#U.S. Flag Code

[allaboutyoupostnthings]

Celebrating Pledge of Allegiance Day

Hello, everyone! December 28th is a special day for us to honor and reflect on the words that unite our nation – it’s Pledge of Allegiance Day. Have you ever wondered why we stand up, place our hands over our hearts, and recite these powerful words? Let’s explore the significance together. The Pledge of Allegiance is more than just a series of words; it is a heartfelt expression of our loyalty…

[pinturas-sgm-aviacion]

1942 12 27 New Guinea, Commonwealth Wirraway - box art MPM

Wartime Histor: yAssigned to No. 4 Squadron code D. On the left side of the nose was painted "Ugh!" with a character wearing a derby hat with "A. R. P." and a fork. On the left side of the nose was a scoreboard with three bomb markings indicating missions flown and a single Japanese rising sun flag indicating the aerial victory claim on December 26, 1942.During early 1942, operated from Canberra Airfield (Fairburn). In early November 1942 flown northward to 12 Mile Drome (Berry) near Port Moresby.On December 22, 1942 took off from from 12 Mile Drome (Berry) near Port Moresby and flew four sorties, two piloted by P/O Ranson and two by F/O Utber. The first two were reconnaissance over Buna and two artillery observation and gun spotting over Buna.On December 26, 1942 took off from 12 Mile Drome (Berry) near Port Moresby piloted by P/O John S. Archer, 409285 with observer Sgt J. L. Convulsion on a tactical reconnaissance over the north coast of New Guinea searching for Japanese barges at the mouth of the Kumusi River then southward to Gona. Next, Archer made a single strafing pass against the shipwreck of the Ayutosen Maru. Pulling up to make another run, Archer spotted another plane approaching 1,000' below and incorrectly identified it as a Japanese "Zero". In fact, this was Ki-43-I Oscar pilot W/O Tadashi Yoshitake. Taking advantage of their higher altitude, Archer dived down onto fighter firing a long burst with his two machine guns and as he pulled away saw the enemy plane crash into the sea and explode. This was the only time a Wirraway made a confirmed kill against an enemy fighter. Later, Archer stated that he had acted on impulse and was lucky to get in an effective first burst. On January 20, 1943, Archer earned the American Silver Star from U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) Brigadier General Ennis Whitehead, commanding general of Allied Air Forces in New Guinea. On October 16, 1944 at 1:00pm while Wirraway A20-80 was taxing, it accidentally collided with this plane causing damage. Afterwards, this Wirraway was withdrawn from service.

[darkmaga-returns]

How does a jihadist, flying an ISIS flag on his pickup truck, go undetected in the United States long enough to plow into pedestrians, killing at least 15 and injuring many more?

The FBI says Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, a U.S. citizen from Texas, is responsible for the deadly New Year’s Day terror attack in New Orleans and that he likely did not act alone. Law enforcement is still looking for others who may be involved.

Jabbar was not the threat on President Joe Biden’s radar. Jabbar did not fit the profile of the terrorists Biden, his crooked Department of Justice (DOJ), and feckless Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have been searching for.

While the DHS left U.S. borders wide open for any criminal or harmful ideology to enter, the DOJ made “domestic violent extremism” a “national priority area,” numerous reports show.

In June 2021, the National Security Council announced a plan to target domestic terrorists, mostly “those who promote the superiority of the white race” and “militia violent extremists.” The FBI called them “the most persistent and lethal threats.”

That is code for the kind of people who went to the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

“Our current effort comes on the heels of … the Jan. 6 assault on our nation’s Capitol,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a June 2021 speech introducing the new focus on domestic terrorism.

