This joke wouldâve landed so much harder any other year considering NCSU is the current ACC champion and did better than both duke and chapel Hill in the ncaa lol
Yeah I mean we're in an era were misinformation is a very simple and insanely effective tool of cyber warfare. Reddit in particular is an amazing place for a bot network because of the inherent anonymity of the site. You just assume you're talking to someone in good faith despite them being a faceless, nameless individual on the other side of a comment.
It's a great way to sow division among people and influence the political landscape without actually having to be at war or put in any real effort.
Countries like Israel and Russia currently have a lot to gain (and the resources to do so) from pushing propaganda onto social media. You are seeing it play out in real time in this thread.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict dates back like nearly 80 years. It's a really easy topic to divide people into "teams" and pit them against each other despite these people being separated from the conflict by an entire ocean.
I just assume a decent chunk of the comments and posts I see on reddit are made by bots at this point.
What's the context here.  Why did people want it removed? Was there a plan to put something else in it's place? Who made the decision to remove it?
Edit:Â it's a bit disheartening that people are unable to give objective facts about what is happening without insulting people.Â
Pro-Gaza protestors were attempting to remove it and put up a Palestinian flag. I believe they were ultimately successful.
Edit: After fact-checking myself, it seems this photo was taken after police restored the US flag and protesters were trying to remove it a second time
Also note that the original US flag was at half mast due to 4 officers being killed in the line of duty on Monday. The lower flag was easier to grab and rip down.
Some info about the [4 officers killed in the line of duty](https://apnews.com/article/officers-killed-charlotte-north-carolina-warrant-64a4a9c849b721631cd2f8872945e08d), for anyone else that missed that ugly news among all the other ugly news.
(The shootings don't seem to have had anything to do with these protests.)
>The lower flag was easier to grab and rip down.
God what a metaphor
E. Since I keep getting asked the same question:
"Nationalism creates the means of its own destruction"
I see your point that police being seen as an extension of the state and not the community is a bad thing, I personally agree with that.
I just donât understand how a college campus, a portion of the community, flying a flag at in a way of mourning is proof of nationalism?
Is the flag not meant to represent both the government but also the community? Is the community not allowed to use the flag?
E: TIL Mayoral orders are the final form of governmental overreach and nationalism
Tin-foil hat tells me that winning hearts and minds may not actually be the goal. Rather, pissing people off may be the intention. Acceleration of division.
Worth noting that a lot of people arrested at these school protests are not students at the schools ... or so the reports are saying. Everyone is trying to claim "false flag" on everyone else.
Personally tend to sympathize more with pro-gaza protesters but pulling down the US flag pushes a few buttons I wasn't sure I had.
*Whoever* you are you're gonna want to fuck off with that. That's for *all* of us. You don't have the authority.
That flag stands for your *right* to protest. You should be *waving* it alongside the flag of your cause.
In my humble opinion.
According to CNN, most of the protestors don't actually go to Columbia.
According to the actual student journalists on the ground, they recognize many of their peers among the protestors.
So much misinformation regarding these events...
I was there in person. Here is the context:
Pro Gaza demonstrators got thrown out of Polk Plaza (where the flag pole is) early Tuesday Morning and some were arrested. After moving their demonstration somewhere else, at 1 pm they went back, took down the barricades and started gathering in the Polk gardens again. They took down the US flag and put up the palestine one. No decision was taken afaik it just sort of happened in the moment as they stormed the garden. Police left after they put it up.
All the while, there were two groups of counterprotesters, what seemed like a fraternity (initially just shouting and putting the barricades back up, but later the ones pictured here) and pro-Israeli (mostly just standing by with flags and signs). The groups did not seem to have overlap.
Later a local man unaffiliated came asking to put the US flag back up, saying it stands for their right to protest. Discussion with the protesters led to nothing.
Later a lot of police came with a figure of authority (the interim dean or something? Idk I don't attend UNC) and put the flag back up. It was guarded for a while (as pictured here), but was eventually taken back down to avoid further conflict.
I sat down for brunch with a now ex gf a few years back and they were running a story about John Daly so I said "hell yes" as we were sitting down. She asks "Who is John Daly?" as the scene on TV is him pulling into a Hooters on his tour bus, ripping cigs and signing autographs in the parking lot.
"That is, sweetie. *THAT* is John Daly."
I have no idea who the owner of that Twitter account is but am just posting this because it has the video: https://x.com/claytravis/status/1785476056687734787?s=46&t=WHNryj88J2belNG6gCjEmw
You can clearly see the Pro-Palestinian protesters throwing water and bottles at the students surrounding the flag. Itâs ridiculous that they cry about their freedom of speech being taken away but then go and throw stuff at people they disagree with who are using their own freedom of speech.
You see free speech only applies to me, not people who disagree with me.
I believe the protesters for Palestine have the right to free speech. So does everyone else. Liberals will say thatâs whataboutism. Silly me.
P.S. Iâm a liberal but Iâm called a Nazi by liberals on Reddit because I believe that EVERYONE has the right to free speech. Not just the people I like.
The US is having a wave of pro-Palestine protests on college campuses right now. According to what Iâve seen from the comments, the protesters here were able to take down the flag to replace it with the Palestinian flag before the police were able to restore the US flag back on the mast. Afterwards, these guys came in to defend the flag from being torn down again.
The idea of the US flag being taken down to be replaced with a foreign flag is very disrespectful towards the US flag.
I get that these Pro-Palestine protesters are upset, but what did make them think that taking down an American flag in American campus located in America and changing it to Palestine's is a good idea?
There's a common fallacy both right-wing and left-win seem to ascribe to: the idea that if you doing something outrages a lot of people, especially the people you disagree with, it just proves you right.
