११ एप्रिल, २०१६

The Princeton police are investigating that "Jews vs. Nazis" beer pong game.

A teenaged blogger was "confused" by the photo she saw on SnapChat of her high-school classmates playing a game with cups arranged as a swastika and and a Star of David.

Think of that what you will — transgressively funny, stupid, hateful. But why are the authorities involved?!
The Princeton police are investigating. The staff at the high school, which has 1,640 students, is meeting with the game’s players as well as student leaders. The Board of Education issued a statement saying, “Princeton Public Schools does not tolerate prejudices of any kind.”
The link goes to the NYT, which features a pleasing photo of the teenaged blogger, Jamaica Ponder. (Nice name!) I have no problem with her. I just don't know why a party game with sides named after historic adversaries is any business of the police. The NYT — which omits the comments section on this one — casually mentions the police. It gives readers no cue to notice the huge free-speech problem.

How many games have 2 sides like that? I wonder what would happen today if children played cowboys and Indians (as we did back in the 1950s)? I assume there are many video games in which Jews fight Nazis.

Doing my own research, I see that the "Jews vs. Nazis" game didn't originate with these Princeton students. It's been around among high school students for a while.

११३ टिप्पण्या:

Ignorance is Bliss म्हणाले...

I wonder what would happen today if children played cowboys and Indians (as we did back in the 1950s)?

We used to play cops and robbers.

Maybe now they could play cops and free-speakers.

Ignorance is Bliss म्हणाले...

But why are the authorities involved?!

If it was actually beer pong, and the people playing were teenagers, then they could be looking at the underage drinking angle of it.

Sebastian म्हणाले...

"It gives readers no cue to notice the huge free-speech problem." Free speech? What free speech? You think kids can just play offensive games in private with no police involvement? But active liberty under a living constitution requires appropriate adult supervision to protect the U.S. as a safe space.

MayBee म्हणाले...

Interesting question about Cowboys v Indians. The 1950's were 60 years after the last US Govt/Native American war. And we are now 70 years past the Nazis.

bleh म्हणाले...

It's usually illegal for high school kids to drink beer.

Bob Ellison म्हणाले...

The blogger said, "Doing my own research, I see that the "Jews vs. Nazis" game didn't originate with these Princeton students. It's been around among high school students for a while."

No, really? There's a Metapedia article on it that goes back to 2012.

No, not really.

If you search Jews v. Muslums or almost any other group, you get a lot more links. This search turns up the dumb story to which you linked, first.

Michael K म्हणाले...

How about "cops and black lives matter ?"

The floggings will continue until morale improves.

Ron Winkleheimer म्हणाले...

I remember reading Crime and Punishment and being flabbergasted when one of the characters threatens to inform the police that another character was insulting him so he could be prosecuted. That's not something that could ever happen in America I thought to myself.

I was an idiot.

I Have Misplaced My Pants म्हणाले...

WOW! I have so much to say about this!

“I didn’t understand how people who go to my school, which I consider to be open and accepting, could engage in such heinous activity,” Ms. Ponder, a junior, said in an interview on Sunday. “I knew these kids. We go to the same parties; we’re in the same leadership groups. I was appalled.”

Oh yeah? Well I'm appalled by your big giant brass balls, young lady. Who on earth do you think you are to police the behavior of others?

“Princeton Public Schools does not tolerate prejudices of any kind.”

Again: big giant brass balls. Who died and made Princeton Public Schools the boss of what anyone thinks?

Most believe the game was wrong, she said, but many also say that Ms. Ponder should have blurred the players’ faces in the photo, or tried to handle it within the school, rather than on a public blog.

Or how's about: minded her own damn business. It was private behavior engaged in by others and it had nothing to do with her.

“Putting the picture on social media means that someone was proud enough of the game to want to show it off,” she wrote in her blog post. “Meaning that they must be trapped in the delusional mindset that making a drinking game based off of the Holocaust is cool. Or funny. Or anything besides insane. Because that’s what this is: insanity.”

Tough shit. People do things all the time that I don't like, and you don't like, and that guy over there doesn't like. Learn to live with it. Didn't your parents tell you that you can't control other people? No one has any obligation to care about your notion of "insanity."

But the high school boys who crowded into a Princeton basement for the game included Jewish students, according to Ms. Ponder, who said they helped set it up but did not participate.

I suspected as much. Of course the kids who find it the funniest are Jewish. Duh.

“An incident such as this one,” he said, “forces us to take a hard look at our efforts in educating our children in the values that may be most important to their success in life.”

No it doesn't. Are they your personal children, sprung from your loins? If so, talk to them however you feel you must. Otherwise, mind your own fucking business. Unless you are being sly and commenting that "success in life" means "not engaging in any behavior, public or private, that some SJW might find out about, and if she does find out about it, bend over and spread 'em." In which case, yes, sadly that may be required for "success in life."

