ICE Operating as 'President's Personal Militia' While Spotify Hides Algorithmic Tricks
Federal enforcement actions, specifically ICE, are being dissected for their operational scope, with some characterizing their power as exceeding standard police authority. Meanwhile, discussions about music streaming confirm that 'shuffle' features lack genuine randomness, constrained by proprietary algorithms.
Regarding ICE, contributors like MagnificentSteiner argue that labeling them 'masked thugs' strips them of any legal veneer. Mastertigurius suggests terminology like 'paramilitary secret police' for accuracy. TheSlad emphasizes that ICE functions like a 'personal militia' bypassing local protocol. A separate debate focused on the semantics of derogatory labeling, with cabbage pushing back against overly cautious language based on historical precedent.
The discourse settles on two firm groundings: one acknowledging the sweeping, nearly unaccountable federal authority cited by TheSlad, and the other accepting the consensus that streaming platform randomness is predictable mimicry, not mathematical chance. The core fault lines exist between accepting the official definition of power versus adopting more inflammatory, descriptive terms.
Key Points
ICE possesses federal authority that operates outside traditional local policing constraints.
TheSlad characterized ICE as functioning like a 'personal militia' with near impunity.
The term used to describe ICE should avoid racial connotations.
cabbage argues that historical examples validate the term 'thugs,' while others debate semantic accuracy.
Spotify's music 'shuffle' is demonstrably non-random.
h0rnman and BallShapedMan noted the feature's propensity for repetition or favoring limited subsets of songs.
Labeling ICE as such strips away government legitimacy.
MagnificentSteiner stated that calling them 'masked thugs' de-legitimizes their status.
Official critique suggests comparing ICE to historical state apparatuses for precision.
mastertigurius proposed 'paramilitary secret police' as a more precise, less debatable term.
Source Discussions (3)
This report was synthesized from the following Lemmy discussions, ranked by community score.