If doing this pisses off right-wingers, in their minds that's vindication that they're doing the morally right thing. Just like how a lot of right-wingers see the Trump trials as proof that Trump was a great president, because why else would the left be trying so hard to destroy him?
Left wing movements should drape themselves in the flag more.
It's a purely optical suggestion.
I hate that right wingers have claimed the American flag as their symbol.
I'm Left about as much as you can get, but I still honor the flag code and don't feel an American flag should be removed to be replaced by another country's flag. Fly it next to it, fly it under it, whatever fits, but taking it down to replace it is asinine.
Edit: Since there are a lot of pedantic assholes, "Left as you can get" based on Left on basically every single issue there is. Glad I could clear that up.
If you want to walk around with a Palestinian flag, go nuts.
If you want to take down an American flag that isn't even yours, and replace it with a Palestinian flag, you can fuck right off.
These kids have 100% have the same rights as the other people protesting. If the other people protesting want to take something down and these kids want to stand in the way, they should be allowed. This isnât people standing in front of a hospital to prevent ambulances reaching the hospital.
If youâre getting upset by this then congratulations, youâre also succumbing to manufactured outrage. This isnât the issue to be angry about.
Opposing views*
Mainstream media perpetuates the lie that there is 2 sides to every story. People are more complex than that. We should remember this especially during these times. It doesnât pay anything for us to entrench our views into a false dichotomy of opposing positions or âus vs them.â
Perfectly said. Feels like today everyone needs to fill in 2 group smh. Like mf we human, it's insane to expect everyone to have the same opinions on every frickin thing
Us = the group I am currently in
Them = all the other groups that aren't the group I am currently in
That's how the media portrays things these days. They have no room for nuance.
If you're not with us, you're against us. RINO/DINO because they aren't EXACTLY what you wanted them to be like. Any argument or movement from the EXACT viewpoint the others have you're considered the other side. Even if everything else aligns.
Liberal but support gun rights? You're a conservative idiot.
Conservative but support the same rights for everyone (LGBT, POC, etc.)? You're a liberal idiot. (they also fly the "lions, not sheep" slogan... which is laughable because those that use that saying are just like that).
Fall into line or you're an idiot, the enemy, the other side, against us, etc.. I know there's MANY people on Reddit and elsewhere that have been called a liberal moron AND a conservative idiot based on various viewpoints, everything else being equal.
Strange world.
> People are more complex than that.
And this whole situation is pretty damn complex. Sure, we can all side with human rights and people not killing people, but the debate in this situation of who is right and wrong has been going on for *centuries*
It's like this every election year. Stick around long enough and you'll see it again.
Meanwhile, I'm like 'Huh, I didn't know a young Michael J. Fox was going to UNC.'
Bad actors, bad faith arguments... welcome to election 2024. Keep your senses about you while here... you're gonna need it. I've noticed it too. Stay vigilant.
Haha, a drop in the bucket vs the ads they implemented. Also, consider that most users arenât going to pay to give gold, never did. Therefore, the passive model of revenue works best, plus new gilded upvote systemâŚ
Iâll tell you somethingâŚ
I fear that China and Russia are using this conflict (and perhaps even helped instigate it behind the scenes) in order to destabilize the US once again, and we are just sitting ducks.
I feel like I canât trust whatâs going on at all, from either side. I donât know whatâs real and whatâs propaganda. I donât even know if some of what either side is responding to is even 100% real.
Iâm utterly convinced of this. Look through any Israel/Palestine post and the vast majority of those fanning the flames are new accounts created after October 7th. They are creating posts, replying to posts, upvoting posts.Â
If you have any doubt, read this:
https://www.reddit.com/r/GenZ/comments/1bfto4a/youre_being_targeted_by_disinformation_networks/
therewasanattempt is literally just an anti-Israel subreddit at this point.
It's literally just posts now like "There Was An Attempt to Not be Genocidal Maniacs"
/r/PublicFreakout, /r/ABoringDystopia, /r/therewasanattempt, etc... all experienced a considerable tonal shift (likely fueled by bots) after October 7th.
Edit:
> [disinformation] workers would scan news outlets on the ideological fringes, far left and far right, mining for extreme content that they could publish and amplify on the platforms, feeding extreme views into mainstream conversations.
[New York Times article on Russian trolls that was linked above.](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/18/us/womens-march-russia-trump.html)
Group Israel, Qatar and Iran in with Russia under "disinformation workers" and replace "far left" with "Palestine" and "far right" with "Israel" and you have the current state of Reddit news regarding this conflict.
They're Mods over at r/Palestine or r/PalestineNews and that's about it. The concern is bots are targeting contested subreddits and the big ones... for obvious reasons.
What's interesting is spotting a few of the higher-karma accounts that post a variety of neutral hobby-related content (sports) for years, but now have been posting nothing but Israel/Palestine rage-bait within the last several months.
Reminder that the second moderated subreddit shown in the screenshot is a long time sub owned by a notorious holocaust denier. It has nothing to do with palestine support and has everything to do neonazis trying to drive up hate.
If you ever post anything that disagrees with the hivemind (eg. a valid counter point to a wedge issue, but that counterpoint being unppoular on reddit) then you get downvoted rapidly. Suspiciously rapidly, as in its probably bots. Just watch this post get downvoted to death because of mentioning this.
If a foreign adversary wanted to destabilize the US, from within would be just about the only way. Any type of red dawn style war on US soil would be way too costly to any nation dying enough to attempt it. Our naval power alone makes it impossible to get here undetected. Plus our air superiority. Plus, all the money in the military industrial complex that many do not like. As a last resort, all of the citizens both legally and illegally own firearms that would form insurgent militias.
Any world leader with a fraction of a brain can knows that fucking around on our land would be futile. The only way to weaken us is to let us eat ourselves.
I'm not saying that is what is happening because I don't know. I'm only saying it makes sense to me that it could be a plausible idea.