“I completely reject the notion that this should be excused by the notion ‘Boys will be boys,’ or ‘This is teenagers being stupid,’” she said on Sunday. “This didn’t pop up overnight. Their privilege is blinding them to the problem at hand. They are student leaders. By acting this way, not only are they hurting the school, they are hurting the community.”

Your complaints are long on thought policing and mission creep and short on demonstrating on how this actually hurt someone. If you have an argument to make along those lines, make it. Otherwise, stop assuming everyone agrees with you that it's a Terrible Wound that someone, somewhere recreated in a fashion you did not approve of.

Levi Starks म्हणाले...

A game like this could be seen as prejudicial to Nazis it must be banned.

HoodlumDoodlum म्हणाले...

From her blog post: Right off of Snapchat in a harrowingly recognizable basement, with our classmates front and center.

Harrowingly recognizable; that's a new one.

Bay Area Guy म्हणाले...

Screw the Princeton Police.

Ron Winkleheimer म्हणाले...

Their privilege is blinding them to the problem at hand.

They should be made to wear a large letter A on their shirt so everyone can know they are asshats. Also, they should be required to ring a bell everywhere they go and state in a loud, clear voice, "unclean, unclean." Finally, they should be branded on there foreheads with the letter "O" so that everyone will know they are outlaws who may be killed or otherwise dealt with by anyone with impunity.

rhhardin म्हणाले...

cowboys and Indians

Cowbogenous and indigenous peoples.

sean म्हणाले...

The police regulate the free speech of high school students all the time. Why is Prof. Althouse suddenly shocked by that?

Remember when those high school students were arrested because they had written on their various yearbook pages kill/all/ni/gg/ers?

Dude1394 म्हणाले...

It is really pathetic. I was trying to purchase a small gift for my grandkids and saw a set of cowboy and indian small action figures. The ones we used to play with in the sandbox and around the house for hours with.

But I had to put on my *** dang PC cap and think whether the parents of the grandchildren would approve. Good grief.

So I went with ninjas and pirates. It seems those are the PC replacements. Except Ninjas are asian?? Oh well...I guess they will be outlawed soon.

There is probably a reason that SciFi is so popular, it is the only place you can have a bad guy.

Quaestor म्हणाले...

So what are the Princeton police going to do with their investigation, threaten the pong players with unspecified dire consequences? (Why is it called pong? Methinks the game is a breed of bowls.)

Nazis vs Jews? That's just a minor amusement for drunks on their way to more profound drunkenness. What's newsworthy here is Nazis vs Citizens.

TreeJoe म्हणाले...

I'm sorry, but wouldn't this game only be prejudicial if the side representing the Nazi's won the beer pong game? I mean, if the Jewish side wins, then it's just a historical metaphor and celebration.

Quaestor म्हणाले...

Cowboys vs Indians

Industrial Civilization vs Neolithic Savagery.

Nature won.

As usual.

Fernandinande म्हणाले...

A teenaged blogger was "confused"

National news!

She added, “I’m not even Jewish and I’m still offended.”

Professional Victim 101.

themightypuck म्हणाले...

Also known as the Inglourious Basterds beer pong experience.

Robert म्हणाले...

I live near to Princeton. The police are investigating the underage drinking issue, not the nature of the game. It is not illegal for the teenagers to possess the alcohol in a private residence, but they are looking into who supplied the alcohol and if the parents were involved. Personally, I think there are better things they could spend there time with.

Mary Beth म्हणाले...

(Why is it called pong? Methinks the game is a breed of bowls.)

Because you play beer pong with ping pong balls.

mccullough म्हणाले...

Teenagers love samizdat.

Bay Area Guy म्हणाले...

Here's the problem, though.

There probably are a few professionals on the Princeton Police, who know this is bullshit, and know they should ignore the "Jews v. Nazis" stupid beer pong game.

But

A little voice in their head, knows that by not "investigating" some agitating leftist will accuse them of being sympathetic to Nazis, unsympathetic to the victims of Nazism, and then it risks spiraling into an avoidable mess. Don't need the headache, certainly don't want to risk the pension.

So, you investigate.

Thanks, Leftist morons!

Rosalyn C. म्हणाले...

The Jews didn't fight the Nazis, not much anyway. Jews weren't into fighting at that point. They surrendered to the authorities and lined up politely. The Jews were slaughtered by the Nazis. Let's laugh about that. Actually, it's not funny. Never will be funny.

I can imagine the Jewish boys at the party, knowing how appalling that game was, but caving to peer pressure.

HoodlumDoodlum म्हणाले...

Try to imagine what your life would be like if people gave a damn about what things you find offensive.
Hell, the things I find offensive the NYTimes puts on their front page in celebration!
Why do things like Stalinism not upset people like this blogger to the same degree Naziism does? Just kidding, we all know why.

