USCE Winter 2023: change thread titles constantly, almost on a daily basis

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > USCE Winter 2023: change thread titles constantly, almost on a daily basis

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nine-gear crow: Aug 10, 2013

Name Change posted:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/17/nyregion/santos-business-committee-space.html

Kevin McCarthy is so dumb it hurts. This is an own goal.

Might as well make Gaetz speaker.

I mean he already is in everything but name, isn't he?

# ? Jan 18, 2023 03:39

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? Jun 8, 2024 17:30

Data Graham: Dec 28, 2009; 📈📊🍪😋

Jaxyon posted:

Michael bay directed that

Also the radio announcer is Rob Paulsen, the voice actor of Pinky (of And the Brain)

# ? Jan 18, 2023 03:49

Ghost Leviathan: Mar 2, 2017; Exploration is ill-advised.

Absurd Alhazred posted:

The only model she's seen of power in New York politics is Cuomo, a guy who had everybody by their gonads and loving scared the poo poo out of them. So she's trying to pull a Cuomo, but guess what, she DOESN'T have anything on anybody and NOBODY's scared of her - if she were, Cuomo woudn't have let her anywhere near his cabinet.

Epic High Five posted:

My first instinct is to just assume this is the moderates feeling cornered after the IDC got blown up and now people are saying things like how they cost the party the House, but state politics is often far stupider and more venal than that so we'll see I guess.

At the very least, the question "Just how dedicated to putting conservatives into power no matter the cost ARE these idiots?" has an answer now

After having spent so long in that culture and modus operandi, doing blatant political favours to conservatives and punching left is literally all they know how to do. Maintaining what's left of their patronage networks is the only motivation they have at all. They aren't able to adjust to a media and political landscape that isn't eagerly covering for them.

# ? Jan 18, 2023 04:29

Kalit: Nov 6, 2006; The great thing about the thousands of slaughtered Palestinian children is that they can't pull away when you fondle them or sniff their hair.

That's a Biden success story.

Civilized Fishbot posted:

I feel like this is a sufficiently political current event: back in 2022, at Hamline University, a fairly obscure Minnesotan institution with a large Muslim student population, an adjunct professor of art history showed her students a picture of Muhammad. She warned students on the syllabus and during the lecture, and gave them every chance to look away, but one business major still beheld the hideous blasphemy and complained to the manager about it. The university immediately called the professor an Islamophobe and declined to renew her adjunct contract.

Here's one of many articles about it: https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/academic-freedom-questioned-after-image-of-prophet-muhammad-shown-in-hamline-university-art-class/

In my opinion, the students who are pissed shouldn't be pissed, but they're early 20-somethings who belong to a despised and targeted ethnic-religious cohort so it's easy to understand why they'd be so sensitive to any potential insult. It's the university's job to make the students feel heard while maintaining the professor's right to use whatever instructional materials are appropriate. They hosed up and I hope there are serious consequences because academic freedom is a right earned by and for laborers.

This original story is from pages ago, but figured a follow up might be of interest to those here.

First came a statement last week from the national branch of CAIR, which I don't think was posted. It's a strong rebuke of the CAIR-MN stance. I recommend reading the full statement here, but I'm just going to post the rebuke portion of it here:

quote:

As the national headquarters of our civil rights and advocacy organization, we normally do not comment on local issues that arise in states with an existing CAIR chapter. However, we must sometimes speak up to clarify where our entire organization stands on local issues with national implications.

This is one of those times.

We are publishing this statement in order to explain how CAIR identifies Islamophobia and how we respond to the display of visual depictions of the Prophet Muhammad (may peace be upon him). This statement represents the sole official position of CAIR. Any past comments that do not align with this statement do not reflect our organization's stance.

quote:

Although we strongly discourage showing visual depictions of the Prophet, professors who analyze ancient paintings for an academic purpose are not the same as Islamophobes who show such images to cause offense.

Based on what we know up to this point, we see no evidence that former Hamline University Adjunct Professor Erika L�pez Prater acted with Islamophobic intent or engaged in conduct that meets our definition of Islamophobia.

And it sounds like Hamline is quickly trying to backpedal their actions https://www.twincities.com/2023/01/17/adjunct-professor-sues-hamline-university-over-dismissal-amid-islamophobia-controversy/

quote:

In a joint statement Tuesday, President Miller and Board of Trustees Chairwoman Ellen Watters said the criticism of Hamline has �caused us to review and re-examine our actions.