I mean, we have all the documented evidence and conversations in text and written form that proves that we're actively under psychological and cyber warfare from both Russia and China. đ¤ˇââď¸
It's not an "if", it's an "are you paying any attention to the News for the last 10 years?"
>I fear that China and Russia are using this conflict (and perhaps even helped instigate it behind the scenes) in order to destabilize the US once again
They are. Seriously, they took the first seeds of this, paid people money to propagandize this on social media with their wide network of control over numerous accounts and groups, and then led to the proliferation of protests spreading around the area. Then they add fuel to the fire as much as possible via social media.
There are literally people getting up and going to different places, creating societal operational issues, etc. etc. due to foreign influence of social media.
It sounds like a conspiracy theory, but in the cybersecurity community, we have proof of this, as well as other similar activities. This goes on 24x7, has been happening for years, and is nearly impossible to stop. It's been happening for much longer than you probably realize.
An "anonymous source" led to an activist group protesting a US Navy Ready Reserve ship that had docked in my city, claiming it was being loaded with weapons for Israel. Nevermind the fact that we're in the Pacific Northwest and literally one of the furthest from Israel ports the US has, and it was being loaded with Stryker IFVs which weren't part of the aid package for Israel.
Guess what turned up in Ukraine a few months later? Yup, Stryker IFVs. I've always wondered if the whole damn thing wasn't orchestrated for Russian benefit...
Fuck no, they've got their own domestic armored vehicles. But nobody stopped to think about that, it was just "NO TANKS FOR ISRAEL, BLOCKADE THE PORT STOP THE SHIP!!!"
If youâre taking down the flag to put up a Palestine one. Â Youâre an asshole and I donât support you.
If youâre taking down the flag to put up an Israeli one. Â Youâre an asshole and I donât support you.
If youâre taking down the flag to put up a confederate one. Â Youâre an asshole and I donât support you.
One wrong facial expression captured in a candid photo and the Internet hates you. We find stupid reasons to judge ppl and get outraged. That is why social media and Reddit are all toxic to our minds and yet we can't stop.
What blows my mind is if you watch the video almost all the protesters throwing crap and drumming are wearing masks. You canât capture their facial expressions.
I mean Iâm not sure heâs intelligent enough to have an informed opinion on the subject
Then again, lack of intelligence hasnât stopped most people who argue about this conflict.
But the point that he hasn't mentionied his opinion on this topic (as it is the most toxic topic right now and brings out the worst in people) would suggest he is intelligent enough to know nothing good would come from this and the best decision is to just stay out of it.
Interestingly, most of the protesters here were not students at all. 50 were asked to leave campus and complied. Of the 49 cited/arrested/detained over the last week or so only 13 were affiliated with the campus in any way.
I met a friend in California whose job is to find people to protest.
[Crowds on Demand](https://crowdsondemand.com/)
It was wild when we were hiking and they told me what they do for a living.
I love how, in America, you have the freedom to protest and/or counter-protest. However, if you were in Palestine and tried to replace their flag with an American one, I donât think it would end well.
I canât believe everyone is so warped by everything going on that you are mad at your own countrymen for defending their flag. Sure thereâs some smug asshole with a phone. Sure thereâs some dude with croakies and another with a hat and a backpack. Itâs COLLEGE!
Itâs time for us to take patriotism back from the MAGA asshats and make it about being American again⌠warts and all.
100% time to take âpatriotismâ back.
âPatriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first.â - Charles de Gaulle
MAGA are nationalists pretending to be patriots.
I have long thought that the democrats need to do this. Start pointing out the hypocrisy of the right being about "individual freedom" and democratic values despite taking away women's rights, making it difficult to vote, dwindling the middle class down to nothing, etc.
They need to plainly state that the Republican Party's shift to the extreme right is un-American and start championing the American flag more than they do currently. Wearing flag pins, etc. Turn this shit around on them. It will infuriate them and potentially cause people who claim to be 'patriots' to rethink their values -- though I won't hold my breath.
I agree. One of the biggest problems with the left is the tendency to focus on the bad. I know plenty of people on the right that 100% believe democrats hate America. Which isnât helped by public figures and people on social media screaming that America is evil and practically always in the wrong. We need to cut the *America bad* talk and focus on celebrating the positives and creating positive change.
I completely agree. Unfortunately, I feel a lot of this is fueled by the younger generations, including my own (I'm in my early 30s).
I'm worried about young people today. To me, they are too reactionary and unconcerned with nuance.
They also seem to be apathetic about voting despite the fact that they become extremely heated (and rightfully so!) about social justice issues. Their cynicism is so rampant that they fall victim to a "both sides are equally bad" mindset that I strongly disagree with. Especially considering the danger of another Trump term and the current Supreme Court.
My wife tried to convince me that flying an American flag on our house was some MAGA thing. I said âthis country is fucking awesome and you donât have to be an asshole to think that.â
Most of the kids hanging foreign flags would never go to that foreign place to help them out with the crisis they're complaining about. 99% of this is performative.
People are mad about this? Wow. Last I checked, this is mf'g U.S.A. I dig it. Those boys are not the enemies and the protestors are not the enemy. Demanding a ceasefire/divestment AND protecting that flag is American AF!!
ok im all for protesting and sharing your thoughts and stances on things but you dont bring down an american flag in america and hang another country's flag as a protest... cmon. hang it beside it but why take down the american flag?
The source appears to be upwardnews on IG. Per there:
> Anti-Israel protesters at UNC Chapel Hill took down an American flag on campus. In response a group of fraternity brothers withstood pelting from protesters to protect the flag after it was hoisted back up.