B म्हणाले...

Why are they ignoring school children playing cowboys and Indians?

Lewis Wetzel म्हणाले...

If Americans understood what teachers and 'education professionals' are taught, and what they believe their job to be, they would pull their kids out of public schools. Their goals are not the goals of parents. Educators are taught to believe that if their is a conflict between what they want your children to learn and what you want them to learn, it is you who are wrong.

Quaestor म्हणाले...

I assume there are many video games in which Jews fight Nazis.

Anybody here see that Quentin Tarantino monstrosity (yeah I know, you're all saying to yourselves they're all monstrosities, Einstein) called "Inglorious Basterds"? That's the one where Tarantino steals the totally bullshit premise of "The Dirty Dozen" and makes it all his own by adding his own special ingredient — namely even more bullshit — and gets richer from the mindless masses who wear shit-eating grins. Well, that's also a video game, except it's called "Brothers in Arms" to avoid making Tarantino richer still.

HoodlumDoodlum म्हणाले...

Robert said...I live near to Princeton. The police are investigating the underage drinking issue, not the nature of the game. It is not illegal for the teenagers to possess the alcohol in a private residence, but they are looking into who supplied the alcohol and if the parents were involved.

Sure, but then the question is why don't the police investigate all Snapchat stories that show underage drinking the same way? I'm afraid you can't get away from the conclusion that the nature of the expression has quite a bit to do with why the authorities are involved. At BEST you could say that the uproar caused by the picture/to people's reaction to the expression got the incident on the police's radar, but even then it's hard to avoid the argument that the booze-buying angle is pretext for an investigation that could, by itself, serve to punish people who dared to express something the authorities dislike.

Hagar म्हणाले...

We are only conscious of Jews in America or western Europe, i.e. as single families or at most neighborhoods scattered among the general population. Howevever, in eastern Europe during WWII there was indeed Jewish "armies" fighting Nazis (also Russians, Poles and Ukrainians, who also were fighting each other as well as the Germans) and sometimes it was their opponents who got the worst of it. For individual battles anyway.

Fernandinande म्हणाले...

"Jews vs Nazis" or "Nazis vs Jews" ?

Some of our students chose to engage in a drinking game with clearly anti-Nazi overtones and to broadcast their behavior over social media.

Quaestor म्हणाले...

Because you play beer pong with ping pong balls.

Thanks for not grasping the analytical point, as usual.

If you knock stuff over with balls that's bowling; the kind of ball used is immaterial.

Ferretface म्हणाले...

I think I see the issue here. The Nazis have a clear advantage shooting into the Star of David setup. The cups are arranged much closer together (easier to hit) than the swastika.

Or maybe they're just being historically accurate giving the Jews a hard time.

HoodlumDoodlum म्हणाले...

Quaestor said...If you knock stuff over with balls that's bowling; the kind of ball used is immaterial.

You don't generally knock anything over in beer pong, though: Beer Pong Rules

themightypuck म्हणाले...

Don't forget Castle Wolfenstein, one of the longest running franchises in videogame history. BJ Blazkowicz v Nazis is pretty much Jews v Nazis. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_%22B.J.%22_Blazkowicz

Brando म्हणाले...

It's in poor taste, as with the exception of the Warsaw Uprising, the Nazis vs. Jews was pretty much all Nazis doing the killing. Cowboys vs. Indians at least resembles a lot of the actual battles the two sides had (though it was more Cavalry vs. Indians, or Soldiers vs. Indians than random ranchers) over centuries. For the Jews in this beer pong game, they'd have to meekly stand there while the Nazis pelt them with ping pong balls.

But getting the authorities involved? That's just stupid.

Brando म्हणाले...

It's the sort of thing a Nazi would do.

Leora म्हणाले...

No one thinks the police might be interested in underage drinking. No people over 21 are students in high school.

Fabi म्हणाले...

I Have Misplaced My Pants knocks it out of the park at 11:01!

Quaestor म्हणाले...

The "Beer Pong Rules" link goes nowhere, which I take to be significant.

Hagar म्हणाले...

And readers of The New York Times seem to have difficulty distinguishing between the "heinousness" of college games and actual genocide with real people getting killed.

Quaestor म्हणाले...

But the high school boys who crowded into a Princeton basement for the game included Jewish students, according to Ms. Ponder, who said they helped set it up but did not participate.

Ah, so actual Jews participated in the fun and games, did they?

Maybe the biggest transgression upon the Cardinal Virtue of Inclusiveness is the non-particpation of actual Nazis.

Eric the Fruit Bat म्हणाले...

She added, “I’m not even Jewish and I’m still offended.”

Is that virtue signaling?

I'm trying to catch up.

Bay Area Guy म्हणाले...

Don't forget the Commies too.

