawites continues. Different Islamist factions made claims of conquering Jerusalem (Israel), and Mecca (Saudi Arabia).
**HTS's new government does not contain any member from Turkish-backed government in-exile, which will likely cause further tensions.
We don't know how the Israeli-Turkish relations in Syria will go, but we know war is far from over. Neither of them want HTS in power, but European countries will use the current regime change to kick out the refugees.
**Israel occupied larger part of southern Syria, with southern forces not resisting. Recently, it bombed Latakia, and Damascus.
Israel already destroyed many weapons depots, and has recently destroyed Syria's modern warplanes.
*Turkish ethnic cleansing campaign of Kurds continues. Kurdish diaspora does not like the idea of working with HTS, and sees both it, and Turkish-backed SNA as ISIS continuations.
(USA continues to send in heavy weaponry for the fight against ISIS.)
**Retributionary killings against Alawites continues. Different Islamist factions made claims of conquering Jerusalem (Israel), and Mecca (Saudi Arabia).
**HTS's new government does not contain any member from Turkish-backed government in-exile, which will likely cause further tensions.
We don't know how the Israeli-Turkish relations in Syria will go, but we know war is far from over. Neither of them want HTS in power, but European countries will use the current regime change to kick out the refugees.
RileyXY1
Young Battle Trainer
The first test of the post-Trump 2nd Term Democratic Party is coming up on January 7th. There are a pair of Special Elections in the Virginia Legislature, one in the State House, and the other in the State Senate, with control of both houses on the line. If the Democrats lose both these races, the GOP will get a trifecta in Virginia and Gov. Glenn Youngkin would finally be able to implement his agenda. Both of these districts lean Democratic, but I'm just hoping for the best.
Missingno.Fan
Well-Known Member
R.I.P Jimmy Carter
AuraChannelerChris
"What the hell...?"
Sexual predator and Beavis & Butt-Head reject Matt Gaetz will officially never take a seat in the 119th Congress.
bsky.app
Acyn (@acyn.bsky.social)
Acting clerk: The clerk is in receipt of a letter from the honorable Matt Gaetz indicating that he will not serve in the House in the 119th Congress *applause*
bsky.app
Pikachu52
Well-Known Member
It was announced today that Anita Bryant had passed away in December 2024 at age 84.
Anita Bryant was a singer and Christian activist best known for her opposition to gay rights from 1977 to 1980. I just want to take a moment to reflect on how she influenced and changed American politics. Bryant was born in Oklahoma to a US army officer. She grew up in poverty but gained success as a Gospel singer after winning the Miss Oklahoma pageant in 1958. She sang "battle hymn of the republic" at the funeral of President Lyndon Johnson. From 1969 to 1980 she was the spokesperson for the Florida Citrus Commission where she became well known for the phrase "a day without orange juice is like a day without sunshine."
In 1977 Dade County passed an ant-discrimination ordinance which barred discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Bryant led a highly publicised campaign as the leader of an organisation called "save our children" to support a referendum to overturn the ordinance. The premise of her campaign was that the ordinance risked requiring religious schools to hire gay and lesbian people as teachers. Most perniciously she argued the idea that homosexuality was linked to child abuse. This prompted a backlash and a boycott effort of Florida oranges by the Gay community. This eventually led to her loosing her contract with the Citrus Commission and an eventual bankruptcy.
Bryant is widely derided and one of the most often cited moments from her campaign is when she was "pied" in the face by an activist (after which she said the line "at least it was a fruit pie."). But despite the backlash, her anti-gay campaign was widely successful. The referendum to repeal the Dade ordinance passed by a margin of 2-1. Following the vote the State of Florida banned same-sex adoption. The ordinance would not be reinstated by the county until 1997 and same-sex adoption was only legalised in the state in 2010. Her "save our children" coalition successfully campaigned to repeal ordinances in St. Paul Minnesota, Wichita Kansas, and Eugene Oregon (which was regarded as a relatively gay friendly city). Her activism and the discourse it generated became a springboard for the Briggs Initiative in California, which was unsuccessful.