[collapsedsquid]

U.S. District Judge Michael Ponsor published an essay in the New York Times arguing that the display of flags associated with President-elect Donald Trump’s MAGA movement at Justice Samuel Alito’s Virginia and New Jersey homes was a breach of public trust. The piece was unusual because judges don’t typically offer personal criticisms of a colleague in public. According to the jurist assigned to review the matter, Chief Judge Albert Diaz of the federal appeals court in Richmond, Va., it was Ponsor who damaged the judiciary. In a previously unreported order filed last week, Diaz found that by commenting on controversial issues and criticizing Alito, Ponsor violated the code of conduct that applies to all federal judges other than Supreme Court justices. Among other transgressions, Ponsor, a 1994 Clinton appointee who sits in Springfield, Mass., was found to violate rules against actions that “detract from the dignity” of a judge’s office and harm “public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary.”

Fucking Lèse-majesté

[magz]

The basics of how we got a U.S. phone number and SIM card with a budget phone plan to prepare for immigration.

A lot of things of immigration, services, and moving preparations can require having an active U.S. phone number. This also applies to people that moved away from the U.S. but still need a point of contact with U.S. institutions without being flagged. This is not a universal method! It is just one way.

Things used in our method:

A phone service that ships SIM cards and allows for Wi-Fi calling / texting (alternatively, an e-sim)

Compatible phone (For physical SIM cards: phone carrier unlocked, with VoLTE capability. For e-sims: phones with e-sim capability)

Proxy Shipping service if you live somewhere with shipping customs issues or that the SIM card doesn't directly ship to ( - can also use someone willing to bring the SIM card to you if they come to your country)

A U.S. (residential) address you can write down, even if don't live there (example: can use the address of family, friends, future address, previous address, proxy carrier address if it has residential option, or people willing to help lend you / suggest an address. Some might consider just making one up.)

Debit card, Credit card, or PayPal to use to pay.

Explanation:

If your phone is compatible with e-sims, you actually have a lot more options than we did.

E-sims makes using a proxy shipping address, and maybe even having a residential address - unnecessary. You can basically skip the rest of this. Opens up options a lot more, as long as they're compatible with Wi-Fi calling (Example list of e-sims for "travelers") (Check if phone is compatible with e-sim)

Because our phone isn't compatible with e-sim, though...

We used Tello Mobile and it's $5usd + taxes a month custom plan (unlimited text, 100 minutes of calling). The sim card itself costs $3 from official seller on Amazon, but $3.99 to $6 from resellers. (optional: here's our Tello Mobile referral link, so you can get $10 of credit. You have to manually set it as a payment method whenever you want to use it, before autopay goes thru though.)

Alternatively, there's Ultramobile PayGo which have seen others vouch for wrt Wi-Fi calling outside the U.S., but have not used ourself. It is $3 a month, but the physical SIM kit is $13.

There are more "cheap U.S. sim cards" but we cannot claim familiarity nor experience with them, so any risks from using a lesser known phone service has to be considered.

If you're getting the physical sim of Tello Mobile, check that your phone is compatible first in the official site's compatibility check page.

What we did after, was to buy the Tello SIM card from an eBay reseller with decent reviews *instead* of buying a plan and SIM directly on Tello all at once.

The reason for this decision is that:

1. if buy from Amazon then the shipping cost is not transparent for items as low as $3usd (and also Amazon hates us).

2. Tello is more likely to deny the purchase and not ship the SIM card if the shipping location vs residential location is different or suspicious to them. (the residential location you put will affect the area code you get btw)

Consider if proxy shipping or asking someone to give the SIM card to you is the answer, if default shipping method isn't an option for your country. For proxy shipping options, please search the options available for your country and location, as it is varies a LOT. Be sure that the method of delivery works for you, and check how much it costs to receive things or if it requires a membership fee or what. (our proxy shipper costs money to receive things, based on weight and category of product, but no membership fee)

When you get the Tello physical SIM card, it comes with an activation code. You can use this code to conect a purchase of a Tello plan to be specifically for your SIM card.

Then you add the U.S. residential address that will affect the area code you get, and add the payment method. If it goes through, it's supposed to activate your phone number soon after.

To receive texts and phone calls outside of U.S. territories using that U.S. phone number, enabling Wi-Fi calling or VoIP whenever you need it may be necessary.

So, that's basically the main deal!

