What makes them think that aliens from outer space would be illegal? More likely they would be here to evict us (quite legally) in order to build a hyperspace bypass.
Let's check in now with the new California monolith... And it's gone, torn down by a bunch of MAGA muppets
Well, that escalated quickly. In a scene not unlike the opening minutes of 2001, a group of angry young men stole up Pine Mountain, expressed distaste for Mexicans and aliens, then proceeded to tear down the latest instalment of 2020's favourite meme. California's answer to the Utah monolith had only been discovered on 2 …
COMMENTS
-
-
-
Friday 4th December 2020 16:30 GMT chivo243
Usually
I would say it's better to regret something you have done, as opposed to regretting something you haven't done, but in this case I would rather regret NOT doing this.
And removing the video from one site doesn't remove it from the internet... Yep, like getting the pee back out of the pool. Maybe this will haunt them later in life?
-
Friday 4th December 2020 16:36 GMT A. Coatsworth
Mixed feelings
On the one hand, I despise w*nker "conceptual artists" that pull this kind of vapid stunts.
On the other, how inbredly stupid do you have to be to drive for hours to destroy something, while chanting xenophobic slogans?
I despair.
As someone else said, nuking the site from orbit is probably the only way
-
-
Saturday 5th December 2020 19:03 GMT Yet Another Anonymous coward
Re: Mixed feelings
>What self-respecting Extraterrestrial race would want to associate with us when we have idiocy like this running rampant in our societies?
What if we're the galactic equivalent of a game show ?
A planet wide big-brother / celebrity arsehole in the jungle type of thing ?
-
Friday 4th December 2020 17:16 GMT Ben Tasker
Re: Mixed feelings
In some ways, though, this reminds me of Hitchbot.
It hitchhiked all over the world without any real issues. In the US, it survived 2 weeks before it was vandelized.
There just seem to be more of the type that are willing to destroy for no reason in America
https://heavy.com/tech/2015/08/hitchhiking-robot-hitchbot-germany-netherlands-united-states-philadelphia-killed-died-dies-america-stripped-vandalized-headless-hitchbotinusa/
-
-
Friday 4th December 2020 16:37 GMT Lazlo Woodbine
Second great commandment
These so-called Christians always forget the teachings of their chosen imaginary friend
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Matthew 22:37-40
That is unless they do actually hate themselves and are transferring that hatred onto their neighbours as some kind of incel defense mechanism...
-
Friday 4th December 2020 17:23 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: Second great commandment
IIRC, "Love thy neighbour" originally meant "Love other christians", and was only later reinterpreted to mean "Love everybody and especially the choir boys".
In any case. christianity, like so many other religions, has a long history of claiming to be all about peace and love whilst massacring people they define as heathens.
-
-
-
-
Monday 7th December 2020 19:05 GMT onemark03
The original was written in Koine Greek, not Aramaic
Yebbit while the original may have been written in Koine Greek, it was presumably (I am not a biblical expert) heard from or otherwise reported from Jesus Christ who spoke Aramaic.
Assuming he existed, of course, but that's another story.
-
Monday 7th December 2020 20:15 GMT jake
Re: The original was written in Koine Greek, not Aramaic
I rather suspect that while the author never actually knew his subject, he was reporting as accurately as he knew how. If he had meant "Christians" and not "Neighbors" he would have said so explicitly.
Yes, Jesus was probably brought up speaking Aramaic ... but he clearly could read and understand scripture, so he also spoke Hebrew like a native. And as was normal in the era (thanks to the exploits of Alexander the Great a few centuries earlier), he probably also knew Koine Greek quite well. And because he was a rabble-rouser, he probably knew enough Latin to get himself out of trouble with the Law.
There was no Internet (or TV, even!) back then. Presumably kids occupied themselves learning useful life-skills, instead of frittering away their childhood on anti-social media.
-
-
-
-
-
Friday 4th December 2020 18:00 GMT ibmalone
Re: Second great commandment
Fortunately you recall wrongly, actually asked and expanded on https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2010%3A25-37&version=NIV
36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
-
Saturday 5th December 2020 15:23 GMT Jonathan Richards 1
Re: Second great commandment
> originally meant "Love other christians"
A moment's thought will reveal the fallacy... because the quoted speaker was not a Christian. Repeat: Jesus of Nazareth was not a Christian. He was of course an observant and pious Jew, and maybe you could place him on the spectrum up to Jewish zealot (see all four gospels re. driving out moneylenders with whips, etc.)