The most brutal killing in WWII were Nazis fighting Commies on the Eastern Front. And, to exact revenge, the Commies after thwarting the attack, marched West raping 2 million women and murdering countless others.

How about Commie v humanity Beer Pong? Doesn't quite have the right mojo.

Quaestor म्हणाले...

How about Commie v humanity Beer Pong? Doesn't quite have the right mojo.

Cards Vs Humanity — the best damned game ever.

Comanche Voter म्हणाले...

What about a game of Cowboys and "Redskins". Now the Cowboy part is still okay--just--but using the word "Redskin" will get you thrown deep in the PC jail--and they'll throw away the key. And don't even dare try to play "Texan and Comanche".

n.n म्हणाले...

A metaphor for capitalism vs socialism. The socialists are winning hearts and vaginas with testimony from the twilight zone.

Christy म्हणाले...

We played Japs and U.S. Once. Mom made us stop. We were being insensitive to our caddy-corner neighbor, who, unknown to us, had been a Japanese POW.

Isn't this a classic case of tattling? I find the normalizing of tattle-tales to be the most disturbing aspect of the story.

jaydub म्हणाले...

Misplaced Pants has it exactly right. I just returned from my annual visit to family in the US, and I could not believe the politically correct insanity that appears to be sweeping the US. How did my beloved country lose every vestage of common sense in such a short time? For example, I learned companies are going to boycott NC because the NC legislature passed a law against a child molester claiming to be a transgender identified female and legally following a 10 year old girl into a public restroom? Okay, maybe that's not what the law says, but that's precisely what it's intended to guard against. But, company CEOs are going to boycott to ensure that child molester has unimpeded access to their own daughters in public restrooms? Have you people lost your fucking minds? And, BTW, how is it so many of you weigh 300 lbs? Shouldn't the country be spending more time on dieting and less on windmill tilting?

Freeman Hunt म्हणाले...

Well, somebody's not getting invited to any more parties.

Quaestor म्हणाले...

Lately when I attend a gathering of friends and acquaintances the Cards Against Humanity deck comes out sooner or later. My friends always play enthusiastically and with malice aforethought, while my acquaintances (meaning those who while not well-wishers do not wish me any specific harm) usually stand aside with pouts of minor outrage etched on their doughy countenances.

Best damned game ever.

Yancey Ward म्हणाले...

Well, Brando basically summed it up with the same comment I came here to make- this is exactly what a Nazi would do. Ms. Ponder is going to make an excellent member of the SJW Youth Brigade.

Rosalyn C. म्हणाले...

How about Christians versus the Lions? Good times.

Bay Area Guy म्हणाले...

How did my beloved country lose every vestage of common sense in such a short time?

Democrats got power


But, company CEOs are going to boycott to ensure that child molester has unimpeded access to their own daughters in public restrooms?

Yes, because Democrats have power.

Have you people lost your fucking minds?

Partly, Yes. The Democrats certainly Yes. The GOP, Yes, for failing to recognize this and fight against it.

And, BTW, how is it so many of you weigh 300 lbs?

It's "body shaming" to call people fat now, and practically a hate crime. Since the food is cheap and tastes good -- Fatness abounds!

Quaestor म्हणाले...

How about Christians versus the Lions? Good times.

The first innings would have been fun, that's a given. But by the Seventh it would be like the Cardinals/Cubs Game From Hell. I'd be heading for the baths.

jr565 म्हणाले...

Damn, I hope they don't put me in jail if I get out Axis and Allies and play the Nazis.

Unknown म्हणाले...

I live in Princeton. My son is a senior at PHS and knows some of the kids involved. Could easily have been him horsing around with his idiot friends, thank goodness it wasn't. Jamaica Ponder's parents are extremely nice people. Her mother was mayor of Princeton Township some years back. I think her blog post is immature, but Christ, she's 17. Everyone involved in this whole affair has expressed immaturity, including most prominently the supposedly adult members of the media who are using these kids' travails to gin up ratings.

I absolutely agree this is an Inglorious Basterds situation: it's setting up Jews and Nazis as evenly matched adversaries. Utterly ahistorical. Also, possibly "too soon," as pretty much everyone in our school system has been educated about the nature of the Holocaust--including an 8th grade field trip to DC and the Holocaust Museum. So they know what they're joking about. This year, my youngest will go on that trip, in June. (13 may be too young to confront such a large scale massacre of children, but the kids never seem traumatized by it. I think I would have been, but who knows, maybe young is when to tell them the facts, when they're too young to take anything really seriously, and as they mature it can sink in.) As for playing Cowboys and Indians, in the 50s and 60s white people in general were far more ignorant of the atrocities recently perpetrated against Native Americans than we are today. So the two aren't really comparable, and the kids might in fact be more sensitive to cowboys vs. Indians than older people are, even though by now it's a cultural trope (and a mostly ahistorical one, too, at that.)