[renthony]

From the article:

State lawmakers in Tennessee could soon pass a bill that would limit the types of flags that can be displayed in public schools, sparking outcry from LGBTQ advocates who say the measure is an attempt to ban the Pride flag and curtail free speech. The Tennessee state House advanced HB 1605 to the state Senate Thursday, an amendment to the Tennessee Code that sets out which flags can be displayed in schools. The new bill designates several types of flags that can be displayed, including the U.S. flag, the official Tennessee state flag, and any flag that is protected by the Tennessee Heritage Protection Act. Critics argue that including the Tennessee Heritage Protection Act in the amendment would allow the Confederate flag to be displayed, while banning the Pride flag. The Heritage Protection Act, which went into effect in 2013, states “no memorial regarding a historic conflict, historic entity, historic event … that is, or is located on, public property, may be removed, renamed, relocated, altered, rededicated, or otherwise disturbed or altered.” The law specifically notes memorials and flags dedicated to what some euphemistically call the “War Between the States,” but is historically known as the Civil War, cannot be removed. Although the law does not specifically name the Confederate flag, many critics have noted that it would be protected under the act. Tennessee state Rep. Gino Bulso, a Republican, said he introduced HB1605 last November after receiving complaints from parents in his district about the Pride flag and after contentious debates over whether the flag should be allowed in classrooms erupted during a local school board meeting. Last month, during a Tennessee House education subcommittee hearing, Bulso said the bill “does not allow any other flag beyond the 10 that are listed” to be displayed, adding that the ban also includes “flags that teachers are currently using to indoctrinate students in a particular set of values, including the Pride flag which is becoming more ubiquitous in schools.” Several people at the hearing groaned in response to Bulso’s claim that teachers were “indoctrinating” students by displaying the Pride flag. On the floor of the state house, Democratic State Rep. Justin Pearson called the bill “immoral and unjust” and proposed an unsuccessful amendment that would have banned Confederate flags from being displayed.

[beardedmrbean]

A Canadian town is facing a fine of $10,000 for refusing to participate in Pride Month and fly the "LGBTQ2 rainbow flag" outside its municipal building.

The town of Emo, Ontario, which has a population of about 1,300 and is situated near the border with Minnesota, was found to have violated the Ontario Human Rights Code by the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario for refusing to proclaim June as Pride Month, according to a report from the National Post.

The town was also issued a citation for its failure to fly "an LGBTQ2 rainbow flag," the report notes, despite Emo not having an official flag pole.

MUSLIMS, CHRISTIANS JOIN FORCES TO PROTEST LGBTQ+ PRIDE IN CANADA: 'LET KIDS BE KIDS'

In addition to the $10,000 fine, officials from the town were ordered to complete mandatory "human rights" training.

According to the report, the decision to cite Emo began with a 2020 incident in which the town was approached by a group called Borderland Pride, which issued a written request asking that Emo declare June Pride Month.

The group’s request also included a draft proclamation, containing clauses such as "pride is necessary to show community support and belonging for LGBTQ2 individuals" and "the diversity of sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression represents a positive contribution to society."

Borderland Pride also asked the city to fly an "LGBTQ2 rainbow flag for a week of your choosing."

MUSLIM ACTIVIST GIVES POWERFUL SPEECH AGAINST FORCED LGBTQ CURRICULUM: ‘OUR PEOPLE ARE NOT BACKWARD'

The request was defeated by a 3-2 vote at a later Emo township council meeting, where Mayor Harold McQuaker argued there was "no flag being flown for the other side of the coin… there’s no flags being flown for the straight people."

The line was seen as particularly offensive to Human Rights Tribunal vice-chair Karen Dawson, who said she found the remark "demeaning and disparaging of the LGBTQ2 community of which Borderland Pride is a member and therefore constituted discrimination under the Code."

Dawson further argued that the remark was made in "close proximity" to McQuaker’s no vote on the Borderland Pride request, meaning it "constituted discrimination under the Code."

Borderland Pride sought a $15,000 fine for the Township as well as a $10,000 fine for each of the three council members who voted no on the group’s request, according to the report, though the tribunal eventually settled on the $10,000 fine for the township and a $5,000 for McQuaker.