�Hamline is a multi-cultural, multi-religious community that has been a leader in creating space for civil conversations. Like all organizations, sometimes we misstep,� the statement continued. �In the interest of hearing from and supporting our Muslim students, language was used that does not reflect our sentiments on academic freedom. Based on all that we have learned, we have determined that our usage of the term �Islamophobic� was therefore flawed. We strongly support academic freedom for all members of the Hamline community.�

Hamline also announced it will host �two major conversations� in the coming months concerning academic freedom, religion and student care.

�We have learned much from the many scholars, religious leaders and thinkers from around the world on the complexity of displaying images of the Prophet Muhammad,� Miller and Watters said. �We have come to more fully understand the differing opinions that exist on this matter within the Muslim community. And, we welcome the opportunity, along with our students and the broader community, to listen and learn more. We, like our higher education partners, want to do more to show that academic freedom and student support are both integral to the very fabric of who we are.�

This comes, of course, after a lawsuit is being brought up by the adjunct professor.

# ? Jan 18, 2023 04:51

Absurd Alhazred: Mar 27, 2010; by Athanatos

Kalit posted:

This original story is from pages ago, but figured a follow up might be of interest to those here.

First came a statement last week from the national branch of CAIR, which I don't think was posted. It's a strong rebuke of the CAIR-MN stance. I recommend reading the full statement here, but I'm just going to post the rebuke portion of it here:

And it sounds like Hamline is quickly trying to backpedal their actions https://www.twincities.com/2023/01/17/adjunct-professor-sues-hamline-university-over-dismissal-amid-islamophobia-controversy/

This comes, of course, after a lawsuit is being brought up by the adjunct professor.

The non-contingent faculty at the University of Minnesota Art History Department published a rebuttal:

quote:

The tenure-stream faculty of the Department of Art History at the University of Minnesota writes to address the recent non-renewal of adjunct instructor, Dr. Erika L�pez Prater, from her term appointment at Hamline University in Saint Paul, Minnesota. As has been widely reported, and especially well documented in a New York Times article of January 8, 2023, Dr. L�pez Prater showed a 14th-century manuscript painting depicting the Prophet Mohammad in her art history survey course, prompting student complaint and the subsequent cancellation of Dr. L�pez Prater�s spring semester course. This happened without the due process of formal investigation, without an opportunity for Dr. L�pez Prater to respond to the administration�s ill-informed and unfounded accusations, and without good-faith institutional investment in open dialogue or the restorative practices of communication and relational repair. The blame for the mishandling falls entirely to Hamline�s administration.

In response, we offer this unanimous statement from our position as tenure-stream faculty at the only PhD-granting institution in art history in the state of Minnesota and as faculty in a department that has long been proud to be a leader in the field of Islamic art. These distinctions overlap. We are uniquely positioned to serve and learn from Minnesota�s rich and diverse Islamic communities, which include students whom we know regularly negotiate an educational landscape often pitched against them. It is in view of all of this that we offer our strong support of Dr. L�pez Prater, an alumna of our graduate program who achieved her PhD in Art History from the University of Minnesota in 2019. We view her course at Hamline to uphold the standards and norms of our discipline and its changing, global canon. We also admire Dr. L�pez Prater�s thoughtful approach to teaching, as demonstrated by, among other things, her clear and sophisticated understanding that historical knowledge always intersects with contemporary circumstances and experiences.

As art historians, we believe that images and objects are unique sources of cultural information. Our job is to study them in their original and ongoing historical contexts -- contexts that we understand to be widely varied, overlapping, and dynamic. As art historians, we believe in the unique power of images and objects in social life. Our discipline treats that power with responsibility and respect. As educators, we are challenged to make past worlds alive and relevant to contemporary viewers, which we do through the conveyance of artworks, even when it means presenting cultural realities that are distinct from or even anathema to our own. Indeed, we study artworks from the past precisely because they were understood in their own time very unlike how viewers might apprehend them now. This is what makes them indispensable records of individual, cultural, and historical difference.

Dr. L�pez Prater�s course included a discussion of a medieval Persian painting, commissioned by the Il Khanid Prime Minister, Rashid al-Din for an illustrated manuscript known as Jami al-Tawarikh: Compendium of Histories. The Compendium itself is widely considered to be the first truly global written history, covering all time periods and religions of the known world. Illustrated copies were made in both Arabic and Persian, the main languages of the Muslim world at the time, and distributed widely to libraries. Rashid al-Din established a trust so that at least one copy would be made every year to ensure its longevity and spread. In other words, the book�s paintings had a wide audience in the 14th century, achieving something akin to what we might now call public domain. Illustrations from the Compendium, including the image at the center of the Hamline controversy, are considered masterpieces in Islamic art history, commonly taught in college and university courses, and reproduced in Yale University Press�s textbook, The Art and Architecture of Islam, by Sheila Blair and Jonathan Bloom, as well as in many other specialist publications.