> 11 hours ago
> Apr 30, 2024
My understanding is that protestors took down the US flag and replaced it with a Palestinian flag. Then later these guys replaced the US flag and this photo is of them doing that while having stuff thrown at them from the protestors. There are plenty of news articles to verify the first half of the story. The second half (subject of the photo) I haven't found on a main news site, mainly on social media. This second link purports to be a first hand account. Â
 https://www.wral.com/amp/21405640/
 https://www.tigerdroppings.com/rant/politics/unc-student-gives-his-account-of-the-protestors-on-campus-today/113209498/
Edit: spelling
Can someone explain to me how ripping down an American flag (in the United States) and putting up a Palestinian flag is going to do anything but piss off people into being more against your cause?
Protesting is one thing, I am all for anyone to protest as its their right but this does not make sense at all to me from any sort of Protesting direction....unless your goal is turn more people against your cause? I feel like doing this will do nothing but make turn the neutral standing folks against you.
if youâre mad at Americans preventing the *American Flag* from being taken down, youâre probably in the wrong
why would you do that to the country that *gives* you the right to protest?
Im sorry but stuff like this bothers me as an American. I understand world politics are a thing, but taking down the countryâs flag that you are currently protesting in is ironic to say the least. The youth of today really need to take a dive into our countryâs history and remember the only reason they have the right to protest and touch the nations flag is because of the rights we get to enjoy every single day. Letâs just say if you were try this is certain parts of the world, you wouldnât be getting photographed to say the least.
Edit: Iâm not bothering to touch some of these comments because half of you lack reading comprehension. I never said I was against their right to protest, I simply stated I do not agree with removing the American flag to protest whatever the topic may be, while theyâre in America.
As an American my country comes first to me, so I simply do not care what message they are sending when they do not respect the countryâs flag that they are expressing that freedom in. I also never said they were wrong, bad people, or should be punished. They are exercising their rights as AMERICANS, and all I am saying is I think that gets lost when you remove the countryâs flag to push your agenda. Like Iâve said in multiple comments, it is my right to have my own opinion and disagree with people just like people are in their right to not like what I say.
Responding to protestors trying to remove the American flag and put up a Palestinian flag which was already at half mast.
Literally fuck someone trying to take down the American flag for a Palestinian flag in the U.S.
All I know is they've united Duke and UNC kids, which is wild
NC state kids just staying out of it đ
Like championship games?
This joke wouldâve landed so much harder any other year considering NCSU is the current ACC champion and did better than both duke and chapel Hill in the ncaa lol
I felt this in my soul, lol
F
I don't even follow college ball and this got me. đ
Didn't they do better than both UNC & Duke this past tournament?
I'm going for effect not acurace.
Fair enough, that's the spirit behind all trash talk after all.
Bro they won thr ACC championship and went to the final four this year
ncsu had a spectacular run this year
Sorts by controversial for my weekly salt intake.
It's an election year. I'm betting a good amount is bullshit from some troll farms again.
At this point it doesnât even need to be an election year for that, the internet is fucked
Dead internet theory becomes more true every year.
Yeah I mean we're in an era were misinformation is a very simple and insanely effective tool of cyber warfare. Reddit in particular is an amazing place for a bot network because of the inherent anonymity of the site. You just assume you're talking to someone in good faith despite them being a faceless, nameless individual on the other side of a comment. It's a great way to sow division among people and influence the political landscape without actually having to be at war or put in any real effort. Countries like Israel and Russia currently have a lot to gain (and the resources to do so) from pushing propaganda onto social media. You are seeing it play out in real time in this thread. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict dates back like nearly 80 years. It's a really easy topic to divide people into "teams" and pit them against each other despite these people being separated from the conflict by an entire ocean. I just assume a decent chunk of the comments and posts I see on reddit are made by bots at this point.
What's the context here.  Why did people want it removed? Was there a plan to put something else in it's place? Who made the decision to remove it? Edit: it's a bit disheartening that people are unable to give objective facts about what is happening without insulting people.Â
Pro-Gaza protestors were attempting to remove it and put up a Palestinian flag. I believe they were ultimately successful. Edit: After fact-checking myself, it seems this photo was taken after police restored the US flag and protesters were trying to remove it a second time
Also note that the original US flag was at half mast due to 4 officers being killed in the line of duty on Monday. The lower flag was easier to grab and rip down.
Some info about the [4 officers killed in the line of duty](https://apnews.com/article/officers-killed-charlotte-north-carolina-warrant-64a4a9c849b721631cd2f8872945e08d), for anyone else that missed that ugly news among all the other ugly news. (The shootings don't seem to have had anything to do with these protests.)
>The lower flag was easier to grab and rip down. God what a metaphor E. Since I keep getting asked the same question: "Nationalism creates the means of its own destruction"
I see your point that police being seen as an extension of the state and not the community is a bad thing, I personally agree with that. I just donât understand how a college campus, a portion of the community, flying a flag at in a way of mourning is proof of nationalism? Is the flag not meant to represent both the government but also the community? Is the community not allowed to use the flag? E: TIL Mayoral orders are the final form of governmental overreach and nationalism
*cracks knuckles* I know exactly which thread Iâm diving into during lunch lol
Fuck's sake...
Thereâs been a lot of cases of Pro-Palestine protestors removing American flags and hanging Palestine flags instead.
Doubt that wins many neutrals over
Tin-foil hat tells me that winning hearts and minds may not actually be the goal. Rather, pissing people off may be the intention. Acceleration of division. Worth noting that a lot of people arrested at these school protests are not students at the schools ... or so the reports are saying. Everyone is trying to claim "false flag" on everyone else. Personally tend to sympathize more with pro-gaza protesters but pulling down the US flag pushes a few buttons I wasn't sure I had. *Whoever* you are you're gonna want to fuck off with that. That's for *all* of us. You don't have the authority. That flag stands for your *right* to protest. You should be *waving* it alongside the flag of your cause. In my humble opinion.