McQuaker and Emo’s chief administrative officer were also ordered to complete an online course offered by the Ontario Human Rights Commission called "Human Rights 101" and "provide proof of completion… to Borderland Pride within 30 days."

[mariacallous]

A symbol affiliated with former President Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” fallacy was on display at Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s house in 2021, a New York Times investigation found Thursday.

The symbol in question was an upside-down American flag, which supporters of Trump’s stolen election conspiracy theory began displaying after he lost to President Joe Biden in 2020. Neighbors who saw and photographed the flag confirmed to the Times that it flew on Jan. 17, 2021. The conservative justice admitted it but said it was his wife’s doing.

“I had no involvement whatsoever in the flying of the flag,” he said in a statement to the paper. “It was briefly placed by Mrs. Alito in response to a neighbor’s use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs.”

The Times found in interviews with neighbors that Alito’s wife, Martha-Ann Alito, was having an ongoing argument with neighbors who’d put up an anti-Trump sign with an expletive on their front lawn.

You can see a photo of the flag in question in the Times’ story.

Jan. 17 was a little over a week after Trump supporters violently stormed the U.S. Capitol in an effort to stop the ceremonial counting of electoral votes that gave Biden the presidency. More than a thousand people involved in the riot have been charged with crimes associated with that day.

While the flag was up, the Supreme Court was deciding whether to hear several cases about the integrity of the 2020 election. Alito was in favor of hearing the arguments but was ultimately on the losing side. Currently, the court is set to rule on two cases related to the Capitol riot, including one that could give Trump presidential immunity from some of the dozens of charges he’s facing.

The Supreme Court’s code of ethics calls for the justices to avoid making political statements or sharing opinions on matters that might come before the court.

Take Back the Court, a group opposed to the conservative swing the court has taken in recent years, said this incident is proof Alito doesn’t belong on the court.

“Sam Alito has disqualified himself from legitimate service on the Supreme Court. It’s hard to imagine a more blatant f-you to the American public than proudly displaying a vestige of a failed coup attempt on the country you’re supposed to serve, right on your front lawn,” the group’s president, Sarah Lipton-Lubet, said in a statement.

Alito’s wife isn’t the only Supreme Court spouse to get caught up in an election conspiracy scandal. Justice Clarence Thomas’s wife, Ginni Thomas, promoted and attended Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally near the White House that preceded the Capitol insurrection. Her husband has refused to recuse himself from cases related to the attack on the Capitol.

“If the wife of one sitting Supreme Court justice helping incite an insurrection wasn’t enough for Congress to issue subpoenas to these extremists, perhaps another sitting justice proudly displaying memorabilia from that insurrection will be,” she said.

[ralfmaximus]

Here's the complete list of DHS flagged search terms. Don't use any of these on social media to avoid having the 3-letter agencies express interest in your activities!

DHS & Other Agencies

Department of Homeland Security (DHS)

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

Coast Guard (USCG)

Customs and Border Protection (CBP)

Border Patrol

Secret Service (USSS)

National Operations Center (NOC)

Homeland Defense

Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Agent

Task Force

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

Fusion Center

Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)

Secure Border Initiative (SBI)

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF)

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS)

Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS)

Transportation Security Administration (TSA)

Air Marshal

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)

National Guard

Red Cross

United Nations (UN)

Domestic Security

Assassination

Attack

Domestic security

Drill

Exercise

Cops

Law enforcement

Authorities

Disaster assistance

Disaster management

DNDO (Domestic Nuclear Detection Office)

National preparedness

Mitigation

Prevention

Response

Recovery

Dirty Bomb

Domestic nuclear detection

Emergency management

Emergency response

First responder

Homeland security

Maritime domain awareness (MDA)

National preparedness initiative

Militia

Shooting

Shots fired

Evacuation

Deaths

Hostage

Explosion (explosive)

Police

Disaster medical assistance team (DMAT)

Organized crime

Gangs

National security

State of emergency

Security

Breach

Threat

Standoff

SWAT

Screening

Lockdown

Bomb (squad or threat)