Including the Jami al-Tawarikh illustration in a classroom lecture and displaying it at length allowed Dr. L�pez Prater to analyze its considerable formal merits, to explain the artistic and theological diversity of Islamic visual histories, to demonstrate their change over time and across cultural geographies, and indeed to present Islamic artistic and scholarly traditions as having always been central, not peripheral, to a global, cosmopolitan world. For all these reasons, we agree with the Muslim Public Affairs Council�s statement of January 9, 2023, which affirmed Dr. L�pez Prater�s lecture as useful to the effort �to combat narrow understandings of Islam� and so also �to combat Islamophobia� writ large. Such a perspective does not delegitimize student experience or obviate the need for sustained conversation when classroom harm and cultural offense occurs. It is this experience of active discussion, response, disagreement, and curiosity about alternative perspectives that we as art historians and college educators often enjoy most about our classrooms.

In its removal of Dr. L�pez Prater from its teaching roster, Hamline�s administration took an explicit stand against higher education�s longstanding tradition of instructional prerogative, compromising the freedom of college-level instructors to make individual selections and decisions in presenting expert knowledge of all stripes (factual, theoretical, interpretive, editorial). This prerogative goes by the term �academic freedom� and it is an extraordinary privilege. As faculty, we cherish this privilege as necessary to our scholarly enterprise and earned through our pursuit of scholarly inquiry, knowledge, and insight. We take the responsibility that comes with this privilege seriously, practicing it within the social contract of the university classroom and the responsive learning communities we seek to forge there. Academic freedom, too, is a privilege we fear is currently under threat, a precarity made worse specifically by the casualization of academic labor via the underpaid adjunct gig economy and the disposability of expertise in pursuit of rising revenues.

In response to Dr. L�pez Prater�s non-renewal, we speak strongly against Hamline�s intertwined attacks on academic freedom, on the integrity and dedication of faculty (especially those vulnerable to dismissal), and on the related enterprises of knowledge dissemination and debate. We strongly urge Hamline�s administrative leadership to examine critically its approach to this instance and its broader policies and procedures, not only regarding student complaints and controversies, but also with respect to hiring, training, setting expectations for, and listening to adjunct faculty.

At the University of Minnesota, all ten of us in the tenure-stream faculty of the Art History Department views the event as an opportunity for renewed attention to our practice as art history professors, which, necessarily, requires showing diverse and powerful images to diverse and dedicated student audiences, and to listening to the discussions that ensue when we do. Our goal is always to call our audiences into academic study through art -- not discourage them from it. We are in the process of planning activities for the coming calendar year, which will take the form of events convened both for the department�s immediate stakeholders and the wider community. In this way, we can continue the conversation and, we hope, demonstrate art history�s vital role in higher education, cultural competency, and contemporary life.

Sincerely,

The Tenure-Stream Faculty of the UMN Department of Art History
Dr. Jane Blocker, Professor
Dr. Emily Ruth Capper, Assistant Professor
Dr. Sinem Casale, Assistant Professor
Dr. Michael Gaudio, Professor
Dr. Daniel Greenberg, Assistant Professor
Dr. Laura Kalba, Associate Professor
Dr. Jennifer Jane Marshall, Professor & Chair
Dr. Steven Ostrow, Professor
Dr. Anna Lise Seastrand, Assistant Professor
Dr. Robert Silberman, Associate Professor

Co-signed by Dr. Catherine Asher, Emerita Professor, in her capacity as an expert in Islamic art.

# ? Jan 18, 2023 05:02

Dapper_Swindler: Feb 14, 2012; Im glad my instant dislike in you has been validated again and again.

Name Change posted:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/17/nyregion/santos-business-committee-space.html

Kevin McCarthy is so dumb it hurts. This is an own goal.

Might as well make Gaetz speaker.

https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1615526197126959105
https://twitter.com/MarisaKabas/status/1615494258173034497
yeah, i am curious to see how they spin this one.

# ? Jan 18, 2023 05:02

Gumball Gumption: Jan 7, 2012

Jaxyon posted:

Again my point is that people say dumb poo poo about his musicals because they're mad about the politics of hamilton.

In the Heights isn't better, Hamilton is really well put together, too bad it tries to rehab a shitlord

encanto is real good too

4 really good songs is better than most musicals

Cats has one and it's ran for decades

Nah, it's better. I think people are allowed to not like something for reasons that don't secretly mean whatever you think it means. Not really a dark mark on the soul.

# ? Jan 18, 2023 05:04

Star Man: Jun 1, 2008; There's a star maaaaaan
Over the rainbow

-Blackadder- posted:

This is just them trolling us at this point.