So, IIRC, you wrote. YDNRC.
-
-
Friday 4th December 2020 20:36 GMT Plest
Re: Second great commandment
Since when did xenophobic, fanatic religious nuts ever bother stopping for just 2 secs to make sure they really understood the texts they claim guide them and their ilk?! They'd rather spend hours and tons of money ( usually buying guns! ) to argue over the colour of the cover their chosen holy book than actually learning anything useful from the texts and actually being useful members of society.
-
-
Saturday 5th December 2020 17:13 GMT Flocke Kroes
Re: Second great commandment
That is because destroying inanimate objects is a requirement: Exodus 23:24.
-
-
-
-
Friday 4th December 2020 19:28 GMT Mike 16
Re: Republic?
I suspect you haven't heard the news about how the new SCOTUS majority just ruled that things like the prohibition against establishment of religion and separation of church and state no longer applied, so that "Do what you want. it's not a crime if you claim to be a church" (as long as you claim to be a _Christian_ church) was Okey Dokey
-
Saturday 5th December 2020 21:05 GMT Muscleguy
Re: Republic?
Actually you just have to be a religion. Like the Temple of Satan (Temple note, not Church) a non congregationalist registered religion. Which means it gets all the rights and privileges of religions there. Like no tax status, like equal treatment under the law with the other religions.
Like after school atheism club is not allowed in many places. So afternoon Satan clubs happened instead and cannot be stopped (registered religion). They do reason and science there like they would in Atheism club but there’s marginally more black clothing and matte silver jewellery involved.
When some bible thumping state legislator wants to erect the 10 commandments or a cross on the courthouse lawn (state property, can’t do that) the CoS turns up with their large bronze statue of Maphomet and adoring children and insists on equal treatment under the law. The religious types back down sharpish.
it is both much quicker, cheaper and more effective than suing them. The lawyers aren’t pleased.
-
-
-
Friday 4th December 2020 21:42 GMT Getmo
Re: "Christ is king in this country"
Worse, "In God We Trust" wasn't added to the paper bills until 1956.
I don't hate the Christians, I'm not saying it's all their fault. But they did take what was supposed to be an "open" nation and turned it decidedly Christian. The whole "freedom of religion" bit actually ended up helping them out, by giving them a farcical ideal they can hold up in defense of their actions anytime someone accuses the Christians of pushing their own agendas into law.
-
Saturday 5th December 2020 01:30 GMT skeptical i
Re: "Christ is king in this country"
re: "freedom of religion" when the Christians push[] their own agendas into law.
Agreed. If Jews, Muslims, Pastafarians, et cetera tried to do the things some Christians try to do in the name of "religious freedom" there would be a whole new bunch of talk about this particular freedom.
-
-
Saturday 5th December 2020 20:24 GMT jake
Re: "Christ is king in this country"
Yeah, whatever. "The Pilgrim Fathers" never had any power in The United States Of America. However the Founding Fathers did. I think you'll find that the Constitution makes absolutely no mention of God or Christianity, and in fact states that “no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States”. Pretty definitive, no?
John Adams, the first Vice President of the US, wrote in the 1796 Treaty of Tripoli "The Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion".
There are many, many more examples. The US has become corrupted by Christianity, and the Founding Fathers are spinning.
-
Sunday 6th December 2020 11:57 GMT Jonjonz
Re: "Christ is king in this country"
The Founding Fathers also put some pretty strong language in the founding documents against corporate power, but thanks to Repubicans (propped up with idiot Christian anti-abortion dog whistle racists) we now have Citizens United which out to be renamed, "Full citizenship and personhood for Corporations including the right to bribe any government official legallly.
-
-
-
Saturday 5th December 2020 20:14 GMT jake
Re: "Christ is king in this country"
We're not all deluded ... in fact, the numbers of self-declared xtians has been dropping since the 50s. Last time I checked, over 25% of Americans claim no religious affiliation at all. Are things going this well in your country?
Note that I know many people who would claim "christian affiliation" if asked, but who have no actual affiliation with any church, and have never actually attended a service in adult-hood, nor are they ever likely to. If you take these people into account, I rather suspect the actual numbers are closer to 50% not affiliated with any religion. And rising.
