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Israeli firm BlackCore suspected of meddling in New York and Scotland votes

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Re: Israeli firm BlackCore suspected of meddling in New York and Scotland votes

#551
post #409

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They have to be kind of panicking that the smear tactics keep backfiring. Didn't stop Mamdani. Won't stop Platner. At this point it is amusing to see them pissing away so many millions of dollars to stop a public opinion tide that has no chance of being stopped.

I'm not sure in the Platner case why the supposed progressive cause can't find someone without a Nazi tattoo. I'm not sure what the alleged benefits of Platner are either. Mamdani has been amazing, but what is Platner for?

Platner is to help win the Senate for Dems. He has progressive policies and he's anti-Israel.

I believe him that he didn't know it was a Nazi tattoo. There's no other evidence that he holds Nazi views and he has covered it up.

Stop hand wringing, vote Platner.

Re: Israeli firm BlackCore suspected of meddling in New York and Scotland votes

#552

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not like it's a swastika, it was a skull and crossbones that turns out to have been used by the SS (I think?). I had no idea that particular image was nazi-related and I don't think most other people would have either. As far as "mistakes made by marines on shore leave" go it's pretty mild. Honestly his more recent scandals are more concerning as far as character. Platner's upside is being a senator that's not f…

It's an extremely well known nazi symbol. Probably second behind the swastika itself. There's even that famous "are we the baddies" meme, which uses that symbol as a central pillar of the gag.

I'm pretty online, I've seen that skit and I to this day don't really know what a totenkopf looks like. I'd never heard the word before this Platner business either. Surprising you're saying it's well-known. Am I in some kind of bubble?

Re: Israeli firm BlackCore suspected of meddling in New York and Scotland votes

#553

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My point is that it's not very obvious what it is unless you are super studied in Nazi symbology. I thought I was clear but there it is in case I wasn't. If this were a swastika, the SS lightning bolts or even the Iron Cross, yeah, that looks pretty Nazi. Instead it's a skull and crossbones just like every other one used all over the place, including the very cool jolly roger, except this one happens to be Nazi. I di…

“My point is that it's not very obvious what it is unless you are super studied in Nazi symbology” Or if you ever played a WWII themed video game (Wolfenstein, Call of Duty), or if you’ve ever watched a WWII show like Band of Brothers or watched a major WWII movie like Schindlers List or Saving Private Ryan. I could go on, it’s prominent in nearly any WWII media. Honestly, I don’t know if people toting the line sayin…

Not sure what to tell you--I like many others here it seems (and probably elsewhere) hadn't even heard of a totenkopf before this issue was raised. It's a non-issue. Honestly I think it's a bit strange that you think it's so recognizable.

Re: Israeli firm BlackCore suspected of meddling in New York and Scotland votes

#554

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like Musk's salute

IIRC the experts debunked that disinformation. Yes I remembered correctly https://x.com/ADL/status/1881474892022919403

The ADL is not a trustworthy source about what is and isn't anti-Semitism. Maybe they do point out actual incidents of anti-Semitism and true anti-Semites (which still exist in large numbers.) but they're unflinching support for Israel (a leading world cause of anti-Semitism) calls all their messaging into question.

Re: Israeli firm BlackCore suspected of meddling in New York and Scotland votes

#555

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The experts on what? Zionist lobbying?

I have not heard anybody who is assured that it was a nazi salute after "doing their own research on the internet" who did not already hate Musk and wish desperately for this to be a nazi salute. The evidence for this conclusion that I have seen boils down to "Musk is a nazi therefore this was a nazi salute", because somehow the exact same kind of actions can be deemed with certainty to not be nazi salutes when perfo…

Sounds like the converse is true actually--I haven't seen anyone who isn't a Musk stan (or anti-semite) say it's not a Nazi salute.