We all joke about the Spanish Inquisition (which nobody expects), and that was distinctly unfunny in real life, as well as horribly anti-Semitic. Tragedy plus time equals comedy, after all. On the Holocaust, it's not enough time. Victims are still alive, including the aged parents and grandparents of many of my friends. It may only be enough time once global culture has so utterly changed that 1930s Germany doesn't seem familiar, and instead feels as primitive and alien as the Middle Ages, or the 16th century. Humans have a propensity to be brutal. Kids are stupid, especially when drinking and egging each other on. I'm angrier at the (grown-up) U.S. politician who said if the Jews had side-arms, they could have successfully resisted. Talk about ignorant.

Kevin म्हणाले...

"I wonder what would happen today if children played cowboys and Indians (as we did back in the 1950s)?"

I'm sure pictures of such activity are actively being scrubbed from family photo albums, lest the great-great-grandchildren be burdened by them.

Quaestor म्हणाले...

We played Japs and U.S. Once. Mom made us stop. We were being insensitive to our caddy-corner neighbor, who, unknown to us, had been a Japanese POW.

Point of clarification, please. By "Japanese POW" you do mean a former captive of the Japanese Empire, or a former Japanese soldier or sailor captured by the Americans?

If the former your Mom was probably right to discourage you from making light of the war, seeing as how so many survivors of Japanese captivity were severely damaged psychologically by their criminal maltreatment. If the latter your Mom must have not been thinking clearly.

Quaestor म्हणाले...

Unknown wrote: I'm angrier at the (grown-up) U.S. politician who said if the Jews had side-arms, they could have successfully resisted. Talk about ignorant.

Interesting point. I suppose then you would not have been in favor of arming the Maquis?

Unknown म्हणाले...

I should have written more concisely: Jamaica is a sweet, well-bought-up goody two-shoes girl. The boys involved are teenage boys, enough said. Everyone is acting according to type. Nothing heinous here, just kids not understanding why us old folks find their game unsettling, or why tattling so publicly in this instance would be a not-good idea. Btw, I believe "cowboy" was a racist slur, back in the day. Hollywood conveniently forgot that many, many cowboys were black--it was a very low-status job, but one that offered freedom and the chance to earn better money than farming, especially share cropping. Oh, the farmer and the cowboy should be friends! Except they weren't, because owning a farm wasn't an option for most cowboys, black or white (too poor, too deracinated, etc., which is why they worked as cowboys.). Oh dear, here I go again with the pedantry . . .

Unknown म्हणाले...

I'd be perfectly happy if Jews had had guns, but it wouldn't have overcome the German army. If you think that, you are nuts, and a lot more offensive than anything to do with this Princeton kerfluffle. Interesting post above re the fighting in the East (Ukraine, wtc.), where conditions were a bit different, but the outcome for the Jewish population was the same.

Paco Wové म्हणाले...

"Jamaica is a sweet, well-bought-up goody two-shoes girl."

She seems to be hiding it well.

Sigivald म्हणाले...

I assume there are many video games in which Jews fight Nazis.

Never seen one. Nazis or pseudo-Nazis are a common opponent, but the fighters are rarely particularly Jewish.

(If one is trying to be historical-ish, well, there was no Jewish Nazi-fighting that didn't end on a downer; it's not a great sales point to do, say, the Warsaw Uprising as a game, eh?)

I wouldn't mind some awesome alternate-reality Jews vs. Nazis game, but I've never noticed one - and I notice a lot of video games.

("Soviets vs. Nazis beer pong, where the proper response is to sweep the table clear.")

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

"The police regulate the free speech of high school students all the time. Why is Prof. Althouse suddenly shocked by that?"

I have consistently blogged stories like this for 12 years. There's no "suddenly" and no "shocked," just longstanding dedication to blogging every day and taking account of things in this category. It's irrelevant to me that it happens "all the time." I present it for what it is: an infringement of free speech. So what is your point? That I should already be used to it and over it and move on to other things? That's not what this little blog project of mine is all about. I'm bearing witness.

Rick म्हणाले...

Unknown said...
I'd be perfectly happy if Jews had had guns, but it wouldn't have overcome the German army.


It didn't have to. Arming the Jews would have increased the price for the Nazis. If the army were involved in firefights in the middle of German cities maybe more Germans and other countries would have noticed and acted quicker.

If you think that, you are nuts, and a lot more offensive than anything to do with this Princeton kerfluffle.

The idea may be wrong but it is morally neutral.

exhelodrvr1 म्हणाले...

Unknown,
" in the 50s and 60s white people in general were far more ignorant of the atrocities recently perpetrated against Native Americans than we are today"

Of course, there is no mention of the Native American vs Native American atrocities in the schools. I assume that is because there were none.

I Have Misplaced My Pants म्हणाले...