-
-
-
Sunday 6th December 2020 09:58 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: "Christ is king in this country"
The religious fundamentalists have always been in denial about "separation of church and state" and insist that they "rule" and "founded" the US. They're delusional, of course, but delusional behaviour is just par for the course when dealing with American society.
-
-
Friday 4th December 2020 17:51 GMT Anonymous Coward
Video is still on his Twitter feed
...along with loads of racist memes, maga conspiracy posts, posts saying "RIP" to republicans who have conceeded the election, and all the other brain dead moronic things you could think of.
-
Friday 4th December 2020 18:35 GMT Mark 85
Re: Video is still on his Twitter feed
Many of these types have left Twitter for other sites that are more open to their madness. There's a rumor that the biggest one is actually an FBI site to track them, but who knows.
This whole last four years has been one of chaos, wild-ass accusations with basis no in fact, and over all stupidity and all stirred (not shaken) by the guy at the top.
A pretty sad state of affairs in these parts.
-
Friday 4th December 2020 23:59 GMT John Brown (no body)
Re: Video is still on his Twitter feed
"Many of these types have left Twitter for other sites that are more open to their madness. There's a rumor that the biggest one is actually an FBI site to track them, but who knows."
We should start rumours about these so-called "anonymous" twitter-a-like" social media whenever a nutjob is arrested claiming they were tracked and identified through their posts. They're already paranoid, so it can only help :-)
-
-
-
Friday 4th December 2020 18:17 GMT Howard Sway
We don't want illegal aliens from Mexico or outer space
Oh, is there a legal work visa scheme for outer space aliens then?
Consider this : if aliens from outer space were capable of travelling to this planet, what you want will be about as relevant to them as what a cow wants before it's taken away to be made into burgers.
-
Friday 4th December 2020 20:49 GMT Fruit and Nutcase
Re: We don't want illegal aliens from Mexico or outer space
Oh, is there a legal work visa scheme for outer space aliens then?
"There isn't, and I want all aliens working illegally rounded up and deported in the next space ship out*" - says the Home Secretary
*little does she realise that the Boris Space Force won't be sending anything up anytime soon
-
-
Saturday 5th December 2020 02:01 GMT jake
I don't think the "monuments" are related, nor are the removals.
The first one is a bit of private art. Why it was placed there, and what it means, is anyone's guess. A guy I know who leads off-road excursions for paying customers in the deserts of California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada and Utah tells me the Utah plinth was a loosely held secret, known to a few locals in the area for the last few years. The idiots who removed it are going to be given shit about it for the rest of their lives. From all accounts they won't care, they are used to people disliking them for being useless twats, and a hazard to others.
The wooden one in Europe was likewise a piece of art, and the morons who removed it will likely be persona non grata in the area indefinitely once exposed.
The Polish and California versions were copy-cats, crudely made, and hardly art ... but like the originals, the idiots who removed them are going to be pointed out and laughed at for being morons for the rest of their lives.
An interesting note about the California and Utah removals ... The installations were considered private property, and not abandoned. As such, the people who removed them are guilty of theft. I seriously doubt the California example was worth much (scrap value only), and probably only qualifies as petty theft, so the perps will only get their hands slapped (if that) ... However, the Utah version is an Internationally known bit of artwork, and is probably worth quite a bit more than just it's scrap value. As such, should the actual owner wish to place charges, the knob-ends who stole it could be up on charges of grand theft and/or accessory to grand theft[0]. We can but hope.
Finally, a proposal. It's time for a name change for the MAGA twats ... From here on out, I'll be expanding the acronym to Muppets Annoying Genuine Americans. I encourage all y'all to do the same.
[0] Before you poo-poo this, please note that I'm talking about the law in the US. Please take your jurisdiction into account before commenting.
-
Saturday 5th December 2020 09:44 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: I don't think the "monuments" are related, nor are the removals.
"The Polish and California versions were copy-cats, crudely made, and hardly art ... "
If Tracey Emin's unmade bed, a pile of bricks, and soiled nappies are considered genuine art, then your denigration of 'The Polish and California (sic) versions' is really just highfalutin snobbery. A bit like your very own private definition of what constitutes a 'genuine American' there in the so-called Land of the Free.