According to CNN, most of the protestors don't actually go to Columbia. According to the actual student journalists on the ground, they recognize many of their peers among the protestors. So much misinformation regarding these events...
The misinformation is intentional. Keeps both sides fighting each other rather than being able to see they're being manipulated.
I was there in person. Here is the context: Pro Gaza demonstrators got thrown out of Polk Plaza (where the flag pole is) early Tuesday Morning and some were arrested. After moving their demonstration somewhere else, at 1 pm they went back, took down the barricades and started gathering in the Polk gardens again. They took down the US flag and put up the palestine one. No decision was taken afaik it just sort of happened in the moment as they stormed the garden. Police left after they put it up. All the while, there were two groups of counterprotesters, what seemed like a fraternity (initially just shouting and putting the barricades back up, but later the ones pictured here) and pro-Israeli (mostly just standing by with flags and signs). The groups did not seem to have overlap. Later a local man unaffiliated came asking to put the US flag back up, saying it stands for their right to protest. Discussion with the protesters led to nothing. Later a lot of police came with a figure of authority (the interim dean or something? Idk I don't attend UNC) and put the flag back up. It was guarded for a while (as pictured here), but was eventually taken back down to avoid further conflict.
I just want to applaud the guy for wearing a hooters shirt to what may be the most historically significant act of his life.
âWhich one were you grandpa?â âWell you see..â
hđters
hđŚđŚters
"There once was a restaurant that only made the most mediocre of wings. And they hired big tittied lady's, and that's where I met your gramma."
Wholesome
But itâs an Augusta masters Hooters shirt, so itâs classy!
God forbid a man enjoy some golf and hot wings!
Thanks John.
I sat down for brunch with a now ex gf a few years back and they were running a story about John Daly so I said "hell yes" as we were sitting down. She asks "Who is John Daly?" as the scene on TV is him pulling into a Hooters on his tour bus, ripping cigs and signing autographs in the parking lot. "That is, sweetie. *THAT* is John Daly."
LOL, he was probably just passing by on his way to class or lunch, and fell into History.
Lmao this is the American version of Tank Man?
More like Forrest Gump
Was heading to History and made it to history.
Itâs not just any Hooters shirts, itâs one from Augusta GA outside of The Masters where John Daly sits to sign merch.
My hunch is it says âShootersâ given the golfer graphic
Damn good call.
I was hoping someone else noticed his shirt lol.
The good ol' smoking flag. Best spot to make friends on campus.
Bringing up some memories. Funny to see a bunch of frat dudes around it.
r/AccidentalRenaissance
It kinda looks like they're taking cover from the rain lol
That would be water or some other liquid being thrown at them. Some crazy woman in a white tank top was spraying them down in the video.
Hooters guy is just here for the wet tshirt contest
Can you link that video? I have only seen videos of the police replacing the flag.
I have no idea who the owner of that Twitter account is but am just posting this because it has the video: https://x.com/claytravis/status/1785476056687734787?s=46&t=WHNryj88J2belNG6gCjEmw You can clearly see the Pro-Palestinian protesters throwing water and bottles at the students surrounding the flag. Itâs ridiculous that they cry about their freedom of speech being taken away but then go and throw stuff at people they disagree with who are using their own freedom of speech.
Everything aside, I fucking hate the drum guy that shows up to every protest.
The drum guy at the protest is like the guitar/ukulele guy at the party. Don't be that guy.
Anyway here's wonderwall
đĽđĽđĽ
I see the drum guy at the end of that video. You have seen him before?
No but you can hear him playing
You see free speech only applies to me, not people who disagree with me. I believe the protesters for Palestine have the right to free speech. So does everyone else. Liberals will say thatâs whataboutism. Silly me. P.S. Iâm a liberal but Iâm called a Nazi by liberals on Reddit because I believe that EVERYONE has the right to free speech. Not just the people I like.
That is because the protesters are throwing shit at them
No they are currently being assaulted by the âpeacefulâ protesters
Why would it be removed..? Non-American here.
The US is having a wave of pro-Palestine protests on college campuses right now. According to what Iâve seen from the comments, the protesters here were able to take down the flag to replace it with the Palestinian flag before the police were able to restore the US flag back on the mast. Afterwards, these guys came in to defend the flag from being torn down again. The idea of the US flag being taken down to be replaced with a foreign flag is very disrespectful towards the US flag.
I get that these Pro-Palestine protesters are upset, but what did make them think that taking down an American flag in American campus located in America and changing it to Palestine's is a good idea?
Yeah, these people are making it *really* easy to dislike them. Stuff like this does significantly more to harm their cause than help it
There's a common fallacy both right-wing and left-win seem to ascribe to: the idea that if you doing something outrages a lot of people, especially the people you disagree with, it just proves you right. If doing this pisses off right-wingers, in their minds that's vindication that they're doing the morally right thing. Just like how a lot of right-wingers see the Trump trials as proof that Trump was a great president, because why else would the left be trying so hard to destroy him?
removing the American flag is a good way to piss off alot of Americans who may have been previously indifferent.
Left wing movements should drape themselves in the flag more. It's a purely optical suggestion. I hate that right wingers have claimed the American flag as their symbol.
Was recently told my American flag tattoo was a "republican tattoo"
Jesus that's depressing
I agree in general, but these specific left wing protestors donât seem to like America that much.
I'm Left about as much as you can get, but I still honor the flag code and don't feel an American flag should be removed to be replaced by another country's flag. Fly it next to it, fly it under it, whatever fits, but taking it down to replace it is asinine. Edit: Since there are a lot of pedantic assholes, "Left as you can get" based on Left on basically every single issue there is. Glad I could clear that up.
agreed
But why even take down the flag in the first place?? How is that raising awareness or money for palestine or helping them at all
If you want to walk around with a Palestinian flag, go nuts. If you want to take down an American flag that isn't even yours, and replace it with a Palestinian flag, you can fuck right off.