Re: Israeli firm BlackCore suspected of meddling in New York and Scotland votes

#556

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not like it's a swastika, it was a skull and crossbones that turns out to have been used by the SS (I think?). I had no idea that particular image was nazi-related and I don't think most other people would have either. As far as "mistakes made by marines on shore leave" go it's pretty mild. Honestly his more recent scandals are more concerning as far as character. Platner's upside is being a senator that's not f…

> I had no idea that particular image was nazi-related and I don't think most other people would have either for context it's https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totenkopf#Nazi_Germany , i'm surprised so many people didn't know the nazi use if platner really didn't know, i guess it just spoke to him as a (future?) blackwater mercenary

> if platner really didn't know, i guess it just spoke to him as a (future?) blackwater mercenary

Yes, correct. Despite that, if I lived in Maine, I'd wholeheartedly vote for him. Not sure why I shouldn't?

Re: Israeli firm BlackCore suspected of meddling in New York and Scotland votes

#557
post #448
post #278

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> you say that as if israel doesn't have the exact same ideology against iran (it does) What are the parallels in Israeli society for Iranian school systems morning chants of "Death to Israel" and a public countdown clock to the destruction of Israel?

Are you seriously going to bring up chants when Israel is a country where they chant 'Death to Arabs' casually, watch the Gaza genocide from a hilltop and have installed vending machines to make the massacres more fun to watch? But to answer your question directly, the Iranians would say they equate Israel with ethno-supremacy, same as apartheid South Africa. Getting rid of apartheid in South Africa was not about get…

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Re: Israeli firm BlackCore suspected of meddling in New York and Scotland votes

#558
post #548

As a New Yorker this doesn’t shock me too much. The level of “Mamdani is an anti-Semite” sentiment I saw online (Reddit particularly) felt truly hysterical. And wasn’t matched by any equivalent in the offline world.

I suspect that many people, like me, now hear "antisemitic" as "anti Israel" and assume it's a politically motivated slur without justification. This is not good. As racism and actual antisemitism continues to be very real, any conflating or exaggeration of a real problem diminishes people's willingness to address the real problems.

And this is what Israel wants. To claim that anyone who disagrees with Israel and their genocide is antisemetic

Re: Israeli firm BlackCore suspected of meddling in New York and Scotland votes

#559
post #548

As a New Yorker this doesn’t shock me too much. The level of “Mamdani is an anti-Semite” sentiment I saw online (Reddit particularly) felt truly hysterical. And wasn’t matched by any equivalent in the offline world.

I suspect that many people, like me, now hear "antisemitic" as "anti Israel" and assume it's a politically motivated slur without justification. This is not good. As racism and actual antisemitism continues to be very real, any conflating or exaggeration of a real problem diminishes people's willingness to address the real problems.

If you notice a police officer is only ever arresting people of a certain race, you can suspect he’s a racist - even if they actually did commit the crimes.

Having an obsession with Israel, focusing only on them for things done by other countries as well in the same situation, exaggerating what they are doing, and demonising them is antisemitic.

The Overton window has shifted so far that you don’t even realise how it would sound if you replaced “Israel” with other countries in your statement.

Imagine hearing someone say I’m just “anti-Ireland”. Or I have nothing against Ukrainians, I just think Ukraine shouldn’t exist.

If you have genuine criticisms to make about specific people in Israel or specific actions of the Israeli government, and you do so also about many other figures and events internationally, that’s fair. But taking a position of “anti-Israel” in general betrays a prejudice against the only Jewish country that has nothing to do with their actions.

Re: Israeli firm BlackCore suspected of meddling in New York and Scotland votes

#560
post #548

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect that many people, like me, now hear "antisemitic" as "anti Israel" and assume it's a politically motivated slur without justification. This is not good. As racism and actual antisemitism continues to be very real, any conflating or exaggeration of a real problem diminishes people's willingness to address the real problems.

If you notice a police officer is only ever arresting people of a certain race, you can suspect he’s a racist - even if they actually did commit the crimes. Having an obsession with Israel, focusing only on them for things done by other countries as well in the same situation, exaggerating what they are doing, and demonising them is antisemitic. The Overton window has shifted so far that you don’t even realise how it…

> If you notice a police officer is only ever arresting people of a certain race, you can suspect he’s a racist - even if they actually did commit the crimes.

Ridiculous comparison. Police are obligated to act impartially, private individuals are not. Expecting regular people to give every political matter equal attention is absurd.

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