Crash

Looting

Riot

Emergency Landing

Pipe bomb

Incident

Facility

HAZMAT & Nuclear

Hazmat

Nuclear

Chemical Spill

Suspicious package/device

Toxic

National laboratory

Nuclear facility

Nuclear threat

Cloud

Plume

Radiation

Radioactive

Leak

Biological infection (or event)

Chemical

Chemical burn

Biological

Epidemic

Hazardous

Hazardous material incident

Industrial spill

Infection

Powder (white)

Gas

Spillover

Anthrax

Blister agent

Exposure

Burn

Nerve agent

Ricin

Sarin

North Korea

Health Concern + H1N1

Outbreak

Contamination

Exposure

Virus

Evacuation

Bacteria

Recall

Ebola

Food Poisoning

Foot and Mouth (FMD)

H5N1

Avian

Flu

Salmonella

Small Pox

Plague

Human to human

Human to ANIMAL

Influenza

Center for Disease Control (CDC)

Drug Administration (FDA)

Public Health

Toxic

Agro Terror

Tuberculosis (TB)

Agriculture

Listeria

Symptoms

Mutation

Resistant

Antiviral

Wave

Pandemic

Infection

Water/air borne

Sick

Swine

Pork

Strain

Quarantine

H1N1

Vaccine

Tamiflu

Norvo Virus

Epidemic

World Health Organization (WHO and components)

Viral Hemorrhagic Fever

E. Coli

Infrastructure Security

Infrastructure security

Airport

CIKR (Critical Infrastructure & Key Resources)

AMTRAK

Collapse

Computer infrastructure

Communications infrastructure

Telecommunications

Critical infrastructure

National infrastructure

Metro

WMATA

Airplane (and derivatives)

Chemical fire

Subway

BART

MARTA

Port Authority

NBIC (National Biosurveillance Integration Center)

Transportation security

Grid

Power

Smart

Body scanner

Electric

Failure or outage

Black out

Brown out

Port

Dock

Bridge

Canceled

Delays

Service disruption

Power lines

Southwest Border Violence

Drug cartel

Violence

Gang

Drug

Narcotics

Cocaine

Marijuana

Heroin

Border

Mexico

Cartel

Southwest

Juarez

Sinaloa

Tijuana

Torreon

Yuma

Tucson

Decapitated

U.S. Consulate

Consular

El Paso

Fort Hancock

San Diego

Ciudad Juarez

Nogales

Sonora

Colombia

Mara salvatrucha

MS13 or MS-13

Drug war

Mexican army

Methamphetamine

Cartel de Golfo

Gulf Cartel

La Familia

Reynose

Nuevo Leon

Narcos

Narco banners (Spanish equivalents)

Los Zetas

Shootout

Execution

Gunfight

Trafficking

Kidnap

Calderon

Reyosa

Bust

Tamaulipas

Meth Lab

Drug trade

Illegal immigrants

Smuggling (smugglers)

Matamoros

Michoacana

Guzman

Arellano-Felix

Beltran-Leyva

Barrio Azteca

Artistics Assassins

Mexicles

New Federation

Terrorism

Terrorism

Al Queda (all spellings)

Terror

Attack

Iraq

Afghanistan

Iran

Pakistan

Agro

Environmental terrorist

Eco terrorism

Conventional weapon

Target

Weapons grade

Dirty bomb

Enriched

Nuclear

Chemical weapon

Biological weapon

Ammonium nitrate

Improvised explosive device

IED (Improvised Explosive Device)

Abu Sayyaf

Hamas

FARC (Armed Revolutionary Forces Colombia)

IRA (Irish Republican Army)

ETA (Euskadi ta Askatasuna)

Basque Separatists

Hezbollah

Tamil Tiger

PLF (Palestine Liberation Front)

PLO (Palestine Libration Organization)

Car bomb

Jihad

Taliban

Weapons cache

Suicide bomber

Suicide attack

Suspicious substance

AQAP (Al Qaeda Arabian Peninsula)