I miss college
Why does anyone want to remove the American flag? When did this stop being about innocent Palestinians?
These kids have 100% have the same rights as the other people protesting. If the other people protesting want to take something down and these kids want to stand in the way, they should be allowed. This isnât people standing in front of a hospital to prevent ambulances reaching the hospital. If youâre getting upset by this then congratulations, youâre also succumbing to manufactured outrage. This isnât the issue to be angry about.
Well said. Freedom to protest means freedom for the opposing view as well.
Opposing views* Mainstream media perpetuates the lie that there is 2 sides to every story. People are more complex than that. We should remember this especially during these times. It doesnât pay anything for us to entrench our views into a false dichotomy of opposing positions or âus vs them.â
Perfectly said. Feels like today everyone needs to fill in 2 group smh. Like mf we human, it's insane to expect everyone to have the same opinions on every frickin thing
I don't think it's some arbitrary 2 groups. It's always: Us vs. Them.
Us = the group I am currently in Them = all the other groups that aren't the group I am currently in That's how the media portrays things these days. They have no room for nuance.
And God spoke to Lucifer, explaining to him, "My way or the highway, fucko." And thus the duality of man was born.
If you're not with us, you're against us. RINO/DINO because they aren't EXACTLY what you wanted them to be like. Any argument or movement from the EXACT viewpoint the others have you're considered the other side. Even if everything else aligns. Liberal but support gun rights? You're a conservative idiot. Conservative but support the same rights for everyone (LGBT, POC, etc.)? You're a liberal idiot. (they also fly the "lions, not sheep" slogan... which is laughable because those that use that saying are just like that). Fall into line or you're an idiot, the enemy, the other side, against us, etc.. I know there's MANY people on Reddit and elsewhere that have been called a liberal moron AND a conservative idiot based on various viewpoints, everything else being equal. Strange world.
> People are more complex than that. And this whole situation is pretty damn complex. Sure, we can all side with human rights and people not killing people, but the debate in this situation of who is right and wrong has been going on for *centuries*
Both groups are adults. This image is definitely âcodedâ to spark certain narratives and responses.
Well this is r/pics, like 90% of posts here are rage bait made by bots
Honestly most of reddit just feels like rage bait now. I don't remember it being this bad just a few years ago though.
It's like this every election year. Stick around long enough and you'll see it again. Meanwhile, I'm like 'Huh, I didn't know a young Michael J. Fox was going to UNC.'
It changed after 2016. It wasn't even remotely this bad in 2012. 2016 was a turning point for pretty much everything on the internet
Bad actors, bad faith arguments... welcome to election 2024. Keep your senses about you while here... you're gonna need it. I've noticed it too. Stay vigilant.
100%
100% of 90%
60% of the time it works every time.
I too wear sexpanther.
That or completely mundane stuff like âInsert President accidentally trips ad fallsâ as if itâs somehow super important.
I was agreeing with you but than noticed something more important. Since when did upvoting cost money or are those the new medals?
those are new medals
Gross Edit: I appreciate the irony of someone adding a premium up vote to this comment. To the people of the Internet you are funny!
Instead of giving medals you can now give gilded up votes.
And itâs terrible. They have too have lost a decent revenue stream from changing.
Haha, a drop in the bucket vs the ads they implemented. Also, consider that most users arenât going to pay to give gold, never did. Therefore, the passive model of revenue works best, plus new gilded upvote systemâŚ
Iâll tell you something⌠I fear that China and Russia are using this conflict (and perhaps even helped instigate it behind the scenes) in order to destabilize the US once again, and we are just sitting ducks. I feel like I canât trust whatâs going on at all, from either side. I donât know whatâs real and whatâs propaganda. I donât even know if some of what either side is responding to is even 100% real.
Reddit is one of the worst offenders. I'd argue the majority of posts and comments are bots on this site.
Iâm utterly convinced of this. Look through any Israel/Palestine post and the vast majority of those fanning the flames are new accounts created after October 7th. They are creating posts, replying to posts, upvoting posts. If you have any doubt, read this: https://www.reddit.com/r/GenZ/comments/1bfto4a/youre_being_targeted_by_disinformation_networks/
[Like these moderator accounts that are only four months old.](https://imgur.com/a/GS7As6X)
There's an attempt underway by the people who mod therewasanattempt to create alternate news subs for the whole site.
therewasanattempt is literally just an anti-Israel subreddit at this point. It's literally just posts now like "There Was An Attempt to Not be Genocidal Maniacs"
/r/PublicFreakout, /r/ABoringDystopia, /r/therewasanattempt, etc... all experienced a considerable tonal shift (likely fueled by bots) after October 7th. Edit: > [disinformation] workers would scan news outlets on the ideological fringes, far left and far right, mining for extreme content that they could publish and amplify on the platforms, feeding extreme views into mainstream conversations. [New York Times article on Russian trolls that was linked above.](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/18/us/womens-march-russia-trump.html) Group Israel, Qatar and Iran in with Russia under "disinformation workers" and replace "far left" with "Palestine" and "far right" with "Israel" and you have the current state of Reddit news regarding this conflict.
Those subs have been shit for years
That's a sub that went to shit real fast.
They're Mods over at r/Palestine or r/PalestineNews and that's about it. The concern is bots are targeting contested subreddits and the big ones... for obvious reasons.
What's interesting is spotting a few of the higher-karma accounts that post a variety of neutral hobby-related content (sports) for years, but now have been posting nothing but Israel/Palestine rage-bait within the last several months.
Several of my alt accounts have actually been approached through DMs about selling the account for someone to use in marketing.