Jamaica is a sweet, well-bought-up goody two-shoes girl.

Who is being done a disservice by having the school district, her parents evidently, and the New York Times encourage her in her well-meaning thought police [is there any other kind?] tendencies. Yes, she's only 17 and I'm sure her heart is in the right place, but rather than celebrate her mistaken belief that it's her job to control others' private behavior the adults around her should be teaching her what it means to live in a tolerant, liberal society.

Quaestor म्हणाले...

Unknown wrote: I'd be perfectly happy if Jews had had guns, but it wouldn't have overcome the German army.

I think it entirely depends on at which point in the timeline one posits an armed Jewish resistance. In 1941, heroic but useless except as an exercise of morale much like the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. In 1931, when it was the Sturmabteilung that persecuted, beat, and occasionally murdered them, impossible to evaluate.

The SA was for the most part composed of psychopathic racists and sadists, and like most psychopathic thugs the passivity of their victims paradoxically enraged them even more. A Jew who pulled a gun on a gang of Stormtroopers would probably earn a lot more respect from his attackers than he otherwise would have.

Quaestor म्हणाले...

If you think that, you are nuts, and a lot more offensive than anything to do with this Princeton kerfluffle.

If you really knew your history you'd realize your conclusion is indefensible.

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

The NYT is hungry to appear with-it when it comes to internet things and what youths are up to. I think we should be pretty careful about elevating teenagers to celebrity.

But teens are putting themselves out there for public consumption. The young woman wrote a blog and used it to criticize and shame her fellow students. That's inviting a big response.

And at least one person at the party saw fit to take a photo and put it on SnapChat. That too is opening up your private life to everyone in the world. It's hard to turn around and say: Oh, but you don't understand what it meant to us privately. We're good people and it was just a way to have fun. We're not Nazis and some of us are Jewish.

Social media gives you the feeling that blurring the line between public and private is just exactly what you want to do to make it work.

From the day I started blogging, I thought of what I was doing as adjusting Venetian blinds — tilting the slats only enough to create excitement that people could see into your life but controlling how much. There are many things I never reveal. I can think of at least one fact that would blow your mind, but I've never said it.

Fernandinande म्हणाले...

I think the police are only interested in the beer angle, and not the anti-Nazi overtones. So they say.
+
http://planetprinceton.com/2016/04/08/princeton-police-investigating-high-school-beer-pong-incident/
"In New Jersey it is not illegal for minors to possess and consume alcohol on private property such as a residence," Princeton Police Lt. John Bucchere said. "However, it is illegal for anyone to serve alcohol to minors or to make a place available for minors to consume alcohol."

In New Jersey, possession of alcohol by minors on private property is regulated by local ordinances in most towns, including most municipalities in Mercer County.
+

buwaya म्हणाले...

We little boys used to play Cowboys and Indians in Manila, with cap guns in the street.
Try that anywhere in the US these days. The culture is degenerating.
My great pal the Pakistani consuls son from across the street insisted on playing cowboy, as he didn't like Indians.

Ignorance is Bliss म्हणाले...

I can think of at least one fact that would blow your mind, but I've never said it.

I think we've all already figured out that Meade is really just a sock puppet.

Quaestor म्हणाले...

But teens are putting themselves out there for public consumption.

It is unfortunate that teens who do not earn the money that the broadband companies like Verizon and AT&T are rolling in have generated (and are generating) the vast majority of pointless traffic like these infamous beer pong pictures have done. Consequently the providers have every incentive to increase the footprint of social media — anything to eat up that paltry data plan — and none to encourage restraint.

A friend of mine routinely forks over $600 a month to Verizon for three phones and two iPads, and most of that is excess data charges incurred by his (what would be the Twitter equivalent of a motor mouth?) 18 year old daughter. Eventually her habit of making every little thought and action of hers a matter of public record is going to bite her in the ass, but in the meantime it Daddy who pays and pays without the least consideration on her part.

Fernandinande म्हणाले...

Unknown said...
I should have written more concisely: Jamaica is a sweet, well-bought-up goody two-shoes girl.


Jamaica says:
"Do you see me walking around scheming up ways to ruin the lives of those nasty girls I used to eat lunch with?Or talking about how much I hate their clothes? Or bothering with them at all? No! Because I don’t waste my time on people I don’t like, and neither should you.

Why do people spend time even thinking about those who really bother them? There’s no point. I can guarantee you, they aren’t thinking about you half as much."

Unless they're doing some harmless activity she doesn't like:
"it would be even more ridiculous for me to come across such ignorance and not utilize it as an example for anyone else harboring the misconception that they can walk around doing dumb stuff like this and not get called out."

Etienne म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
gadfly म्हणाले...