AQIM (Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb)

TTP (Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan)

Yemen

Pirates

Extremism

Somalia

Nigeria

Radicals

Al-Shabaab

Home grown

Plot

Nationalist

Recruitment

Fundamentalism

Islamist

Weather/Disaster/Emergency

Emergency

Hurricane

Tornado

Twister

Tsunami

Earthquake

Tremor

Flood

Storm

Crest

Temblor

Extreme weather

Forest fire

Brush fire

Ice

Stranded/Stuck

Help

Hail

Wildfire

Tsunami Warning Center

Magnitude

Avalanche

Typhoon

Shelter-in-place

Disaster

Snow

Blizzard

Sleet

Mud slide or Mudslide

Erosion

Power outage

Brown out

Warning

Watch

Lightening

Aid

Relief

Closure

Interstate

Burst

Emergency Broadcast System

Cyber Security

Cyber security

Botnet

DDOS (dedicated denial of service)

Denial of service

Malware

Virus

Trojan

Keylogger

Cyber Command

2600

Spammer

Phishing

Rootkit

Phreaking

Cain and abel

Brute forcing

Mysql injection

Cyber attack

Cyber terror

Hacker

China

Conficker

Worm

Scammers

Social media

SOCIAL MEDIA?!

[piratesexmachine420]

Okay one more complaint about other people's posts before I go back to obtuse technical nonsense.

If I see another person repost this (↓) tweet, I am going to start killing.

Believe it or not, but the flag code actually does specify where the stars and stripes go. This isn't the fucking 1700s anymore.

If this post's author had bothered to actually read chapter 1, section 5 of 4 U.S. Code (Display and use of flag by civilians; codification of rules and customs; definition), they would find that the flag is defined not simply by section 1 ("The flag of the United States shall be thirteen horizontal stripes, alternate red and white; and the union of the flag shall be forty-eight stars, white in a blue field.") and section 2 ("On the admission of a new State into the Union one star shall be added to the union of the flag; and such addition shall take effect on the fourth day of July then next succeeding such admission.") but also by Executive order 10834 ("[...] The flag of the United States for the purpose of this chapter shall be defined according to sections 1 and 2 of this title and Executive Order 10834 issued pursuant thereto.").

Ex. Ord. 10834 clearly lays out the shape and dimensions of the flag in its attachment. ("Sec. 2. The positions of the stars in the union of the flag and in the union jack shall be as indicated on the attachment to this order, which is hereby made a part of this order.", "Sec. 3. The dimensions of the constituent parts of the flag shall conform to the proportions set forth in the attachment referred to in section 2 of this order.")

This is extremely explicit. Also: no, not that Union Jack.

The colors are another story. While it is true that the flag code never specifies the exact shades of red, white and blue to use, there is a specification for them. Federal Specification DDD-F-416F clearly states in section 3.5 that "The colors, from the Standard Color Reference of America, 10th Edition (see 2.2), of the US National Flag are as follows: Old Glory Red, White, Old Glory Blue".

These colors are then further defined in the aforementioned Standard Color Reference of America. (Color definitions are complicated, so I won't quote them here. Go look at 'em yourself if you're so inclined.)

Now, DDD-F-416F only applies to flags procured for official, federal use. It's probably the most official answer to "which colors should we use for the flag" but it's not the only answer. All they have to be is red white and blue. (For my money, if Yang_WenIi's flag ended up before the Supreme Court, I think they'd rule that particular shade "pink".)

Does any of this matter? No. Absolutely not.

Furthermore, neither I nor the U.S. government (in theory) have any problem with you desecrating the flag. I'll even say I encourage it. (Biden not so much, methinks.)

But please, for the love of god, stop lying so blatantly about what the law actually says. It's not very long, this shouldn't be so hard. You don't need to appeal to Dwight Eisenhower's authority just to twist the U.S. flag into the trans one. You can just do that. Please stop lying.

K? K.