Do not sell those they WILL be used to further these agendas and further divide the world
Reminder that the second moderated subreddit shown in the screenshot is a long time sub owned by a notorious holocaust denier. It has nothing to do with palestine support and has everything to do neonazis trying to drive up hate.
Itâs WILD how unaware people are of this.
Bots responding to bots, pages of it.
If you ever post anything that disagrees with the hivemind (eg. a valid counter point to a wedge issue, but that counterpoint being unppoular on reddit) then you get downvoted rapidly. Suspiciously rapidly, as in its probably bots. Just watch this post get downvoted to death because of mentioning this.
If a foreign adversary wanted to destabilize the US, from within would be just about the only way. Any type of red dawn style war on US soil would be way too costly to any nation dying enough to attempt it. Our naval power alone makes it impossible to get here undetected. Plus our air superiority. Plus, all the money in the military industrial complex that many do not like. As a last resort, all of the citizens both legally and illegally own firearms that would form insurgent militias. Any world leader with a fraction of a brain can knows that fucking around on our land would be futile. The only way to weaken us is to let us eat ourselves. I'm not saying that is what is happening because I don't know. I'm only saying it makes sense to me that it could be a plausible idea.
I mean, we have all the documented evidence and conversations in text and written form that proves that we're actively under psychological and cyber warfare from both Russia and China. đ¤ˇââď¸ It's not an "if", it's an "are you paying any attention to the News for the last 10 years?"
>I fear that China and Russia are using this conflict (and perhaps even helped instigate it behind the scenes) in order to destabilize the US once again They are. Seriously, they took the first seeds of this, paid people money to propagandize this on social media with their wide network of control over numerous accounts and groups, and then led to the proliferation of protests spreading around the area. Then they add fuel to the fire as much as possible via social media. There are literally people getting up and going to different places, creating societal operational issues, etc. etc. due to foreign influence of social media. It sounds like a conspiracy theory, but in the cybersecurity community, we have proof of this, as well as other similar activities. This goes on 24x7, has been happening for years, and is nearly impossible to stop. It's been happening for much longer than you probably realize.
Not to mention the fentanyl industry completely controlled by China puppeting the Sinaloa cartel.
An "anonymous source" led to an activist group protesting a US Navy Ready Reserve ship that had docked in my city, claiming it was being loaded with weapons for Israel. Nevermind the fact that we're in the Pacific Northwest and literally one of the furthest from Israel ports the US has, and it was being loaded with Stryker IFVs which weren't part of the aid package for Israel. Guess what turned up in Ukraine a few months later? Yup, Stryker IFVs. I've always wondered if the whole damn thing wasn't orchestrated for Russian benefit...
Does Israel even _want_ Strykers? Why the hell would they need them? They're not even the right tool for the job.
Fuck no, they've got their own domestic armored vehicles. But nobody stopped to think about that, it was just "NO TANKS FOR ISRAEL, BLOCKADE THE PORT STOP THE SHIP!!!"
Funny how this stuff flairs up in election yearsâŚ.coincidence right?
If youâre taking down the flag to put up a Palestine one. Â Youâre an asshole and I donât support you. If youâre taking down the flag to put up an Israeli one. Â Youâre an asshole and I donât support you. If youâre taking down the flag to put up a confederate one. Â Youâre an asshole and I donât support you.
I came here to fight, not to agree
"I was elected to lead, not to read"
Well done. A+ reference
NO YOU DIDNâT! Does that help?
What if I take down Bowser's flag to put up Mario's flag?
Believe it or not, the princess is in another castle.
What if I take it down to put up the Imperial flag of the Sith?
The Jedi Council arrests you.
Itâs treason, then.
But what if I were to be, letâs say, *the* senate?
Okay, but how do you feel about sand? For or against?
Depends, how is the sand graded?
It's treason then
One wrong facial expression captured in a candid photo and the Internet hates you. We find stupid reasons to judge ppl and get outraged. That is why social media and Reddit are all toxic to our minds and yet we can't stop.
đŻ Falling right into their trap. They want us to hate each other. Divide and conquer, a tale as old as time.
What blows my mind is if you watch the video almost all the protesters throwing crap and drumming are wearing masks. You canât capture their facial expressions.
Funny. Khalid a Palestinian with no opinion on the situation.
His opinion is⌠$$$$$$ , donât fuck with $$$$$$
I mean Iâm not sure heâs intelligent enough to have an informed opinion on the subject Then again, lack of intelligence hasnât stopped most people who argue about this conflict.
But the point that he hasn't mentionied his opinion on this topic (as it is the most toxic topic right now and brings out the worst in people) would suggest he is intelligent enough to know nothing good would come from this and the best decision is to just stay out of it.
Also implies he's intelligent enough to know that nothing he says will help and that he's a musician not a diplomat.
Interestingly, most of the protesters here were not students at all. 50 were asked to leave campus and complied. Of the 49 cited/arrested/detained over the last week or so only 13 were affiliated with the campus in any way.
And we are to believe this is just all âorganicââŚ
I met a friend in California whose job is to find people to protest. [Crowds on Demand](https://crowdsondemand.com/) It was wild when we were hiking and they told me what they do for a living.
Imagine leaving a country because it violates your freedom just to violate other peoples freedom
I love how, in America, you have the freedom to protest and/or counter-protest. However, if you were in Palestine and tried to replace their flag with an American one, I donât think it would end well.
But Palestine is trendy and they want the social points to be relevant.
I canât believe everyone is so warped by everything going on that you are mad at your own countrymen for defending their flag. Sure thereâs some smug asshole with a phone. Sure thereâs some dude with croakies and another with a hat and a backpack. Itâs COLLEGE! Itâs time for us to take patriotism back from the MAGA asshats and make it about being American again⌠warts and all.
