Yes, I opt out. The point of the scan is to (1) build a thorough database (although DOGE probably already did that, we just haven’t found out yet), and (2) to accustom you to your identity not belonging to you.

The second point is the real point of opting out - as soon as nearly nobody opts out, and they’ve made headway on a database, it will no longer be optional. Opting out in that sense is the only vote you’re going to get to cast against it.

I deduce that the one nerbal has now become a priceless commodity since the last person using currency now has cornered the nerbal market.

Quote for reference:

Senator John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat, told Fox News’ America’s Newsroom: “He’s been impeached twice, and now he’s still our president as well now too. It’s not going anywhere, and I don’t think that’s helpful. I think if you throw that term around that actually diminishes the severity of what impeachment is really reserved for.”

You know what else diminishes the severity of impeachment? Not impeaching impeachable conduct.

“Benjamin, STOP!”

I’m starting to seriously wonder if Trump was born in Kenya.

I mean, I know it’s a meme, so what. But before getting the pitchforks out: does anyone have a link to Henry Cavill saying this? Just curious.

I searched and it’s all memes and reaction videos. Maybe true, maybe true but sarcastic, or maybe false. My guess is it has all the making of a quote that nobody fact checks because it’s too good for engagement.

That’s a reasonable premise, I get it. Borders are just imaginary lines, I agree in theory. But in practice, patriotism (as opposed to nationalism, and I do think we should differentiate) is a positive concept insofar as it overlaps with us - we who are alive now - making good choices about the direction of our arbitrarily-defined geographic region and being proud of the ones we could accomplish.

I think your issue with how the country was founded gives too much power to those who you don’t agree with and who shouldn’t have power over you. Whether the nation was founded on exploitation, we are not them - you refuse to be constrained by arbitrary geographic boundaries, for the contradictory reason that you feel constrained by arbitrary temporal boundaries, linking yourself and your dislike of American symbolism with what people hundreds of years ago did, with no relation to you except general genetic lineage.

That isn’t to say we deny that it happened, don’t teach it, learn from it - obviously systemic racism is an ongoing effect that is both traceable and related statistically to that founding. We aren’t living in those times, but those times echo in our time. We aren’t culpable, but we are responsible, only because nobody is left to deal with it.

But by refusing to take ownership of America, you are also ceding it. You may feel good about not being associated with the messy parts, but I would argue many who do this do it because they don’t want to take on the burden, not because they are taking the claimed moral high ground.

I appreciate the counter-argument, it’s not wrong in a pluralistic, we-can-both-hold-equally-valid-but-incommensurable-values sense. But I think insisting on that flag is picking a harder battle for no reason.

I think the problem with the optics - and of course, by this I mean, the problem with fascist-accelerating interpretations and not swing voters or Jeb’s feelings - is that the Mexican flag became a proxy for the movement flag. If it was a variety of flags + the American flag, that would convey a message that couldn’t be misused. But when Fox News can plaster a bunch of Mexican flag images on their immigrant-protest-panic news stories, it gives Trump cover to send in the federal military here, which - once established as precedent, as Stephen Miller knows - will now become the accepted norm for future protests, and then for future opposition purges, and then for a future normalized authoritarian state.

And while I get the “don’t cater to racists” principle, we need to think about strategic consequences - if we give the fascists ammunition, they will not hesitate to use it to kill us. In this way the protestors are not seriously thinking about this as the war that it is, as much as their passions and hearts are in the right place - they are doing things that feel good but may harm their cause. It’s, again, counter-productive.

My advocacy (didn’t intend for it to be, but it has turned out that way) to flying the American flag is that it doesn’t give the fascists ammunition that will be used against us. That should not only be a valid concern, but an overriding one to win the war.

This is exactly it. There is a literal fight that the protests represent, that some commenters here (no offense intended, we’re all on the same side) can’t see past; and there is a symbolic fight.

The symbolic fight defines how we think of ourselves - which I do think is important, that we are the true voice of the American project - but also how the rest of the country views Trump’s illegal use of military troops. The Mexican flag does not help either symbolic goal. It’s counterproductive.

In other contexts I would burn a flag, sure. The flag is emblematic of the struggle that is our country, and the struggle can mean different things, positive and negative, in context.

At the end of the day, we all live in America. We have an idea of America as a multi-cultural, immigrant nation. That is the correct idea. We have a right to define what the flag means.

Otherwise we’ve already conceded the patriotic high ground. It’s like giving the enemy control of the (metaphoric) capitol of the nation just so we can be the insurgency. You feel better but it’s tactically irrational. Why is it not better to start out with moral ownership of the nation’s core symbol?

I get the feeling I’m in the minority here, but let me try to express a nuanced opinion on the Internet:

I don’t think it’s a good idea to fly the Mexican flag at these protests.

To be clear:

• I don’t object to it.
• I don’t think those who do it are less American.
• I don’t think the “swing voter” effect of it matters at all.

But it’s unwise and counterproductive because:

• It’s creating a narrative that Trump’s specific lie about there being an “invasion” is true.
• That lie will be used to both physically abuse protestors and legitimize using federal armed forces against civilians, now and for the next four years.
• It gives an easy out for racists who are looking for an excuse to dehumanize and cheer police brutality.

The alternative, using the American flag, in context obviously shows this is about us taking America back from the racists, that they are not free to define America.

If the goal is to show multiculturalism, the American flag is also better. America is built on immigrants. It is the proverbial “melting pot.” As the saying go, our flag is red with the blood of immigrants who fought for the country, not just in wars but to be accepted and treated as equals. They have earned the right for it to represent them.

Avoiding it because it’s associated with the right is short-sighted and tragic. Right wing nut jobs should not be allowed to continue to appropriate the American flag, to make it toxic. Because they are traitors who are trying to destroy constitutional rule of law, i.e. America, while we are trying to protect it.

Stylophone is very nice. The abrasive overtones are an acquired taste, but I’ve acquired it. It has a nice, rounded sound while not being generic like a sine wave.

I’m just glad they put the entire kebab with inedible skewer directly on it to save me time.

I suppose my post came off demeaning, but whether you’re homeless and excluded from access to basic human necessities, or a white collar office worker who is having a very bad digestive moment, there are defensible reasons why this may happen. That said, where there’s a choice: I think pooping in the unpopulated far corner of the subway platform is preferable if at all possible. That’s just like, my opinion, man.

You’re christened a real New Yorker when you see a guy urinating or defecating in a subway car, hopefully facing a set of doors “for privacy.”

I mean, given the apparently obvious insider trading on those moves, a lot of billionaires will take the lesson that they should just cozy up to Trump even more and get in on the real profits rather than back off and not join the feast.

I think the idea is, it gets under his skin as intended, but Trump’s fragile ego means now he digs in even more when making terrible decision so he won’t “chicken out.”

Yeah, a sarcastic GIF but you are technically correct (the best kind).

The only states it’s lower than are:

• New York

For David Zaslov, about $200 million.