[dissociation-memes-shoppe]

Friendly reminder: this follows U.S. Flag Code ;]

[Original Reddit Post]

[muddypolitics]

A former US President/Presidential candidate blatantly disrespects the US flag and violates the US Flag code with his signature

On the anniversary of 9/11 makes it even worse.

These conservative magas that pretend to "worship the flag" while literally desecrating it.

4 U.S. Code § 8 - Respect for flag

(g) The flag should never have placed upon it, nor on any part of it, nor attached to it any mark, insignia, letter, word, figure, design, picture, or drawing of any nature.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Michelangelo Signorile at The Signorile Report:

The New York Times reports on yet another treasonous flag flying on yet another home owned by Justice Samuel Alito and his wife. Last week, it was the Times report and a jaw-dropping photo of an upside-down flag—embraced by the “Stop the Steal’ movement—flown on the lawn of his Alexandra, Virginia, home in the days after January 6th. This week it’s an “Appeal to Heaven” flag, which, as the Times reports, ‘like the inverted U.S. flag, was carried by rioters at the Capitol in the days after Jan. 6, 2021.” It was flown at the Alito’s home on the Jersey shore on Long Beach Island in the summer of 2023. [...]

Tribe acknowledges that there is no way this MAGA-led House is going to impeach Alito but says that’s not an excuse for the Senate not to “at least initiate a serious investigation into whether impeachable offenses have been committed,” and, at the very least, “whether a meaningful, enforceable code of ethics” should be enacted. Tribe says the Senate should call for Alito to testify and subpoena him if he doesn't. He needs to explain under oath what the flags meant, not just release statements to the media blaming his wife. Two days ago, Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Dick Durbin, joining Democrats in the House and Senate, called on Alito to recuse himself from January 6th cases but said there’s “not much to be gained” by holding hearings. “No, we haven’t got anything planned,” he told NBC News. “I think he’s explained his situation. The American public understands what he did.”

Really? I think the American public is overwhelmingly horrified to see an upside-down flag on the lawn of a Supreme Court justice. Will Durbin continue with this weak argument even after the report of a second treasonous flag? His response is not only insufficient; it’s political malpractice as we’re headed into a critical election. There is an enormous amount to be gained. It’s all upside, no downside. The Supreme Court is very unpopular, having swung to the far right and stripping basic freedoms like the right to abortion. And after the corruption in the form of undisclosed gifts to Alito, Thomas and others, the American people want political leaders to stand up and demand justice. It doesn’t matter if Republicans fight against this. Let them be exposed as indifferent or supporting treason themselves.

This article from Michelangelo Signorile is spot-on 100% as to why Senate Judiciary Chair Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) to conduct hearings on SCOTUS Justice Samuel Alito's unethical behavior while serving on the court.

[sepdet]

Candidates' Different Views on Labor Day

Their contrasting social media posts, with bonus federal law violation and (I think?) AI generated fake workers from Trump, are illuminating:

Contrast that with Trump and Musk joking about firing striking workers a few weeks ago:

Under Biden, Harris chaired Biden's pro-labor task force assigned to "promote [Biden's] policy for worker power, worker organizing, and collective bargaining." Here is the plan they created with specific proposals.

As I've noted, my intro to Harris was at a 2017 rally for the ACA organized by SEIU Local 721. As VP, she's done a lot of union outreach, like this speech celebrating collective bargaining to honor the Culinary Workers Union in Las Vegas.

---

Meanwhile, Trump's Labor Day email to his followers is a shill for illegal merch:

US Public Law 94-344, the Federal Flag Code: "Out of respect for the US flag, never

place anything on the flag, including letters, insignia, or designs of any kind. [...]

Use the flag for advertising or promotional purposes."

The Flag Code was a big deal in the 80s, Trump's favorite decade. Congress passed a law with a big fine and/or jail time for knowingly violating it. The Supreme Court rightly struck down those penalties as a violation of free speech, but the code remains.

Trump followed this email with Labor Day posts on his social media platform:

Happy Labor Day to all of our American Workers who represent the Shining Example of Hard Work and Ingenuity. Under Comrade Kamala Harris, all Americans are suffering during this Holiday weekend - High Gas Prices, Transportation Costs are up, and Grocery Prices are through the roof. We can’t keep living under this weak and failed “Leadership.”….