-
Saturday 5th December 2020 20:38 GMT jake
Re: I don't think the "monuments" are related, nor are the removals.
I agree that art is in the eye of the beholder. But I do not agree that some twat mimicking an existing work that is currently in the public eye, merely to bask in the original's shadow, is art.
Genuine Americans care about all of America, and all of the people who live here. The Muppets Annoying Genuine Americans (MAGA) clearly do not. I respect their right to be here, and for them to voice their opinions, just as I do everybody else ... but I reserve the right to point them out and laugh at them. And to vilify them when they attempt to take ANYTHING away from the rest of us. How dare they? Do they not respect Freedom of Speech? Are they un-American? (Answers on a postcard ... )
-
-
-
-
Saturday 5th December 2020 09:20 GMT Anonymous Coward
I don’t really have a problem with them being able to vote. Anything other than completely universal suffrage is a slippery slope. And even dribbling idiots have rights.
The key is making sure the democratic system they’re voting in, is properly representative and otherwise fit for purpose. So the nutcases don’t grab more than their fair share of power. Neither the UK nor the US systems are great examples of this.
-
-
Saturday 5th December 2020 17:11 GMT Anonymous Coward
I'm having trouble keeping track of the obelisk appearances/disappearances, but could it be that these obelisks are being recycled? That the obelisk placers and the video making obelisk takers are one and the same? If so eventually they will self-reveal and bask in the attention, or at least try to monetize it. The world of social media is ultra competitive, and fame is self-fulfilling. Memes are in the mind of the beholder. Clicks are money, and it takes money to pay the rent for a LA social media McMansion.
-
Saturday 5th December 2020 20:30 GMT skeptical i
re: "could it be that these obelisks are being recycled?"
I very much doubt this is the case, but your question reminds me of a red velvet couch that was schlepped to various tricky locations and photographed.
_CS Monitor_ 1984 article about the book about the travelling couch -- https://www.csmonitor.com/1984/1207/120702.html
_L.A. Times_ 2002 article on other "travelling things" art projects -- https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-mar-17-lv-prank17-story.html
-
-
Sunday 6th December 2020 09:57 GMT Anonymous Coward
Trump supporters never HAVE been the sharpest tools in America's shed. Witness the number of them still going on about how "Trump will win" despite having already LOST.
We'd be better off as a society as if those MAGA hats were used as grounds for locking up the worst examples of humanity in modern society.
-
Monday 7th December 2020 10:18 GMT codejunky
@msobkow
"Trump supporters never HAVE been the sharpest tools in America's shed. Witness the number of them still going on about how "Trump will win" despite having already LOST."
Not sure thats limited to Trump supporters. When he was elected we had years of Hillary won, not my president and russia conspiracy theories. Idjits are idjits whatever political group they support.
There was a funny spoof article I read summed up as- those complaining about the rigged election getting Trump elected are now certain the election is completely secure, and those who were certain the last election was completely secure are now certain it was rigged.
-
Monday 7th December 2020 11:41 GMT roytrubshaw
(Weird US electoral system)
"... number of them still going on about how "Trump will win" despite having already LOST."
<pedantry>
Strictly speaking the electoral college, that actually votes on who will be the next US president hasn't voted yet, so it's possible that "faithless" electors could vote for Trump.
The US Presidential Election is just a gigantic opinion poll and despite what the voters think, they are NOT voting for the next President.
</pendantry>
As you were folks!
-
-
Sunday 6th December 2020 12:17 GMT Celeste Reinard
Cretinism
As I stated with my last instalment in this commentary section about this subject, that was my egg. I didn't clarify however why I laid it there - an omission I feel necessitated to fix: my transdimensional baby had as its intended mission to root out just all this kind of cretinism... It looks like I will have to lay a few thousand more - from pole to pole.
-
-
-
Monday 7th December 2020 19:32 GMT onemark03
And it's gone
Yeah, but they found it again in a field in Sulzbach in Hessen (Germany).
See the back page of today's "Darmstädter Echo" (7 December 2020).
I looked for a link but couldn't find one. Sorry.
But if you want a copy of the report, give me your email address or fax number via El Reg.and I'll be happy to send you a copy of the report plus a translation - for a fee, of course.
(I'll see what I can do about mates' rates. I translate for a living.)
-