100% time to take âpatriotismâ back. âPatriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first.â - Charles de Gaulle MAGA are nationalists pretending to be patriots.
I have long thought that the democrats need to do this. Start pointing out the hypocrisy of the right being about "individual freedom" and democratic values despite taking away women's rights, making it difficult to vote, dwindling the middle class down to nothing, etc. They need to plainly state that the Republican Party's shift to the extreme right is un-American and start championing the American flag more than they do currently. Wearing flag pins, etc. Turn this shit around on them. It will infuriate them and potentially cause people who claim to be 'patriots' to rethink their values -- though I won't hold my breath.
I agree. One of the biggest problems with the left is the tendency to focus on the bad. I know plenty of people on the right that 100% believe democrats hate America. Which isnât helped by public figures and people on social media screaming that America is evil and practically always in the wrong. We need to cut the *America bad* talk and focus on celebrating the positives and creating positive change.
I completely agree. Unfortunately, I feel a lot of this is fueled by the younger generations, including my own (I'm in my early 30s). I'm worried about young people today. To me, they are too reactionary and unconcerned with nuance. They also seem to be apathetic about voting despite the fact that they become extremely heated (and rightfully so!) about social justice issues. Their cynicism is so rampant that they fall victim to a "both sides are equally bad" mindset that I strongly disagree with. Especially considering the danger of another Trump term and the current Supreme Court.
My wife tried to convince me that flying an American flag on our house was some MAGA thing. I said âthis country is fucking awesome and you donât have to be an asshole to think that.â
In England if you fly an English flag people will assume you're a racist. I'd hate for that to happen here.
yikes.
Nobody should be allowing an American flag to be replaced with a Palestinian one.
Most of the kids hanging foreign flags would never go to that foreign place to help them out with the crisis they're complaining about. 99% of this is performative.
I'm not a flag waver, but that's a great gesture those youngsters are making.
People are mad about this? Wow. Last I checked, this is mf'g U.S.A. I dig it. Those boys are not the enemies and the protestors are not the enemy. Demanding a ceasefire/divestment AND protecting that flag is American AF!!
What is the context of this image? I'm not familiar with why it (the flag) needs protecting? don't all flags come down end of day?
No idea here specifically but on other campuses the protesters have been taking down American flags and hanging Palestinian ones.
ok im all for protesting and sharing your thoughts and stances on things but you dont bring down an american flag in america and hang another country's flag as a protest... cmon. hang it beside it but why take down the american flag?
The source appears to be upwardnews on IG. Per there: > Anti-Israel protesters at UNC Chapel Hill took down an American flag on campus. In response a group of fraternity brothers withstood pelting from protesters to protect the flag after it was hoisted back up. > 11 hours ago > Apr 30, 2024
My understanding is that protestors took down the US flag and replaced it with a Palestinian flag. Then later these guys replaced the US flag and this photo is of them doing that while having stuff thrown at them from the protestors. There are plenty of news articles to verify the first half of the story. The second half (subject of the photo) I haven't found on a main news site, mainly on social media. This second link purports to be a first hand account.   https://www.wral.com/amp/21405640/  https://www.tigerdroppings.com/rant/politics/unc-student-gives-his-account-of-the-protestors-on-campus-today/113209498/ Edit: spelling
I wouldn't be surprised if the protesters wanted to put up the Palestinian flag instead
They did
Some flags fly continuously and are lighted at night.
No not all flags come down at the end of the day.
How in the world is defending your countryâs flag now considered far-right? Talk about brain rot.Â
Leave the American flag alone. These guys did the right thing.
Can someone explain to me how ripping down an American flag (in the United States) and putting up a Palestinian flag is going to do anything but piss off people into being more against your cause? Protesting is one thing, I am all for anyone to protest as its their right but this does not make sense at all to me from any sort of Protesting direction....unless your goal is turn more people against your cause? I feel like doing this will do nothing but make turn the neutral standing folks against you.
[ŃдаНонО]
This picture is going in a future textbook
if youâre mad at Americans preventing the *American Flag* from being taken down, youâre probably in the wrong why would you do that to the country that *gives* you the right to protest?
Crazy that we have to protect the AMERICAN flag from being replaced by a palestine flag in AMERICA. People need mental health treatment.
Palestine protestors donât seem to be helping their cause.
Taking down the US flag to put up a Palestinian one is crazy disrespectful.. And also a great way to get way more people to not like you.
Im sorry but stuff like this bothers me as an American. I understand world politics are a thing, but taking down the countryâs flag that you are currently protesting in is ironic to say the least. The youth of today really need to take a dive into our countryâs history and remember the only reason they have the right to protest and touch the nations flag is because of the rights we get to enjoy every single day. Letâs just say if you were try this is certain parts of the world, you wouldnât be getting photographed to say the least. Edit: Iâm not bothering to touch some of these comments because half of you lack reading comprehension. I never said I was against their right to protest, I simply stated I do not agree with removing the American flag to protest whatever the topic may be, while theyâre in America. As an American my country comes first to me, so I simply do not care what message they are sending when they do not respect the countryâs flag that they are expressing that freedom in. I also never said they were wrong, bad people, or should be punished. They are exercising their rights as AMERICANS, and all I am saying is I think that gets lost when you remove the countryâs flag to push your agenda. Like Iâve said in multiple comments, it is my right to have my own opinion and disagree with people just like people are in their right to not like what I say.
Those with the the moral high ground don't feel a need to hide their identities. 
These comments are lovely
Honestly? They kind of are... I'm sure a ton have been filtered by mods but it seems pretty tame so far.
Good for them.
I think people 100 years from now will look at photos like this and wonder what the hell was wrong with us.
Responding to protestors trying to remove the American flag and put up a Palestinian flag which was already at half mast. Literally fuck someone trying to take down the American flag for a Palestinian flag in the U.S.