Like Wyoming proposing a bill to ban electric cars by 2035.
https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1615393404052963343

It died in committee

# ? Jan 18, 2023 05:26

Timby: Dec 23, 2006; Your mother!

The House is considering moving to impeach Alejandro Mayorkas over Homeland Security's management of the southern border.

quote:

Senior House Republicans are moving swiftly to build a case against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas as they strongly weigh launching rare impeachment proceedings against a Cabinet secretary, a plan that could generate sharp backlash from GOP moderates.

Key committee chairmen are already preparing to hold hearings on the problems at the southern border, which Republicans say could serve as a prelude to an impeachment inquiry against Mayorkas. Three House committees � Oversight, Homeland Security and Judiciary � will soon hold hearings about the influx of migrants and security concerns at the border.

The House Judiciary Committee, which would have jurisdiction over an impeachment resolution, is prepared to move ahead with formal proceedings if there appears to be a consensus within the GOP conference, according to a GOP source directly familiar with the matter. The first impeachment resolution introduced by House Republicans already has picked up support, including from a member of the GOP leadership team.

A GOP source said the first Judiciary Committee hearing on the border could come later this month or early February.

One top chairman is already sounding supportive of the move, a sign of how the idea of impeaching President Joe Biden�s Cabinet secretary has moved from the fringes to the mainstream of the conference.

�If anybody is a prime candidate for impeachment in this town, it�s Mayorkas,� Rep. James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, told CNN.

It�s exceedingly rare for a Cabinet secretary to be impeached, something that has only happened once in US history � when William Belknap, the secretary of war, was impeached by the House before being acquitted by the Senate in 1876. Yet it�s a very real possibility now after Kevin McCarthy � as he was pushing for the votes to win the speakership � called on Mayorkas to resign or face potential impeachment proceedings.

...

During the first working week of their new majority, Rep. Pat Fallon, a Texas Republican, introduced articles of impeachment for Mayorkas over problems at the southern border, and Rep. Andy Biggs, a hard-right Arizona Republican, vowed to re-introduce a similar resolution in the coming weeks, which could serve as a template for eventual impeachment proceedings.

Fallon�s resolution says Mayorkas has �undermined the operational control of our southern border and encouraged illegal immigration,� also contending he lied to Congress that the border was secure.

Democrats say Republicans are threatening to impeach Mayorkas for pure political reasons, and say policy disputes hardly rise to the level of �high crimes and misdemeanors.�

Well, that certainly didn't take long.

# ? Jan 18, 2023 05:49

Main Paineframe: Oct 27, 2010

Kalit posted:

This original story is from pages ago, but figured a follow up might be of interest to those here.

First came a statement last week from the national branch of CAIR, which I don't think was posted. It's a strong rebuke of the CAIR-MN stance. I recommend reading the full statement here, but I'm just going to post the rebuke portion of it here:

And it sounds like Hamline is quickly trying to backpedal their actions https://www.twincities.com/2023/01/17/adjunct-professor-sues-hamline-university-over-dismissal-amid-islamophobia-controversy/

This comes, of course, after a lawsuit is being brought up by the adjunct professor.

So far, it looks like Hamline is just backpedaling their words (calling her an Islamophobe), but not their actions (canceling her contract). So the lawsuit will likely continue, at least for now.

# ? Jan 18, 2023 06:32

-Blackadder-: Jan 2, 2007; Game....Blouses.

Star Man posted:

It died in committee

Yeah, that was by design.

"Wapo posted:

But state Sen. Jim Anderson, who introduced the bill, said he doesn�t actually want electric vehicle sales to be phased out, though the resolution pushes the legislature to seek just that.
...
Whereas California�s law would �force� people to buy electric cars, Anderson said, his bill was �just a resolution saying, �We don�t like your bill that you did.��

They proposed it to express their dissatisfaction with the California bill.

# ? Jan 18, 2023 06:39

Star Man: Jun 1, 2008; There's a star maaaaaan
Over the rainbow

-Blackadder- posted:

Yeah, that was by design.

They proposed it to express their dissatisfaction with the California bill.

poo poo's just been in disarray since coal went tits up. From trying to sue other states for not buying coal and trying to ban alternative energy.

Meanwhile, there's lots of uranium in the ground in the central part of the state (my mom even worked at the uranium mine in the early eighties before it shut down and went to the coal mine) ripe for the taking, but lol if that ever happens.

# ? Jan 18, 2023 06:44

Kalit: Nov 6, 2006; The great thing about the thousands of slaughtered Palestinian children is that they can't pull away when you fondle them or sniff their hair.