This news piece should be entitled "Jamaican Me Angry". Too bad they don't teach history anymore to the New York Fishwrap, the New Jersey school administrators and the NJ flatfoot cops. Surely Jamaica pondered (yep, I did it!) that "Jews vs Nazis" was an everyday occurrence from the onset of Hitler's Third Reich until the Second War To End All Wars ended. Why is nobody talking about underage drinking?

Bay Area Guy म्हणाले...

The Althouse Tease:

There are many things I never reveal. I can think of at least one fact that would blow your mind, but I've never said it.

In your free time, you play Nazi beer pong with Meade?

Rusty म्हणाले...

IOW Teenagers acting like normal teenagers.
Hang em high!

Christy म्हणाले...

Quaestor,
Point of clarification, please. By "Japanese POW" you do mean a former captive of the Japanese Empire, or a former Japanese soldier or sailor captured by the Americans?

A captive of the Japanese Empire. Sorry my poor adjective choice confused you.

Todd म्हणाले...

OK cause someone had to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cards_Against_Humanity

and

https://cardsagainsthumanity.com/

Bilwick म्हणाले...

If the game is historically accurate, the National Socialist players will buttress their position by stoking envy against the more successful Jews, and then confiscate their guns so they can't defend themselves.

JaimeRoberto म्हणाले...

In college we arranged the cups in a triangle, like bowling pins. I must confess that I didn't realize until now how homophobic it was.

n.n म्हणाले...

exhelodrvr1:

no mention of the Native American vs Native American atrocities in the schools. I assume that is because there were none.

Genocide, slavery, murder, and rape... There was never a reason for any tribe or intra-tribal factions to form alliances, including with the settlers.

The progressive ignorance is breathtaking.

When did you first start doubting the tightly wound ball of yarns with threads of fact interposed with liberal layers of fiction?

The native "Americans" who arrived in waves were, of course, social justice warriors... dancing on a pinhead.

rcocean म्हणाले...

Yes, we used to play cowboys and Indians and also Americans vs. Germans. I don't think anybody wanted to be the Japanese, so we didn't play that.

rcocean म्हणाले...

"The police regulate the free speech of high school students all the time."

Really? Where is this happening?

bagoh20 म्हणाले...

Wait, I'm confused. Some girl wanted to play Nazi, so she called out some Jews playing a game to get the police after them? That's not very tolerant, and kinda rude even. Maybe I read it wrong, but that's how it sounds to me.

BudBrown म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
ALP म्हणाले...

So I guess Jamaica won't be catching any episodes of "Hogan's Heroes" on TV Land anytime soon, eh?

Brando म्हणाले...

It sounds like this girl was actually playing the game--she took the side of "Nazi" by getting the authorities to punish others for doing something she considered offensive. That makes the other players the Jews, right?

Bob Loblaw म्हणाले...

She added, “I’m not even Jewish and I’m still offended.”

Some alcoholic drink beer because they can keep a nice even buzz all day long. The ability to get offended on the behalf of people you don't know must be a bit like that if you're an SJW.

jr565 म्हणाले...

after playing beer pong the losers get thrown into an oven

Bay Area Guy म्हणाले...

@ALP,

Heh -- Hogan's Heroes. A most enjoyable show. Can you imagine Hollywood trying to produce that today? Fat chance.

The new Left -- Anyone who doesn't vocally condemn the insensitivity of Hogan's Heroes to Nazi war crimes is, himself, a Nazi.

Lewis Wetzel म्हणाले...

How many nazis do you know? How many Jews do you know?
This is why, if it's nazis versus Jews, you should side with the Jews.

Todd म्हणाले...

Bay Area Guy said...
@ALP,

Heh -- Hogan's Heroes. A most enjoyable show. Can you imagine Hollywood trying to produce that today? Fat chance.

The new Left -- Anyone who doesn't vocally condemn the insensitivity of Hogan's Heroes to Nazi war crimes is, himself, a Nazi.

4/11/16, 3:21 PM


Actually I would put a cash money bet on it that the left's real issue with Hogan's Heroes would be that it dared to show American men as being heroic. The show had much lite comedy but also showed the group pulling together and sacrificing to advance America's war efforts. As I recall a number of the POWs had their own chances to escape but stayed in camp to "do their part" in helping to defeat the Germans and end the war while saving American service men from torture and death at the hands of the Nazis. Can't have American men portrayed as heroes. No sir, no way!

David म्हणाले...

In the real life game the Nazis are winning. But since many of them do not understand that they actually are Nazis, they are quite proud of the fact. Those among them who realize that they are Nazis are even more pleased.

David म्हणाले...

"As for playing Cowboys and Indians, in the 50s and 60s white people in general were far more ignorant of the atrocities recently perpetrated against Native Americans than we are today."

Really? Maybe not in Princeton, but I can assure you that in not-so-fashionable Pittsburgh people were well aware that the Europeans had come close to wiping out the Indians. The difference from today was that we were not expected to assume personal guilt and responsibility, since we were children and the events had occurred well before our birth.