Tim Miller from the Bulwark (a former aide to Jeb Bush and who is openly gay himself) wrote on 'X' that "Didn’t realize Anita Bryant had lived to see her entire political project get ground to dust. That’s tough. RIP." I have seen others echo similar sentiments, not always as politely.
As much as I like Tim Miller, don’t think Bryant was as unsuccessful as many make her out to have been.
Anita Byrant's was instrumental in the rise of the Christian right who have dominated GOP politics. "Save our children" became the blueprint for what became Jerry Falwell's moral majority, which in turn mobilised conservative christians into a political force. Ronald Reagan married Falwell's majority to the republican party and they helped him win the presidential election of 1980 over Jimmy Carter in a landslide. As communications profession at Florida Atlantic University explains "back in 1977, there was no organized religious right, per se. Anita Bryant was a pioneer."
Before Falwell and Reagan evangelical Christians had voted for Jimmy Carter, as he was one of them.
Since then, the religious right has been a core voting demographic for the republican party ever since, and republican politics has been dominated anti-gay sentiment. President George W. Bush lent on religious voters to secure a decisive win over John Kerry in the election of 2004 after proposing an amendment to the US constitution to ban same sex marriage outright in his state of the union address earlier that year. 31 states would amend their constitutions to ban recognition of same sex marriages between 1998 and 2012. While these bans were rendered null and void by the Supreme Court's Obergefell ruling in 2015, only Nevada formally repealed their ban. After the ruling an anti-trans backlash has reign in the GOP with 26 states passing restrictions on gender affirming care for minors, and Florida passing it's parental right's in education law which restricts discussion in schools on certain topics, including sexual orientation.
The legacy of Anita Byrant is not dust...It's the modern GOP
Following the presidential election of 2024 Republicans control the white house and both chambers of the congress, and control the majority of state legislatures and governors mansions. The Supreme Court has a 6-3 conservative majority, and it's possible that Justices Alito and Thomas could resign in the next two years giving Donald Trump the ability to cement the conservative majority for a generation. Justices Sotomayor and Kagan are the only members of the majority opinion in Obergefell who remain on the court. Without going into matters of jurisprudence, if the Dobbs decision is anything to go by, we should not assume that Obergefell or any of the other gay rights decision such as Lawrence won't be overturned - Dobbs certainly showed that conservatives are capable of playing the long game when it comes to decisions they don't like. In 2024 polling suggested that support for same sex marriage had declined in America.
www.prri.org
Even if the Democrats take back the white house in 2028, the question for the next half of the decade might be whether it will the be the legacy of Stonewall that is ground to dust.
Anita Bryant was a singer and Christian activist best known for her opposition to gay rights from 1977 to 1980. I just want to take a moment to reflect on how she influenced and changed American politics. Bryant was born in Oklahoma to a US army officer. She grew up in poverty but gained success as a Gospel singer after winning the Miss Oklahoma pageant in 1958. She sang "battle hymn of the republic" at the funeral of President Lyndon Johnson. From 1969 to 1980 she was the spokesperson for the Florida Citrus Commission where she became well known for the phrase "a day without orange juice is like a day without sunshine."
In 1977 Dade County passed an ant-discrimination ordinance which barred discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Bryant led a highly publicised campaign as the leader of an organisation called "save our children" to support a referendum to overturn the ordinance. The premise of her campaign was that the ordinance risked requiring religious schools to hire gay and lesbian people as teachers. Most perniciously she argued the idea that homosexuality was linked to child abuse. This prompted a backlash and a boycott effort of Florida oranges by the Gay community. This eventually led to her loosing her contract with the Citrus Commission and an eventual bankruptcy.
Bryant is widely derided and one of the most often cited moments from her campaign is when she was "pied" in the face by an activist (after which she said the line "at least it was a fruit pie."). But despite the backlash, her anti-gay campaign was widely successful. The referendum to repeal the Dade ordinance passed by a margin of 2-1. Following the vote the State of Florida banned same-sex adoption. The ordinance would not be reinstated by the county until 1997 and same-sex adoption was only legalised in the state in 2010. Her "save our children" coalition successfully campaigned to repeal ordinances in St. Paul Minnesota, Wichita Kansas, and Eugene Oregon (which was regarded as a relatively gay friendly city). Her activism and the discourse it generated became a springboard for the Briggs Initiative in California, which was unsuccessful.