Workers an afterthought. Every time he calls Kamala "Comrade," I remember Russian news btoadcasts calling him "Comrade Trump."

….In my First Term, we achieved Major Successes to protect American Workers by negotiating Free and Fair Trade Deals, passing the USMCA (U.S./Mexico/Canada), and giving Businesses and their Workers the tools to thrive. We also invested heavily in Education and Job Training programs for those who wish to expand upon their abilities, and be successful in an Industry that they love. We were an Economic Powerhouse, all because of the American Worker! But Kamala and Biden have undone all of that. When I return to the White House, we will continue upon our Successes by creating an Environment that ensures ALL Workers, and Businesses, have the opportunity to prosper and achieve their American Dream. We will, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

Dismantling Obama's trade deals and putting in his own which raised tarriffs and prices and killed supply chains, making shit up, and taking credit for Biden's job training programs, par for the course. Labor Day? All about ME ME ME.

Someone on the Trump campaign realized that he probably needed a picture of himself with workers, since Kamala had posted one shaking hands with them.

However, there's something off about this image posted to his social media site at 5PM:

The suit and tie are so unnaturally smooth, I did a reverse image search to see if it was a real photo. Zero Results. What are the chances? Any photo like this should already be on the web. And there's what look to be AI artifacts (Eg guy on left missing half of vest, fragments of orange stripes).

TL;DR: I don't think he found a group of workers or cosplayers to loom in front of; I think he's embraced the AI generated crowds he falsely accused Harris of using.

[darkmaga-returns]

This morning a read a long and fascinating essay in the New York Times titled The Secret Pentagon War Game That ​Offers a Stark​ Warning for Our Times: The devastating outcome of the 1983 game reveals that nuclear escalation inevitably spirals out of control.Day 7 of nuclear war in Europe per 1983 war game.

The writer, William Langewiesche—who is also the author of The Atomic Bazaar: Dispatches From the Underground World of Nuclear Trafficking—provides a detailed exposition of what I have been worrying about since the U.S. government sent Kamala Harris to the Munich Security Conference in February 2022 to represent the U.S. in talks about the rapidly escalating tension between Russia and Ukraine.

The essay concludes by quoting Paul Bracken, a Yale international relations professor who recently wrote a book titled The Second Nuclear Age: Strategy, Danger, and the New Power Politics.

Bracken flagged what he called the “transcendental madness” of the whole enterprise. He said: “Sometimes the only way to deal with it is with humor. ‘Dr. Strangelove’ started out as a serious movie about nuclear war, and Kubrick just couldn’t do it. So he turned it into a dark comedy.” But Bracken is not laughing. He believes that the nuclear modernization currently underway is necessary but misguided. He said, for instance: “Building a harder command-and-control system using blockchain so we can get the ‘go’ code to the missile forces is an improvement on one of the most fantastically unlikely scenarios that anyone can dream up. I’m at least looking at real-world threats and dangerous pathways to nuclear war. I don’t think a bolt from the blue is one of those. So I’m looking at the right problems, with inadequate skills perhaps, but the Pentagon is applying high levels of skills to the wrong problem.” History shows that deterrence often fails and that countries can maneuver themselves into corners where they have no choice but to enter into wars they cannot win, wars of assured self-destruction. Now we are entering an era where nuclear arms control is an open question, nonproliferation has failed, conventional conflicts are spreading, overwrought nationalism is on the rise, the use of small nuclear weapons again seems possible, deterrence is weakening and fools dream of managing nuclear escalation in the midst of battle. Nuclear war in some form seems to be coming to the neighborhood. There is little sign that changes are being pursued to lower the risk. There is no reason to panic, but Katie, bar the door.

Bracken states what I have long known to be the case. Time and again throughout history, fallible men in positions of power have grossly overestimated the amount of foresight and control they possess. Embarking on the path of escalation always triggers an unpredictable train of actions and reactions with an uncertain outcome.