That's a Biden success story.

Main Paineframe posted:

So far, it looks like Hamline is just backpedaling their words (calling her an Islamophobe), but not their actions (canceling her contract). So the lawsuit will likely continue, at least for now.

As a reminder, she's an adjunct professor, so Hamline didn't need to cancel anything. They just didn't sign her for a position in the spring semester. While smearing her name/how she taught, which is the reason for the lawsuit.

And based on the wording of President Miller, I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't try to offer her an adjunct professor position again for the spring semester. Granted, she already accepted an offer to teach at Macalester...

# ? Jan 18, 2023 06:51

Discendo Vox: Mar 21, 2013; This does not make sense when, again, aggregate indicia also indicate improvements. The belief that things are worse is false. It remains false.

Absurd Alhazred posted:

The non-contingent faculty at the University of Minnesota Art History Department published a rebuttal:

jfc they did that to one of their own graduate students? I can imagine why the entire department faculty would be furious. This coupled with the explicit CAIR response makes me even more interested in what drove the initial setup.

edit: CAIR-MN is using it to harvest marketing lists. Interestingly, their staff page has gone down in the period since the press conference, as the rest of the site is still online.

Discendo Vox fucked around with this message at 07:08 on Jan 18, 2023

# ? Jan 18, 2023 06:58

Kalit: Nov 6, 2006; The great thing about the thousands of slaughtered Palestinian children is that they can't pull away when you fondle them or sniff their hair.

That's a Biden success story.

Discendo Vox posted:

jfc they did that to one of their own graduate students? I can imagine why the entire department faculty would be furious. This coupled with the explicit CAIR response makes me even more interested in what drove the initial setup.

edit: CAIR-MN is using it to harvest marketing lists. Interestingly, their staff page has gone down in the period since the press conference, as the rest of the site is still online.

And still no statement from CAIR-MN on Hamline since that CAIR statement, on either their website or social media. This definitely makes me think less of my state's chapter of them...

# ? Jan 18, 2023 07:12

Oracle: Oct 9, 2004

James Garfield posted:

https://mobile.twitter.com/MarisaKabas/status/1615494258173034497

maybe the civil war hero astronaut who invented the wheel is bad

You laugh but this might actually be outrageous enough to get people to say enough is enough. You don�t mess with America�s dogs.

# ? Jan 18, 2023 07:21

pencilhands: Aug 20, 2022

Does anyone know what mental illness causes compulsive/pathological lying of this type?

(USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)

# ? Jan 18, 2023 09:02

Jaxyon: Mar 7, 2016; I’m just saying I would like to see a man beat a woman in a cage. Just to be sure.

Gumball Gumption posted:

Nah, it's better. I think people are allowed to not like something for reasons that don't secretly mean whatever you think it means. Not really a dark mark on the soul.

People are allowed to dislike whatever for any reason but also I'm allowed to point out that a lot of people have really dumb takes on Hamilton that make it clear it's about their anger at libs rather than the musicality or anything else.

vvv sounds like you need some more musicals in your life

(USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)

Jaxyon fucked around with this message at 09:34 on Jan 18, 2023

# ? Jan 18, 2023 09:22

mawarannahr: May 21, 2019

Jaxyon posted:

People are allowed to dislike whatever for any reason but also I'm allowed to point out that a lot of people have really dumb takes on Hamilton that make it clear it's about their anger at libs rather than the musicality or anything else.

Holy poo poo poo poo the gently caress up about some old loving musical and get to some current event. It�s really boring to read and unfalsifiable, so you�re explicitly not allowed.

If there�s going to be a derail let it be about how the Dems suck and not this garbage.

(USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)

# ? Jan 18, 2023 09:31

GoutPatrol: Oct 17, 2009; *Stupid Babby*

I declare Hamilton chat officially over. Please something else to complain about today, I'm sure something will show itself soon.

# ? Jan 18, 2023 10:36

SpeakSlow: May 17, 2004; by Fluffdaddy

So, was there a forums-led run on uranium futures a few years back, or is this just a bunch of "my state" pork chat? Nukeclear chat is tres pops round here, is all.

# ? Jan 18, 2023 13:13

Bellmaker: Oct 18, 2008; Chapter DOOF

https://twitter.com/Suntimes/status/1615490148854124546

Someone threw a Molotov cocktail into an abortion clinic yesterday in Illinois (which just passed some legislation to protect out-of-state folks showing up to get an abortion).

Nobody was hurt thankfully.

# ? Jan 18, 2023 14:38

Oracle: Oct 9, 2004

Bellmaker posted:

https://twitter.com/Suntimes/status/1615490148854124546

Someone threw a Molotov cocktail into an abortion clinic yesterday in Illinois (which just passed some legislation to protect out-of-state folks showing up to get an abortion).