Tim Miller from the Bulwark (a former aide to Jeb Bush and who is openly gay himself) wrote on 'X' that "Didn’t realize Anita Bryant had lived to see her entire political project get ground to dust. That’s tough. RIP." I have seen others echo similar sentiments, not always as politely.
As much as I like Tim Miller, don’t think Bryant was as unsuccessful as many make her out to have been.
Anita Byrant's was instrumental in the rise of the Christian right who have dominated GOP politics. "Save our children" became the blueprint for what became Jerry Falwell's moral majority, which in turn mobilised conservative christians into a political force. Ronald Reagan married Falwell's majority to the republican party and they helped him win the presidential election of 1980 over Jimmy Carter in a landslide. As communications profession at Florida Atlantic University explains "back in 1977, there was no organized religious right, per se. Anita Bryant was a pioneer."
Before Falwell and Reagan evangelical Christians had voted for Jimmy Carter, as he was one of them.
Since then, the religious right has been a core voting demographic for the republican party ever since, and republican politics has been dominated anti-gay sentiment. President George W. Bush lent on religious voters to secure a decisive win over John Kerry in the election of 2004 after proposing an amendment to the US constitution to ban same sex marriage outright in his state of the union address earlier that year. 31 states would amend their constitutions to ban recognition of same sex marriages between 1998 and 2012. While these bans were rendered null and void by the Supreme Court's Obergefell ruling in 2015, only Nevada formally repealed their ban. After the ruling an anti-trans backlash has reign in the GOP with 26 states passing restrictions on gender affirming care for minors, and Florida passing it's parental right's in education law which restricts discussion in schools on certain topics, including sexual orientation.
The legacy of Anita Byrant is not dust...It's the modern GOP
Following the presidential election of 2024 Republicans control the white house and both chambers of the congress, and control the majority of state legislatures and governors mansions. The Supreme Court has a 6-3 conservative majority, and it's possible that Justices Alito and Thomas could resign in the next two years giving Donald Trump the ability to cement the conservative majority for a generation. Justices Sotomayor and Kagan are the only members of the majority opinion in Obergefell who remain on the court. Without going into matters of jurisprudence, if the Dobbs decision is anything to go by, we should not assume that Obergefell or any of the other gay rights decision such as Lawrence won't be overturned - Dobbs certainly showed that conservatives are capable of playing the long game when it comes to decisions they don't like. In 2024 polling suggested that support for same sex marriage had declined in America.
Views on LGBTQ Rights in All 50 States: Findings from PRRI’s 2023 American Values Atlas | PRRI
For the first time since PRRI’s American Values Atlas began tracking nationwide support for three key policies — nondiscrimination protections, religiously based service refusals, and same-sex marriage — PRRI found a decline in support for LGBTQ rights across all three measures in the past year.
www.prri.org
Even if the Democrats take back the white house in 2028, the question for the next half of the decade might be whether it will the be the legacy of Stonewall that is ground to dust.
Last edited:
lemoncatpower
Cynical Optimist
may she RIP (rot in poo)It was announced today that Anita Bryant had passed away in December 2024 at age 84.
Anita Bryant was a singer and Christian activist best known for her opposition to gay rights from 1977 to 1980. I just want to take a moment to reflect on how she influenced and changed American politics. Bryant was born in Oklahoma to a US army officer. She grew up in poverty but gained success as a Gospel singer after winning the Miss Oklahoma pageant in 1958. She sang "battle hymn of the republic" at the funeral of President Lyndon Johnson. From 1969 to 1980 she was the spokesperson for the Florida Citrus Commission where she became well known for the phrase "a day without orange juice is like a day without sunshine."
In 1977 Dade County passed an ant-discrimination ordinance which barred discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Bryant led a highly publicised campaign as the leader of an organisation called "save our children" to support a referendum to overturn the ordinance. The premise of her campaign was that the ordinance risked requiring religious schools to hire gay and lesbian people as teachers. Most perniciously she argued the idea that homosexuality was linked to child abuse. This prompted a backlash and a boycott effort of Florida oranges by the Gay community. This eventually led to her loosing her contract with the Citrus Commission and an eventual bankruptcy.