William म्हणाले...

The game probably sounds less offensive after you've had a few beers. Maybe teetotalers versus Kennedys would be a better, more PC way of choosing up sides.......,Over several centuries, the Spanish Inquisition killed less than a few thousand Jews and Moriscos. The crimes of the Spanish Inquisition were grossly exaggerated by Anglicans in order to justify their plunder of the Catholic Church and their own native born Catholics. Too much bitching about the Spanish Inquisition may thus be interpreted as anti- Catholic bigotry,

buwaya म्हणाले...

"The show had much lite comedy but also showed the group pulling together and sacrificing to advance America's war efforts. "

It wasn't Americas war effort - this was a war of allies, it was the Allied war effort. "Hogans Heroes" characters included some allies, a Frenchman and an Englishman, both played by genuine French and English actors. There was integrity here.

Granted a new Hogans Heroes would in fact be controversial or would be terribly botched for all the reasons mentioned above, and many others too.

It was an elegant sitcom for a more civilized age.

Even more elegant, and also, probably, unmakeable now - its inspiration, "Stalag 17" with William Holden.

Real American म्हणाले...

jamaica ponder is a humorless cuntbag. she's the only person who did something wrong here. she should shut the fuck up and mind her own business. she's isn't morally superior for not finding a game funny (a game!) she's a PC NAZI that epitomizes everything that is wrong with our culture right now. she should go fuck herself with a swatiska-shaped dildo.

buwaya म्हणाले...

"The crimes of the Spanish Inquisition were grossly exaggerated by Anglicans in order to justify their plunder of the Catholic Church and their own native born Catholics."

True. The "leyenda negra" as it is referred to in Spanish historiography.

hombre म्हणाले...

Althouse: "Doing my own research, I see that the "Jews vs. Nazis" game didn't originate with these Princeton students. It's been around among high school students for a while."

Well, yes. It originated at a time when students still hoped the Jews would win.

Tommy Duncan म्हणाले...

I wonder what would happen today if children played cowboys and Indians (as we did back in the 1950s)?

That game has evolved into cowboys and cowboys and involves politically approved/protected behavior.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together म्हणाले...

"If you think that, you are nuts, and a lot more offensive than anything to do with this Princeton kerfluffle."

If you really knew your history you'd realize your conclusion is indefensible.


What total nonsense. The Nazis rolled through every non-Axis country in Europe in record time, one after the other - Including the defiant Greeks in just over three weeks. The idea that his most despised and very stateless "subhumans" would have made a difference under such a scenario is garbage. The only way to have done anything effective was to flee and work under the sponsorship of an intact state, such as those conducting espionage and sabotage missions from Britain. Ditto those who remained under full Soviet control.

Bill R म्हणाले...

I lived in Princeton for many years. The cops there have WAY too much free time.

Known Unknown म्हणाले...

"I can imagine the Jewish boys at the party, knowing how appalling that game was, but caving to peer pressure."

But what if the Jews win?

Known Unknown म्हणाले...

"In college, we arranged the cups in a triangle, like bowling pins. I must confess that I didn't realize until now how homophobic it was."

But did you use pink cups?

Lewis Wetzel म्हणाले...

R&B wrote:
What total nonsense.
I actually agree with you here, R&B -- for the most part. The paramilitary Jews who were settling in Palestine were capable of creating an army, but they needed to be sponsored by an intact state. The Poles did this for them for awhile -- the Brits didn't like it -- but of course Poland fell at the beginning of the conflict. If I remember my history correctly, some of these Polish/Palestinian Jews did play as role in the Polish resistance, but as Poles, not as Jews.

Rusty म्हणाले...

Unknown said...
I'd be perfectly happy if Jews had had guns, but it wouldn't have overcome the German army. If you think that, you are nuts,

The object wouldn't be to overcome the German Army. The object would have been to make it so injurious for the Gestapo and SS to round them up they wouldn't bother. To overcome the Gestapo and the SS.
There was no tradition of firearm ownership in Europe. The European middle class, including the Jews, thought it was barbaric. The Warsaw Ghetto. They did manage to take a few outdated handguns and using them armed themselves with better weapons. They made the ghetto untenable for the Germans without being accompanied by armor. But by then it was too late.

Todd म्हणाले...

buwaya said...

It wasn't Americas war effort - this was a war of allies, it was the Allied war effort. "Hogans Heroes" characters included some allies, a Frenchman and an Englishman, both played by genuine French and English actors. There was integrity here.

4/11/16, 4:50 PM


You are correct sir and I will plead being both young [at the time I watched the show] and old [failing memories from so long ago] as my excuse for being so limited in my focus. It was multi-national is presentment and substance. Did the show also have an occasional female spy of German descent appear is a few of the story lines? If I recall she was a local bar maid / resistance spy?