Nobody was hurt thankfully.

That clinic didn�t even perform abortions though you could get the pills there. loving Illinois Nazis. Pritzker also needs to fire all the sheriffs that refuse to enforce the laws.

# ? Jan 18, 2023 14:41

Leon Trotsky 2012: Aug 27, 2009; YOU CAN TRUST ME!*

_{*Israeli Government-affiliated poster}

Oracle posted:

You laugh but this might actually be outrageous enough to get people to say enough is enough. You don�t mess with America�s dogs.

It's even worse than the headline implies.

They tracked down the disabled veteran who owned the dog that Santos scammed the money from (who eventually died).

https://twitter.com/JonLemire/status/1615512329541533701

quote:

Disabled Veteran: George Santos Took $3K From Dying Dog's GoFundMe

Two New Jersey veterans say George Santos promised to raise funds for a lifesaving surgery for a service dog � then disappeared.

QUEENS, NY � In May 2016, Richard Osthoff was living in a tent in an abandoned chicken coop on the side of Route 9 in Howell, New Jersey, with his beloved service dog Sapphire. A veteran's charity gave the pit mix to Osthoff, a disabled veteran who was honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy in 2002, he told Patch.

When Sapphire developed a life-threatening stomach tumor, Osthoff, now 47, learned the surgery would cost $3,000. A veterinary technician took Osthoff aside and told him, "'I know a guy who runs a pet charity who can help you,'" Osthoff recounted.

His name was Anthony Devolder, and his pet charity was called Friends of Pets United, the vet tech told him.

Anthony Devolder is one of the names that Long Island Rep. George Santos used for years before entering politics in 2020. Santos faces multiple criminal investigations after reports surfaced that he fabricated much of his resume during his congressional campaign. Many Democratic and Republican lawmakers on Long Island are calling for him to resign.

Osthoff and another New Jersey veteran, retired police Sgt. Michael Boll, who tried to intervene to help Osthoff in 2016, told Patch that Santos closed the GoFundMe he set up for Sapphire after it raised $3,000 on social media and disappeared.

Sapphire died Jan. 15, 2017. After being out of work with a broken leg for over a year, Osthoff couldn't afford the dog's euthanasia and cremation, he said.

"I had to panhandle. It was one of the most degrading things I ever had to do," he remembered.

Boll is a retired Marine Corps veteran and Union Township police sergeant involved in veteran outreach. In 2017, he founded the nonprofit NJ Veterans Network. He was an acquaintance of the vet tech, and knew Osthoff through his outreach work � he also shared Sapphire's GoFundMe page � so when he heard what happened, he tried to mediate, he told Patch.

"I contacted [Santos] and told him 'You're messing with a veteran,' and that he needed to give back the money or use it to get Osthoff another dog," he said.

"He was totally uncooperative on the phone."

Santos told Osthoff and Boll that he planned to use the money to help other animals, Osthoff said. Boll told him that he couldn't do that because the money was raised specifically for Osthoff, and his service dog.

On the GoFundMe page Santos set up for Osthoff, he wrote "Dear all, When a veteran reaches out to ask for help, how can you say no [...]." The GoFundMe was later deleted, and an Internet archive website doesn't have a record of it.

After Santos set up the GoFundMe page in early May 2016, he became hard to contact, Osthoff said.

"I only talked to him two or three times on the phone," Osthoff said, guessing that over half of the donations came from people he knew. On June 30, 2016, he posted on Facebook: "We made the goal, and then some."

But Osthoff's excitement changed to confusion, when instead of scheduling the procedure, Santos told him that Osthoff couldn't use the NJ practice, and instead insisted he bring Sapphire to a veterinarian in Queens, New York.

In August, the vet tech drove Osthoff and Sapphire to that veterinary practice in Queens because Santos told him he had "credit" with the practice from regularly using it so often for his charity.

"It was a tiny little hole in the wall place, but looked legitimate. The vet there said they couldn't operate on the tumor," Osthoff said, adding that he was confused because the New Jersey vet didn't express any similar concerns.

After that, Osthoff said Santos became elusive. In November, Osthoff texted him, "I'm starting to feel like I was mined for my family and friends donations."

He had one final phone conversation with Santos, who said that because Osthoff "didn't do things my way," he put the GoFundMe money from Sapphire's fundraiser into the charity to use "for other dogs."

On Nov. 13, 2016, in texts Osthoff showed Patch, he urged Santos to let him take Sapphire to another vet, saying "My dog is going to die because of god knows what."