Bryant is widely derided and one of the most often cited moments from her campaign is when she was "pied" in the face by an activist (after which she said the line "at least it was a fruit pie."). But despite the backlash, her anti-gay campaign was widely successful. The referendum to repeal the Dade ordinance passed by a margin of 2-1. Following the vote the State of Florida banned same-sex adoption. The ordinance would not be reinstated by the county until 1997 and same-sex adoption was only legalised in the state in 2010. Her "save our children" coalition successfully campaigned to repeal ordinances in St. Paul Minnesota, Wichita Kansas, and Eugene Oregon (which was regarded as a relatively gay friendly city). Her activism and the discourse it generated became a springboard for the Briggs Initiative in California, which was unsuccessful.
Tim Miller from the Bulwark (a former aide to Jeb Bush and who is openly gay himself) wrote on 'X' that "Didn’t realize Anita Bryant had lived to see her entire political project get ground to dust. That’s tough. RIP." I have seen others echo similar sentiments, not always as politely.
As much as I like Tim Miller, don’t think Bryant was as unsuccessful as many make her out to have been.
Anita Byrant's was instrumental in the rise of the Christian right who have dominated GOP politics. "Save our children" became the blueprint for what became Jerry Falwell's moral majority, which in turn mobilised conservative christians into a political force. Ronald Reagan married Falwell's majority to the republican party and they helped him win the presidential election of 1980 over Jimmy Carter in a landslide. As communications profession at Florida Atlantic University explains "back in 1977, there was no organized religious right, per se. Anita Bryant was a pioneer."
Before Falwell and Reagan evangelical Christians had voted for Jimmy Carter, as he was one of them.
The religious right has been a core voting demographic for the republican party ever since, and republican politics has been dominated anti-gay sentiment and politics. President George W. Bush lent on religious voters to secure a decisive win over John Kerry in the election of 2004 after proposing an amendment to the US constitution to ban same sex marriage outright in his state of the union address earlier that year. 31 states would amend their constitutions to ban recognition of same sex marriages between 1998 and 2012. While these bans were rendered null and void by the Supreme Court's Obergefell ruling in 2015, only Nevada formally repealed their ban. After the ruling an anti-trans backlash has reign in the GOP with 26 states passing restrictions on gender affirming care for minors, and Florida passing it's parental right's in education law which restricts discussion in schools on certain topics, including sexual orientation.
The legacy of Anita Byrant is not dust...It's the modern GOP
Following the presidential election of 2024 Republicans control the white house and both chambers of the congress, and control the majority of state legislatures and governors mansions. The Supreme Court has a 6-3 conservative majority, and it's possible that Justices Alito and Thomas could resign in the next two years giving Donald Trump the ability to cement the conservative majority for a generation. Justices Sotomayor and Kagan are the only members of the majority opinion in Obergefell who remain on the court. Without going into matters of jurisprudence, if the Dobbs decision is anything to go by, we should not assume that Obergefell or any of the other gay rights decision such as Lawrence won't be overturned - Dobbs certainly showed that conservatives are capable of playing the long game when it comes to decisions they don't like. In 2024 polling suggested that support for same sex marriage had declined in America.
Views on LGBTQ Rights in All 50 States: Findings from PRRI’s 2023 American Values Atlas | PRRI
For the first time since PRRI’s American Values Atlas began tracking nationwide support for three key policies — nondiscrimination protections, religiously based service refusals, and same-sex marriage — PRRI found a decline in support for LGBTQ rights across all three measures in the past year.
Even if the Democrats take back the white house in 2028, the question for the next half of the decade might be whether it will the be the legacy of Stonewall that is ground to dust.
Pikachu52
Well-Known Member
The Supreme Court has handed down it‘s decision in Tick Tok Inc v Garland, upholding Congress‘s divestiture law, clearing the way for the social media app Tik Tok to be banned in the US.
The decision was unanimous.
The decision was unanimous.
AuraChannelerChris
"What the hell...?"
And that's how Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and Twitch suddenly gained millions of users each.
RileyXY1
Young Battle Trainer
Yep. It will officially be banned this coming Sunday unless TikTok agrees to sell itself to an American buyer by then.