Santos replied, "Remember it is our credibility that got GoFundme [...] to contribute. We are audited like every 501c3 and we are with the highest standards of integrity."

"Sapphire is not a candidate for this surgery the funds are moved to the next animal in need and we will make sure we use of resources [sic] to keep her comfortable!"

Santos said in a text message he would take Sapphire for an ultrasound, but Osthoff couldn't come, and it couldn't be done at the New Jersey office recommended by the Howell veterinarian because they wouldn't accept his organization's funding method. Osthoff doesn't know exactly what funding method Santos was referring to.

"And your [sic] not coming for the ride FOPU will handle this from now on only with the animal! We do not drive people around nor do we give them rides we transports animals in need not needy owners," Santos texted Osthoff.

In December, The New York Times reported that the charity was not a registered nonprofit.

After that conversation, "he wouldn't pick up the phone," Osthoff said, and the GoFundMe was gone. He tried to reach out to GoFundMe, but didn't get a response, he said.

In 2016, GoFundMe had less resources available to handle fraudulent fundraisers, Boll explained.

"I told Rich to go to the police, but we had limited information [about Santos]," he said.

Osthoff told Patch he was preoccupied with finding a place to live at the time, and planned to involve the police or hire an attorney after he found a home, but "as time went on, I guess I stopped thinking about it."

Boll said that "luckily [Osthoff] was able to get a new service dog right away."

The vet tech didn't reply to a request for comment. Emails to Santos and his attorney about Osthoff's claims were not returned.

The full details of the charity's activities are not known. Santos created a Facebook group for the charity around 2015, where group members shared images of dogs who needed foster homes or donations. The Facebook group was archived around 2020, according to Barbara Hurdas, who met Santos when she worked with him at a Dish Network call center in Queens in 2011, and remembered him starting FOPU and sharing it on social media after he left Dish in 2012. Facebook groups cannot be deleted, but an archived group becomes inaccessible to anyone besides its members, and Hurdas reported that the name of the group was changed to "The End."

Santos also posted GoFundMe fundraisers for dogs needing medical care on his now-deleted personal Facebook page, mostly toy breeds with stories of medical issues, Hurdas said.

When Osthoff and Boll saw Santos on television in December 2022 after the scandal around his admitted resume fabrications broke, they called each other, shocked to see the Anthony Devolder who took the fundraiser money years ago.

"I really felt bad for Rich [in 2016]," Boll told Patch.

"He has PTSD, and this dog is his lifeline. When I first heard about it, I thought, this is going to kill him."

Osthoff told Patch he was "crying his eyes out remembering Sapphire's last day."

"Little girl never left my side in 10 years. I went through two bouts of seriously considering suicide, but thinking about leaving her without me saved my life. I loved that dog so much, I inhaled her last breaths when I had her euthanized."

# ? Jan 18, 2023 15:04

Meatball: Mar 2, 2003; That's a Spicy Meatball; Pillbug

Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:

It's even worse than the headline implies.

They tracked down the disabled veteran who owned the dog that Santos scammed the money from (who eventually died).

https://twitter.com/JonLemire/status/1615512329541533701

Jesus loving christ.

There are sociopaths with more empathy than this guy.

# ? Jan 18, 2023 15:25

Twibbit: Mar 7, 2013; Is your refrigerator running?

"Then I stole $3k from him like a dog"

# ? Jan 18, 2023 15:35

World Famous W: May 25, 2007; BAAAAAAAAAAAA

lol, if that doesn't turn everyone against him than nothing will

# ? Jan 18, 2023 15:35

DarkCrawler: Apr 6, 2009; by vyelkin

He's going to be the GOP Presidential candidate inside a decade at this rate

# ? Jan 18, 2023 15:45

Gyges: Aug 4, 2004; NOW NO ONE
RECOGNIZE HULK

nine-gear crow posted:

I mean he already is in everything but name, isn't he?

As per Biblical scholarship, the Republican Speakership is now based on a novel interpretation of Matthew 18:20. Any meeting of 2 or 3 Republicans is the Speaker.

# ? Jan 18, 2023 15:52

bird food bathtub: Aug 9, 2003; College Slice

World Famous W posted:

lol, if that doesn't turn everyone against him than nothing will

So you're counting on Republicans to have shame? Yeah good luck with that. We'll be hearing on FOX how the dog was no angel and probably smoked weed on Facebook before that happens.

# ? Jan 18, 2023 15:59

Oxyclean: Sep 23, 2007

James Garfield posted:

https://mobile.twitter.com/MarisaKabas/status/1615494258173034497

maybe the civil war hero astronaut who invented the wheel is bad

I don't believe in the death penalty but...

(USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)

# ? Jan 18, 2023 16:08

FLIPADELPHIA: Apr 27, 2007; Heavy Shit; Grimey Drawer

Republicans believe that having an abortion is the same as going to a hospital and beating a newborn to death, yet they regularly nominate and vocally support men who have paid for abortions and coerced/pressured women into having them.

They don't give a single poo poo about a man stealing money from a disabled vet. They are fascists.

# ? Jan 18, 2023 16:20

Fister Roboto: Feb 21, 2008

Seriously, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, how the gently caress did none of this come up before the election?

# ? Jan 18, 2023 16:22

Xombie: May 22, 2004; Soul Thrashing
Black Sorcery

Fister Roboto posted:

Seriously, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, how the gently caress did none of this come up before the election?

Every two years there are 435 US House seat elections across the country. Some of them simply fly under the radar. This was especially true in New York last year, when the NY Dems loving up their gerrymander meant that they were defending more seats than usual.

Add to that fact that "grifter just looking to get insider trading information" is not the exception to GOP House candidates, it's the rule. Simply being sketchy and not interested in governing doesn't make someone stand out anymore in the slate of candidates.

Xombie fucked around with this message at 16:39 on Jan 18, 2023

# ? Jan 18, 2023 16:31

Staluigi: Jun 22, 2021

James Garfield posted:

https://mobile.twitter.com/MarisaKabas/status/1615494258173034497

maybe the civil war hero astronaut who invented the wheel is bad

He writes like every loving text scam I get from overseas. We are reputable organizations, please to remembering highest standards of integrity. We are audited by united States department of integrity and have a hundred percents integrity scores. (Steals from disabled vet)

# ? Jan 18, 2023 16:36

Paracaidas: Sep 24, 2016; Consistently Tedious!

Bellmaker posted:

https://twitter.com/Suntimes/status/1615490148854124546

Someone threw a Molotov cocktail into an abortion clinic yesterday in Illinois (which just passed some legislation to protect out-of-state folks showing up to get an abortion).

Nobody was hurt thankfully.

White Rabbit Militia has been operating out of Illinois for a while and the MO seems similar to Hari's attack on a Minnesota mosque. Not sure what happened to the rest of the org when the Feds scooped up Hari and did some conspirators.

# ? Jan 18, 2023 16:39

Fister Roboto: Feb 21, 2008

Xombie posted:

Every two years there are 435 US House seat elections across the country. Some of them simply fly under the radar. This was especially true in New York last year, when the NY Dems loving up their gerrymander meant that they were defending more seats than usual.

Add to that fact that "grifter just looking to get insider trading information" is not the exception to GOP House candidates, it's the rule. Simply being sketchy and not interested in governing doesn't make someone stand out anymore in the slate of candidates.

This didn't simply "fly under the radar". The radar operators were asleep at the job to not pick up on even a hint of this. This is such a massive fuckup that you can't just brush it off as "oh whoopsy, I guess we just didn't notice :shobon:

# ? Jan 18, 2023 16:49

projecthalaxy: Dec 27, 2008; Yes hello it is I Kurt's Secret Son

Fister Roboto posted:

This didn't simply "fly under the radar". The radar operators were asleep at the job to not pick up on even a hint of this. This is such a massive fuckup that you can't just brush it off as "oh whoopsy, I guess we just didn't notice "

It's fine, Santos was probably elected in some deep red backwater like Mississippi or something where the state Democratic party was too weak and underfunded to even the most basic oppo and stuff. Couldn't have been helped.

# ? Jan 18, 2023 16:56

Epic High Five: Jun 5, 2004

It's hard to get too mad because I genuinely believe if all this stuff had been dug up properly it either would've been sat on or wouldnt have stopped him from getting elected. People will overlook anything if they feel the candidate represents them ideologically. Ultimately that's all that matters when you are thinking about who should represent you. Its Congress after all, it's not like being a huge piece of poo poo and liar is going to get them booted or impede their career.

# ? Jan 18, 2023 17:20

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? Jun 8, 2024 17:30

Gerund: Sep 12, 2007; He push a man

Fister Roboto posted:

This didn't simply "fly under the radar". The radar operators were asleep at the job to not pick up on even a hint of this. This is such a massive fuckup that you can't just brush it off as "oh whoopsy, I guess we just didn't notice "

NY Dems were very dumb in 2022 and not attempting to learn anything for the future now in 2023. If they wanted to be good at elections they would be working to do that rather than shoving through conservative judges because they pinky swore to backscratch for the governor.

# ? Jan 18, 2023 17:25

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > USCE Winter 2023: change thread titles constantly, almost on a daily basis

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